Reach University

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by wmcdonald, Sep 21, 2024.

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  1. wmcdonald

    wmcdonald Active Member

    I've come across a new university with a different approach that I thought we would be interested in here.
    Reach University (www.reach.edu). From the site:

    Reach is the nonprofit university dedicated to serving working adults who are ready to earn a debt-free degree, and employers hoping to recruit and train their own pipeline of local, representative talent.

    www.linkedin.com/school/reachuniversity/

    I'd enjoy reading your comments on Apprenticeship degrees.
     
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  2. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    They're cheap, but these appear to be on-campus programs. Their "apprenticeship" model is somewhat unique. I say "somewhat" because they only offer teacher certification programs, which already include an internship under the traditional model. This is good for young people who live with their parents but not working adults, who would be better off with an online program with a condensed internship.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2024
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  3. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    At least one of the five faculty listed claims a doctorate from an unrecognized university. Another claims a doctorate from an accredited school that is not included in that school's scope of accreditation. (The school's website does list the degree as one they offer.)

    Perhaps these are just listing errors.

    The faculty members listed appear to live in places far away from the campus in Oakland. Their website emphasizes "Flexible, remote-first work." They are listed in CHEA's directory as an accredited school (WASC). As santone notes, the school is focused on teacher training. It would be interesting to see if their model gets used beyond that field. They are actively trying to push it out to other schools.

    I recently wrote a post about embedding doctoral studies in one's job. This is similar to that in concept. The idea of embedding one's studies in one's work sounds great--if you can do it. But how many people can? So many candidates study things unrelated to their current jobs, or related but not central to their work. Taking teachers' aides and giving them a work-based education towards a bachelor's degree would seem pretty straight-forward. But what about those who are not in the classroom everyday because they have jobs elsewhere? It doesn't sound like this is for them.
     
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  4. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    Yeah, they have a disbursed model, and they list which states the programs are available in. Maybe a student can work as a teacher assistant and earn credits and income that way. Teacher assistants barely make more than minimum wage, though.

    Reach says they accept up to 100% transfer credits. With the internship requirement, I wonder how that works.

    Edit: I looked at their faculty job description, and they teach via Zoom.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2024
  5. mintaru

    mintaru Active Member

    An apprenticeship degree is obviously the same thing as a degree apprenticeship (that's the British-English term), or as a German "Dualer Studiengang".
    To be honest, I'm a little surprised that there are such degree programs in the USA. This type of program only works if there is close cooperation between the school and the employer. The point is, I don't think there are many U.S. employers who would feel it's their job to educate their employees, so why should they bother coordinating with schools? Maybe that's why Reach University offers teacher training programs. These programs always include an internship, as sanatone has already noted.

    On this side of the Atlantic, I have never heard of a degree apprenticeship or a Dualer Studiengang that leads to a teaching license. Here in Germany, something like that is even legally impossible. However, there are programs in both the UK and Germany that are equivalent to a degree apprenticeship.

    Let's start with the UK. To quote Wikipedia: "In 2015, the UK Government rolled out the degree apprenticeship programme which was developed as part of the higher apprenticeship standard. The programme is the equivalent of a master's or bachelor's degree which offers a level 6 – 7 qualification. Training for this qualification includes working in a full-time job as well as studying at a partner University or training provider." Having been around for less than a decade, these programs currently occupy a niche in the British education system. By the way, Rich is right. These programs are primarily targeted at 18 to 19-year-old school leavers.

    If anyone is interested, this website has some information about degree apprenticeships in the UK. There is also a search function, but at the moment it only has 37 results for the whole country.

    The other country with such degree programs is, as mentioned, Germany. However, such so-called Duale Studiengänge have been around here for much longer, since 1974 (at least in West Germany), so in other words, half a century. Like all German-speaking countries, Germany has a fairly extensive and successful vocational education system. The foundation of this system is the apprenticeship. A Dualer Studiengang is simply the extension of this system to tertiary qualifications. The name of the system is "dual education system", hence the name Dualer Studiengang. ("Studiengang" is German for degree course)

    The oldest school offering this type of degree is Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (German: Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg) As the German name suggests, this school offers exclusively "Duale Studiengänge". According to Wikipedia, it has about 34,000 students. And there are a whole range of other schools in Germany that offer such courses. I have no idea how many students there are in Germany in these dual study programs, but there are without any doubt well over 100,000. The most famous alumni of a "Dualer Studiengang" is probably SAP CEO Christian Klein. He started his career as an apprentice at SAP and graduated from Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University, then called "Berufsakademie Baden-Württemberg".
     
  6. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    what they are doing is great; however, lacking accreditation, the degree becomes meaningless nowadays. Secondly, what's up with the name? Sure, they could use "REACH" to describe its educational model; however, when it comes to a higher academic institution the name should be more serious. Maybe something like the California Institute of Education or California College of Education. Oakland College of Education or Oakland College.

    EDITED: Never mind, it is accredited by WASC.
    URL: https://reach.edu/accreditation
     
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