University of Maryland University College

Hello,

Does somebody know anything about University of Maryland University College(UMUC)? By which regional agency is it accredited? Is it a more prestigious or less prestigious school?

Thanks,

Dennis Siemens

 

From their 2000-2001 Graduate School Catalog
"UMUC is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (215-662-5605) The Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation."

UMUC is very big in military distance education and have programs in Europe and Asia for military personnel. Certainly they are one of the premier distance providers. You would have to consult other sources for a judgement about their standing, such as the U.S. News annual ranking. In the end, it's the program rather than the school, I believe. Hope this helps. Phil

 

They also have a "real" campus with "real" classes in Germany.

 

As well as a very nice building on University Blvd on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park
(at least they did when I lived there)

 

But what could you possibly do with a UMUC degree? Why do students in Germany enroll in their programs? At the Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen I was told that you can't enter a Master's program at a German school with a UMUC Bachelor. They told me that German schools won't accept it.
I'm just wondering whether it is only because it is possible to earn credit through examinations(CLEP, DANTES) in the UMUC Bachelor program. However, they didn't answer (as yet) my question about whether it is possible to use the degree in its original form.

Dennis Siemens

 

The University of Maryland has operated classes and degree programs at military bases in Europe since as early as the 1970s. When I was an Education Specialist in the Air Force during the late 1970s, it was quite common to receive new personnel to our base who'd completed courses with UofM while stationed over there. These programs were set up for Americans (both civilian and military) and their families serving over there. The military would provide the classroom space on the base while the schools (there were many other universities doing this besides Maryland) would provide the instructors and staff. These kinds of programs continue to this day at U.S. military installations all over the world.

Rich Douglas, retired USAF Education and Training officer.

 

UMUC in Schwäbisch Gmünd is mainly but not exclusively a destination for American kids. They come over for a year to combine their American-style education with living in beautiful Europe. There are also a bunch of soldier families stationed in Germany who send their kids to UMUC Schwäbisch Gmünd. Not too many Germans attend UMUC in Germany.

That is true because most German universities don't use the undergraduate-graduate system as it is known in most English-speaking countries. The Master's degree is the first degree you get in Germany (after studying for four years or so). The German M.A. is not a one-year continuation of a B.A., it is a complete program.

 

Like I said, UMUC even has an own building in Germany, outside a military base, totally independent. There are also houses/dorms for UMUC students.

 

Peter Glaeser wrote:

That is true because most German universities don't use the undergraduate-graduate system as it is known in most English-speaking countries. The Master's degree is the first degree you get in Germany (after studying for four years or so). The German M.A. is not a one-year continuation of a B.A., it is a complete program.[/B][/QUOTE]


But aren't more and more German FH and Universities switching to the British/American Bachelor/Master system? So for them it should be natural to accept American degrees, shouldn't it.

Dennis Siemens

 

But aren't more and more German FH and Universities switching to the British/American Bachelor/Master system? So for them it should be natural to accept American degrees, shouldn't it.

Dennis Siemens[/B][/QUOTE]
Used to be you could get an MA from a Scottish university as a first degree. It was the same as a BA in terms of content, level and study time (4 years*), but the degree awarded was a Master of Arts. I thought they'd done away with the practice of hawking such degrees, but know I saw saw it offered recently in either the Edinburgh University or the St. Andrew's University undergraduate prospectus. Undergraduates looking for a free academic leg up, take note.

Now, think what a marketing coup it would be if a Scottish university were to offer such an MA in an undergraduate DL program format. Wonder if they'd accept proficiency exams . . .


*[A BA or B.Sc. takes four years in Scotland and generally three years in England and Wales, since school prep for university finishes a year earlier in Scotland than in the rest of Britain]

 

Heck no. Some select schools start offering these degree programs in addition to what they have right now. But no-one speaks about actually replacing the current system.

Also, it will never be natural for German universities to accept American degrees, even if all German institutions would use the B/M system. Academic standards are just sooooo different in America (the old issue of Harvard vs. abc Community College vs. xyz Bible College).

 

However, aren't there differentials between German universities too? Even though, not so stark as in the US. Take for example the university of Heidelberg and the university of Bielefeld. Which one would you prefer in terms of prestige/academic quality?

