Saint Regis University---need HELP!

Degrees that have appeared legal at one time have turned out to be illegal on more than one occasion. It is legal to put a bullet in your head. Being legal doesn't make it a good idea.

 

Mr. Hayden,

Yes, my posts DO contradict themselves. No question. I wrote the first one, then as an after thought wrote the second one, and could not remove the first one (I knew they contradicted, but the the 10 minute limit had expired for editting). The after thought was that I, as you said, didn't care, as long as it was legal. This is the stark truth.

I AM capable of academic study (I have a regionally accredited RA degree, and began a Masters degree at a DETC accredited institution a few years ago, but had to quit because of finances), but, quite honestly, I am looking for credit for work experience which may cover an entire graduate degree. Hence, I guess it could be said that I don't have patience or am lazy--both may be true enough! I went to the Saint Regis page, and was dazzled and amazed by the fact that it is accredited by the Ministry of Education in Liberia, relatively cheap, etc. etc. Sooooo I did the evaluation, and qualify for a number of masters, and even two PhDs according to them, which sounded legit because of need for doctoral dissertations (at least on the transcripts--I wouldn't accept a PhD without it, wouldn't be right.) I tried to confirm this seeming "diamond in the rough", but was on hold for about 200 years with the Liberian embassy (has anyone ever gotten through?), and also e-mailed a number of NACES members. Most never wrote back, and one wrote that they couldn't tell without seeing the credentials. SDR Evaluation Services from Texas DID say that Saint Regis degrees are accepted because they are recognized by the Ministry of Education in the country of origin, but I have been unabke to confirm SDR Eval Svcs as a NACES member. The NACES website does not list them, but the list hasn't been updated since 2000/2001 (that's what it says on the website, "NACES 2000/01 members). I e-mailed NACES for a current list, and they hopefully will be mailing me a list. I have seen SDR Eval Svcs listed on a few webpages as a NACES member, however, but can't confirm (Anyone know for sure?). I also read the post by Dr. Bear about Liberian accreditation for $50,000, but I know RA colleges have to pay for accreditation also (The NBOE is very expensive, though!). It may be a scam, but it doesn't seem illegal.

So, yes, I am looking for a "get degree quick" that is verifiable, reasonably priced and accepted in the US. Experiential learning credit would be the best, although needing to do work is not an aversion to the program. I had read something about Fairfax University, but this an unaccredited university, and there is some question it seems about its not granting degrees to students in Idaho, etc. Does any one know if there are any RA accredited graduate programs based on the same idea as Fairfax University (evaluation/experiential learning credit graduate degrees)? This would be greatly helpful! Even if it was a forign degree, but legit, would be great also! Please let me know.

So, yes, I was lazy and hoping upon hope that Saint Regis was a legal, legit, accepted place of higher learning giving experiential degrees. I guess I'll still try to call the embassy--the elevator music wasn't too bad.

Thanks again, Mr. Hayden and company!

 

Call the ministry in Monrovia, not the embassy. 231 22 6216

 

Interesting that I found a Community college district and the state of Louisiana primary and secondary school website saying they accepted SDR evaluations. This is crazy if a Saint Regis grad can get an SDR evaluation and get a job teaching up through the community college level.

 

Credibility of African Institutions

Would you care to elaborate on this? Looks to me like it borders on the offensive



Opherus Musasira
Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania,
EAST AFRICA

 

You might want to check out these programs from the University of Portsmouth in the UK.

Even if there is some oddity of the system that would allow you to pass off one of these "degrees" for a while, it probably won't last. From everything I gather about this operation, it is not a school in any sense, it's just a vendor of manufactured credentials.

 

Opherus: Actually, Botswana, Zambia, Mocambique, and S.A. border on the offensive.

 

Sot these degrees are not legal? Or they are now, but may become illegal?

 

No intention to be offensive.

http://tanzania.ms.dk/newsletter/default.asp?numid=27

 

Whether or not they are legal really shouldn't be the issue (I really don't know the answer). The issue should be that of legitimacy and usefuleness. It sounds as though St. Regis (not to be confused with the RA Regis University in Colorado) has somehow purchased endorsement from a corrupt government or government official, and that endorsement is only likely to last as long as that particular corruption and/or government exists. It is not a legitimate school, and trying to make use of a "degree" that they have issued could very well backfire at some point. Even a superficial investigation into the credential should reveal its nature, and employers have been known to perform these sorts of checks even after you've already been employed for years. That's why this sort of "degree" is referred to as a time bomb. I'd recommend either sticking with your RA bachelor's degree or going after a legitimate master's, and in any case I strongly advise against listing St. Regis on a resume. You'd probably be better off just making up a fake school, issuing yourself a degree, and listing it on your resume instead (not that I'd do this, either), especially since St. Regis has established a reputation as a degree mill.

 

So, it's not like you're interested in actually learning anything, right? I mean, it's just a sort of practical, "Can I put the PhD after my name without actually breaking the law," sort of thing, right? Well, I'm beginning to think that this school was just made for you (and I mean that literally). I think that there's a St. Regis diploma with your name on it (do you prefer Sammy or Samuel). I say that you should, "Go for the gusto," "Reach for the stars," Be all that you can be." (oops, that the Army, right?) Anyway, ignore all those "nay sayers." Be a rebel. March to a different drummer! Reject conventional wisdom!! Buy a diploma!!!
Jack
(who is using this posting as the basis for a Masters degree in Marketing at St. Regis University)

 

Dennis Ruhl -
”Outside of South Africa there is not much credibility in African institutions.”


