University Without Walls--Skidmore College

What do you know about the University Without Walls (Skidmore College)or similar type college programs? Any kind of information will help. Here's a little background info on me: I live in Pennsylavania. This spring semester I went back to college at a university "with" walls. I have 96 credits total; however, most of them are from when I was in flight school. I have been a commercial pilot for a air-charter company for several years until a severe injury grounded me. I wish to earn credit for my flying experience. I know Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has a great program for pilots--they give 30+ credits for flying experience. Nevertheless, I don't want a BS in Aviation Sciences--I'm sick of the aviation B.S. I like the concept of the University Without Walls. In fact, I have taken my 9 year old son out of traditional school in order to give him an elementary school without walls--in other words, homeschool or rather unschool. I am also writing short stories for various publications. Currently, I am majoring in Philosophy with a minor in English Lit.----This sounds more like one of those personal adds. Anyway, I thought this information might be approproiate. Thanks. Val

 

When I first looked at the UWW program at Skidmore College some years ago, it looked like it had much fewer options than the corresponding distance programs from Excelsior (Regents), Thomas Edison, or Charter Oak, and at a considerably higher price.

I think Thomas Edison will award a number of credits for the pilot's license, 18 comes to mind. Additionally, you can choose from as many different degree programs as a small town resident college offers. Shop around.

Here are the url's: http://www.tesc.edu http://www.excelsior.edu http://www.cosc.edu

Mark A. Sykes
Pursuing a distance degree at http://www.unisa.ac.za

 

Hi Mark. Sorry about just sending back your reply without my own reply. I'm not used to chatting on the web. Thanks for your information. After I posted my question, I checked out other posts. TESC, COSC, and Excelsior are often mentioned. So, I surfed off to check them out. I was amazed at the price difference between them and Skidmore. I am leaning towards Edison, but I'm still shopping. What about your college-University of Africa? What made you choose this one over the others? By the way, your kids might want to check out my son's web site at <http://www.quia.com/pages/unschool.html>
There's no annoying adds or pop ups. There's just cool links to games and science stuff--and my son's funny "What if?" questions. Val--P.S. Am I allowed to say that? or is that considered promoting?

 

I chose Unisa after considering several factors:

1. Unisa is GAAP (i.e., it is accredited by the proper controlling authority, the South African Qualifications Authority) so you recieve a genuine, transferable degree acceptable at colleges and universities in the U.S. and the world. I cannot see a use to paying someone for a degree if it's not academically valid.

2. I have a rather focused interest, namely physics, astronomy, and math. I have little patience for the extra classes tacked onto American degrees such as the humanities, social sciences and so on. My program at Unisa consists of thirty math, physics, or astronomy classes culminating in a Bachelor of Science.

This means that a Unisa degree is not an 'academic' degree, in the terminology of Rich Douglas. It is, nonetheless, accepted by institutions as a full tertiary credential. I'm taking these classes specifically to learn more about astronomy. Since I'm an adult learner, I feel I can be trusted to pursue liberal studies independently and in the real world: Dayton Philharmonic and theatre are my favorites.

3. It's cheap (as am I ). Five classes, half the books, and postage is $600, plus another $200 in the rest of the textbooks and miscellania. There are American Bachelor completion programs that charge $400+ per credit hour.

4. Unisa sells the classes I need - upper level math, physics and astronomy. The other distance schools, including TESC, Excelsior, or COSC don't. I'm getting my academic advising, my coursework, my examinations all from one inexpensive source versus registering with TESC, finding a distance Electromagnetics course from a second source or scheduling a Linear Algebra challenge exam with a third, etc.

5. It's different - Unisa is in a different country from mine, with interesting things to discover about their culture, academic system, etc.

I have irregularly kept a log of my experiences at Unisa, which you're welcome to look at: http://marksykes.netfirms.com/unisa/unisa.html . I need to update the page with my progress, which isn't stellar (a little astronomy student humor there), as I'm almost certainly not going to be able to write exams for two of my five classes from being so behind in assignments. That's a problem with over-ambitious scheduling on my part; it's not a defect of Unisa.

