Unaccredited degree experiences?

Take some good advice and avoid unaccredited degrees. The path of least resistance isn't worth it!

 

Yes, I revealed my ignorance quite nicely with that post, thank you very much. (Sigh, oh well)

I am totally recanting on this one. I agree with Caldog, get an accredited degree.

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As I come from a country where unaccredited universities do not exist and colleges cannot legally use the word "university" or "degree" without government sanction,I do not have an unaccredited degree and I do not hold a brief for promoting them. I would be interested, however, in hearing what actual graduates of unaccredited schools think about the usefulness of their degrees. These degrees obviously serve a purpose because they exist apparently in some quantity. They cannot all be diploma mills and may have credible arguments in some cases why they are not accredited. I simply don't know.

I do note that many contributions seem to get bogged down into some sort of slanging match between those who disagree with degrees being issued from unaccredited institutions and proponents of the extreme end of unaccredited schools. Perhaps the middle ground can have the floor and provide some light on their usefulness from experience.

 

The unaccredited US schools that we are talking about here do have government sanction. They are licensed, or permitted to operate, by the government of their state.

The complication is that different states may have different standards for degree-granting schools. This is not necessarily a problem, as long as you plan to use your unaccredited degree in the same state that it was issued. However, this is a distance learning forum, where people are often interested in out-of-state degrees. And since standards differ, an unaccredited degree issued in State A is not guaranteed to meet the standards of State B.

You are apparently from Australia. Suppose an Australian state or territory relaxed its standards regulating universities, and allowed low-budget, possibly questionable schools to operate legally. Would such degrees automatically be accepted in other Australian states?

By the way, this is not a totally hypothetical situation. You might want to review the history of Greenwich University, which was officially approved by the government of Norfolk Island Territory.

Unfortunately, nobody else knows either. In the US, the most authoritative sources of information on degree validity are the accreditation agencies. An unaccredited school, by definition, does not participate in the accreditation process. It's difficult to get detailed and objective information about a school that has never been evaluated in detail by an objective reviewer.

Unaccredited degrees commonly cost less than accredited degrees, and they may be acceptable in some situations. The problem is that they may be totally unacceptable in other situations, especially if different states are involved. An accredited degree has some level of universal acceptability; an unaccredited degree does not come with that guarantee.

 

I think that a logical defect in this thread is the initial implicit assumption that unaccredited degrees are all members of a single class. Unaccredited programs range from countless academically-worthless degree-mills at one extreme, to a small handfull of sound and even well-regarded programs on the other end. It's probably a false assumption to think that somebody's experience with one unaccredited program in one situation will inform a different person about what they should expect with a different unaccredited degree in a different situation. There are just too many variables.

 

Bill has stated well the current status of unaccredited programs. In terms of utility, recognition, value and worth, it is probably best to avoid 95% of unaccredited programs. Personally, I would avoid them all. Why invest time, energy and money in something that is going to have limited utility at best and could be a time bomb at worst?

 

I believe that the instances where the only option is an unaccredited school are very few and very, very far between. I can't imagine that canine studies/training/psychology is one of those instances.

While there are a tiny, tiny number of legitimate, reputable unaccredited schools (Cal Coast, before they gained DETC accreditation, is one example), they are overwhelmingly outnumbered by questionable, unwonderful, or downright fraudulent schools.

As others have said, if your interest is in knowledge, reading some books, volunteering at no-kill shelters or even your local SPCA, and taking a handful of courses from accredited schools will likely be better, and cheaper, than going to an unaccredited school.

If your focus is on a degree that could have some bearing on future employment, under no circumstances would I consider an unaccredited school. There are simply too many unknowable variables. For every California Coast that was unaccredited and became legitimate, there are probably 50 or 100 schools like Columbia Pacific, a once-reasonably-legitimate school that, after losing California licensure, progressed to more and more ridiculous claims of accreditation (first from an Indian tribe, then from the country of Malawi, and eventually none at all, while still located in the US) before becoming a complete laughingstock and disappearing altogether.

In 99% of cases, it's simply not worth the risk.

 

That may be a valid exception. On the other hand, my guess is that HSU is unlikely to stay unaccredited indefinitely.

Their web site currently indicates that "Once eligible, HSU will apply for accreditation." They have previously expressed interest in regional accreditation through Middle States.