Timmy- Lets just consider the above statement as one made out of profound ignorance by yet another Dr. Bear wannabe.

Timmy the African American

 

No offense Timmy, but just look at the example of Liberia selling accreditations for $50,000 dlls.

 

OK Timmy: I was going to do this, but since you have played the race card I will defer to you. Please post a list, not complete, just a sampler will do, of reputable and respected African universities outside SA, and give us ignant types an idea of which ones offer DL.

 

Hope you read the part in these articles that says:

QUOTE
Even the most democratic and transparent societies are never free of corruption, the surveys from Transparency International (TI) shows.
UNQUOTE

In my opinion, most diploma mills come from a particular part of the world, but I am not going to make conclusions about institutions in that part of the world on the basis of that.

It is the making of a general statement of the type that you made against a particular part of the world that borders on the offensive. There is a term for it, if you remenber...

Regards,

Musasira

 

Hi Musasira: How are the various universities in Tanzania regarded? Does a degree from some carry more of a cachet than a degree from others? Any info on DL? Thanks. Janko

 

The Open University of Tanzania is a purely DL University established by the Tanzanian Government. Currently its porgrams are only available through print and efforts are under way to go online. The President of Zanzibar is a student in this university. The head of Tanzania's Commission for Science and Technology, Prof Kohi, is studying Law in this University!

It is headed by the formar Vice-Chancellor of University of Dar es Salaam, a highly respected academician, Prof. G Mmari. No doubt, a Google search will hit his name many times.

The University of Dar es Salaam has just initiated a project, associated with African Virtual University, under which undergraduate degrees will be earned online. This is a respectable university.

Makerere University has had what they called extra-mural studies for a very long time.

The fact that there is no forum dedicated to DL in Africa does not mean that it does not exist.

Some of us DL enthusiasts have been floating this idea and hope that it will mature in the not-so-distant future.

These are examples from this small part of the world. I am sure there are others who would like to add on this list.

Regards,

Opherus

 

Thanks for a useful post! BTW, I hope to God they get Makerere back on its feet financially. I know little about the current economic conditions in Uganda, but MU is way too important to be jeopardized.

 

Initially (before independence), East Africa had only one university, The University of East Africa. After independence, this split into three universities, Makerere, Dar es Salaam, and Nairobi. Each of these is in a separate country and enjoys a relatively higher reputation than the other universities in that particular country.

Nonetheless, there is no official ranking of universities, and I have not heard of a case where someone feels disadvantaged on the basis of a degree from any of the other universities.

As for DL, I had just posted something on that when I read this message. Looks like we were on the keyboard at approximately the same time.

Regards,

Opherus

 

Jack,

Yes, this WAS exactly it, the reason, to be able to have the acronyms "MA" or "PhD" after my name. I won't lie. I have had a lot of hours of training, and actual credits from a few different universities (RA accredited) from work trainings, etc., but nothing going towards a "degree" in any of those schools. All hours put together, I could verifiable have a Masters (at least 39 credits altogether), and was looking for a "quick fix". I assume that your telling me to go ahead and get the degree form Saint Regis is your sarcastic way of saying, "Well, if you're that STUPID, then..."

Saint Regis is NOT an option for me at this point. Relax! It just sounds too good to be true, and when its like that, it probably is [dam*it!].

A very well put together "scam" if I ever saw one. Everything seems verifiable, to a point. The REAL test is whether these degrees are truly accepted in academia, and they certainly are not. It seems that these degres ARE in fact verifiable, and able to be evaluated as RA equivelent degrees at this time, but I work too hard for my money to throw it away on a "fly by night" diploma mill. I just thought at first that evaluation/experiential degrees were becoming accepted in acadamia, and that Saint Regis was just a "pioneer" who was recognized by a countries' Ministry of Education. This recognition is usually the "litmus test" of foreign education, but after reading the many posts on this thread, I see that these "starry" ideas were very wrong, and the following conclusions can be made:

1) Saint Regis, first and foremost, is bogus
2)Republic of Liberia recognition may be pooh-poohed in the near future
3)Don't waste your money!

This is the whole idea I made this thread, and asked the questions, Jack. To be a sort of "devil's advocate" to the idea of getting the Saint Regis degree. I am no expert! I did my research, and almost went for Saint Regis! I knew that if I came here, though, I'd get the "straight sh*t" and be told where to go, so to speak. I won't lie! I wanted the quick fix, and wanted someone to prove me wrong! Those people at Saint Regis are good, and the whole thing I kept thinking, was, "yeah, yeah, but they have recognition from the Ministry of Education in Liberia..."

I really do thank all of you for your candid (if not sarcastic, at times ) help. That is really all I was looking for--I didn't want to waste money on garbage. I did not say, but I was also in correspondence with an "advisor" from Saint Regis, and when I asked about dissertation requirements, they merely illuded to the fact that "a title was needed for the transcript", that a dissertaion could be included for the record, but was not absolutley necessary, as people really never verify dissertations. That was a red flag for me! I would never feel accomplished if I didn't do some dissertation for a PhD. That's just wrong! My uncle, my father, and some of my friends sweated blood [figuretively] to get their dissertations done, defend them, and proudly wear the hood and regalia of a PhD graduate. I just COULDN'T do it. Even the Masters degree would be a sham!

I will be looking into regionally accredited DL schools here in the US. There seems to be a number of them that offer what I need (no residency, self study, own pace) and are good, reputable schools. Expense is another thing (need to shop around--lots of research to do!)

So to all who reads this, in my opinion, please, please please--AVOID SAINT REGIS AT ALL COSTS!!!

God Bless,

Sammyspade