Dennis Siemens

 

The Emcyclopeadia BRITANNICA writes : " Little or no difference in prestige is attached to whether a student has studied at Heidelberg, founded in 1386, or at the new multimedia university at Hagen, Westphalia, established in 1976, where the teaching is accomplished largely by correspondence through regional study centres. "

According to Le Monde De l'Education, a special edition of 199?, the Uiversity of Bielefeld had one of the best history department in Europe.


Ulrich Bozzo

 

What do you mean by differentials?

Heidelberg for prestige, Bielefeld for academic quality and study conditions.

 

... also known as the FernUniversität Hagen. A very prominent German politician, the current Secretary General and future President of Germany's liberal party, holds a doctorate from the FernUni.

 

Not quite so, Ulrich. Rankings of German universities have become popular with German magazines in recent years too. Though, granted, they(rankings) aren't as convincing as the American ones. But, at least in the private sector, there is a slight trend to prefer graduates from some institutions to those from others. See for example the article in the German magazine Wirtschaftswoche: http://194.64.225.24/Wirtschaftwoche/Wiwo_CDA/Wiwo_CDA_Main/1,1702,10868_10481,00.html

I didn't say the university of Bielefeld is a bad university. But viewed as a whole, I think, Heidelberg will be prefered in most cases to Bielefeld. I personally could imagine, that if two graduates, one from the university of Bielefeld the other one from Heidelberg would apply to a company, say, in southern Germany, that one from Heidelberg will have a better chance. A personnel manager(especially when smaller business is concerned) in southern Germany, may never have heard(or have only superficial information) of the university of Bielefeld. On the other hand, the university of Heidelberg is well known in Germany and it is even world-famous. In fact, it belongs to the German Ivy League schools, so to speak.

By the way, a friend of mine recently went to the university of Paderborn to study infomation science.
I asked him why did he apply to Paderborn and not to Bielefeld which was closer to his home. "Because the university of Paderborn is more prestigeous in the area of information science", he replyed.

Dennis Siemens

 

I simply meant that some German schools are good, some are better and some, maybe, less than good.

Quite correct from the perspective of a student. But not necessarily from the perspective of personnel managers. They are often more in favour of "bigger" names and thus larger(overcrowded) campuses.

Dennis Siemens

 

As you wrote, a slight trend. And the ranking is never a decisive criterion.
The decisive criteria are :
" do you speak English ? " ,
" do you have experience ? " , ...


How can we define university prestige ?

I studied physics at the University of X ? Wow, really, at X ? You must be very intelligent. I got my physics degree from Y, but I am glad nevertheless.

In Germany this dialogue would sound very strange.
There is no numerus clausus in physics. A student with an Abitur can attend the university of his choice. And after one, two or three years at his first university he may attend another university to finish his degree. The curricula in physics are very similar. It's not difficult to get recognition of the credits already earned. He doesen't even need good marks to transfer to a "famous" university.

Is it easy in the USA to transfer from a fourth tier college/univ with satisfactory marks to a first tier college/univ? I don't think so.

The University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, the University of Tuebingen, the University of Bologna, ... are old traditional universities. The foreigners often are under the impression that these universities have special status. It's not true. The University of Bologna has a long history. In Italy it has very good reputation like several other Italian universities. Nothing more.

The University of Paderborn has an excellent department of computer science. They attract a lot of money. But allow me two remarks :

Do you know that the University of Paberborn is a Gesamthochschule? They accept students with a Fachabitur. The University of Bielefeld does not accept these students. From this point of view the U of Bielefeld is more elitist.

The department of "engineering" (technische Fakultaet) of the U of B. was created in 1990. Not very old. They do not offer a traditional curriculum in computer science, they offer a curriculum in Naturwissenschaftliche Informatik.
If you want a degree in Bioinformatik it is a very good address. They have a Graduiertenkolleg. But if you want a traditional curriculum, Paderborn is obviously a better choice.

To sum up :
It is clear that the German universities are not identical. But the German university system is rather homogenous and your personnel manager from south Germany knows that.

Ulrich

 

Probably. However, how hard would it be to transfer from a Fourth Tier to a Second Tier? Not as difficult as one might think. Many universities need students to transfer in at the upper division. This helps to replace those students lost through attrition (transfers, drop-outs, etc.).


Tom Nixon

 

If you wanted to study Optical Sciences in the US, for example, you would want to attend the University of Arizona (#3 in the US), instead of even, say, Stanford University. However, for an MBA, you might prefer Stanford. German universities are similar. For medicine, you'd choose Ruprecht-Karl Universitat Heidelberg, while not for all subjects.