Mark A. Sykes

 

I assume the writer's intent isn't to imply I've referred to UNISA as "not academic" but, rather, to use a term I've applied to some DETC-accredited, non-collegiate institutions and programs. In either case, I don't understand the appellation. UNISA is very much academic, as are its degrees.

I've used the term "non-academic" regarding DETC-accredited schools giving instruction in technical/trade areas, some leading to the associate's degree, others not. This very narrow distinction is meant to point out one of the foibles of DETC accreditation: that it cannot expect to be taken seriously in academic circles while its core business remains the accreditation of technical/trade schools.

In South Africa, tertiary education refers to all education beyond high school (secondary). This includes trade schools, colleges (not degree-awarding, but career prepatory, like for teaching and nursing), and degree-awarding technikons (polytechnics) and universities. As its name suggests, the University of South Africa is very much a university, a part of academe, and, therefore, "academic."

However, the writer is very much involved in a UNISA program, so perhaps there is another perspective available....

Rich Douglas

P.S.: Degree mills operating from the U.S. almost never call themselves anything but "universities." This is because their customers--many from outside the U.S.--don't want a degree from someplace that isn't a "university." Terms like "college," "institute," and the like imply a tertiary-but-not-university-level credential. When getting a fake degree, get only the best.

 

Rich,

Let me make very clear that them ain't fightin words - I posted as best as my understanding of your distinction of academic and non-academic degrees allowed.

in a different thread, you described DETC degrees as 'non-academic.' I had never considered the term 'academic' in any other sense than meaning pertaining to post-secondary education, so I went to the Merriam-Webster site and looked up academic. I thought I understood your meaning better by considereing a definition of the adjective 'academic:'

2 : of or relating to literary or artistic rather than technical or professional studies
Source: Merriam-Webster http://www.m-w.com

Using this definition in the context of DETC degrees seems to refer to the lack of humanities and social sciences, and it is in this sense I thought you meant non-academic. The Unisa Bachelor of Science programs allow for a 100% technical or professional curriculum, completely devoid of any literary or artistic studies, therefore seemingly not fitting into the category of academic.

If you meant differently, let me know.

Mark A. Sykes, who is prepared to stand corrected.

 

No fightin' words here, either.

As I noted in my previous post, I used the term "academic" to refer to programs and schools that would be considered part of academe. That would--in my usage anyway--exclude non-degree, post-secondary programs. But it would include university programs relating to professions. When I discussed non-academic DETC programs, I didn't mean to imply they all were, just the ones tht were non-degree-awarding.

Rich Douglas

 

Hello Rick. My first concern is these degree mills. I've worked very hard to get where I am--I'm a senior now. I am concerned that if I take the non-traditional path, I wont get into the grad school of my choice. I could stick with aviation and go through the independent studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U--great program; however, I'm trying to escape from my aviation career. I plan to buy Bear's Guide. In the meantime, do you have any suggestions for distance learning colleges that offer a BA in philosophy? I don't want a college where I have to go to my local universities for classes. That's not for me. I want an on line degee. It doesn't matter if they credit me for my commercial pilot license and flight instructor ratings. I'm trying to stay out of the classroom. I want a university with no walls. Val

 

Try Charter Oak State College, www.cosc.edu, for a B.A. in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Philosophy. Or Excelsior College, www.excelsior.edu, for the same thing. At Thomas Edison State College you may take a B.A. with a major in Philosophy. They're at www.tesc.edu. You my also want to consider a self-designed program at The Union Institute, www.tui.edu or Vermont College of Norwich University, www.norwich.edu/vermontcollege. Finally, you might want to consider taking the most expedient B.A. available to you, then majoring in Philosophy at the graduate level. I would then recommend the well-regarded Cal State U. Dominguez Hills external M.A. in Humanities, where it is possible to establish a concentration in Philosophy. This degree can establish your eligibility to enter a Ph.D. program in Philosophy as well. Their website is www.csudh.edu. Good luck.

Rich Douglas

 

Thanks Rich. I'll check into all of the ones that you've mentioned. Val