Why choose DETC?

If by "Richard," you mean me (I don't use that name on this board), let me state yet again that I have no affiliation with any institution of higher education, regardless of accreditation. The statement above, if it is supposed to apply to me, is false.

If what you mean is my point of view, you've not captured that, either. I do believe degrees from DETC-accredited schools have utility in business/employment. But there are identifiable limitations that can't be wished away. But they can be lived with--any graduate of a DETC-accredited school knows this.

 

This is the best post in the thread.

 

Since I had the experience of studying at DETC accredited university and actually can testify of the quality of my school and also since I took classes at RA universities and foreign I can do to my self a honest assessment.

For example my wife graduated from National University a one class per month residential program. I think it was very good program but this execrated method
is in my view not geared at really teaching the subject but to passing - fast in a speed over the subject. This is not as good as on campus at Cal State Long Beach were she earned her Psychology Bachelors degree.

SImply arms and holder CSULB is so much better in teaching the subject and knowing after thew class.

Then I took some classes in NJ Rutgers. Really great education, I was very happy with the classes but not happy with bureaucracy.

Then I took classes at my DETC accredited university. for me BINGO.
Great education and great treatment. Gentleman and Ladies this is one my personal experience.
I'm visiting this discussion site many years, have all Bear guides etc and know the limitations of DETC from reading here and other sites.

And after all hold DETC degree, I would recommend the DETC university for people with similar situation. And will provide all the reasons and possible limitations.

 

I can't see where there would be any turf to protect for an RA PhD holder. DETC isn't really a threat to consumers. If there is a turf issue it will be between RA, DL for-profits that offer doctoral programs and charge
40k or more.

 

There have been some posts that seems to argue that some kind of conspiracy or self serving reason might be why some criticize DETC accreditation. This makes absolutely no sense to me. Keep in mind that DETC is made up of about 100 third tier higher education institutions. Within the Higher Education system here in the USA (probably thousands of colleges) these 100 institutions are extremely minor/insignificant and the only reason that they get so much attention on this forum is that this is a distance learning discussion forum and the DETC topic is interesting to many people here. It would be silly for anyone to feel threatened about other people earning doctorate degrees from anywhere let alone from these 100 third tier institutions.

 

Agreed. I'm glad there's a third tier...I'm happy to pull myself by the lowest rung.

 

Here we go.

NARIC UK refuses today to evaluate DETC accredited degrees.

Some US agencies helped NARIC to get to this conclusion.
Number of attempts from DETC to have NARIC change their policy failed.

Luckily for DETC graduates as long as graduates of university are from English speaking country many UK universities exempt the foreign applicants from requiring NARIC evaluation.

One such university student posted on a board such as this about his success with Aspen Degree and acceptance in to name recognized UK university.

He was shown 5 letters from US agencies saying that they should accept only RA graduates and over 160 emails mostly from individuals but a % are from professors at US public universities.
They stated that DETC degrees should be looked as vocational diplomas or something like that.

He is checking his legal options.

maybe there is some kind of campaign to lets say not help DETC.

 

It seems unfair at first, but at the same time if the British are trying to get an accurate conversion of a DETC degree then they are correct in giving it lesser recognition, just like in the USA. It's one more thing to consider before choosing a DETC degree, but doesn't mean a degree is not valid.

Similarly, if you have a JD or PsyD without professional accreditation many states will not recognize your degree for licensing, but you are still quite educated. The British dilemma seems similar.

 

Its then not on national but international level.

Question is how NARIC came to this conclusion? I think they got help.
But they are correct I guess. If one can't use DETC degree fully in US its own home country then how can we expect it to be fully utilized overseas?

I think the challenge first is national then. But if CHEA and DoE recognition of DETC is not sufficient then adding Doctorates to strengthen their sphere of operation can be in the correct direction.

DETC accredited colleges have some % of foreign students and they will face same challenges there in their home countries.

 

My sense is that those who feel the need to subjectively relegate something in its totality as "second-rate" and "inferior" irregardless of the actual application and real-world testimonials of those who actually hold the credentials do so to compensate for the perceived inadequacies and shortcomings of holding RA credentials from institutions with problematic histories. It's an age-old strategy; tear down others to shore up the fragility of one's own insecure ego and psyche.

 

Sir, I did not respond to your posts as promised BUT to another poster's comments with which I agreed. This did not call for your vitriolic rambling personal attack against me as noted above. I expect that you will refrain from any further response to any of my posts especially due to the fact that you gave your word that you would refrain from doing so. END OF STORY!

 

I agree totally.

 

Yesh .....

 

Note, however, that graduates holding CCNH's degree of "Doctor of Education in Holistic Health and Wellness" are eligible to become "board certified as traditional naturopaths", through the American Naturopathic Certification Board (ANCB).

An individual who did this would not hold the title of "Doctor of Naturopathy". But that individual would nonetheless hold the titles of "Doctor" (through the Clayton EdD) and "Naturopath" (through the ANCB "Certified Traditional Naturopath" credential). Maybe that's close enough.

The ANCB should not be confused with the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners (NABNE). The NABNE requires applicants to hold degrees accredited by the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME), which is a USDoE-recognized professional accreditor. In states where naturopaths are licensed, they typically have to take NABNE examinations.

If DETC accredits Clayton, it may only reinforce their reputation as the accreditor of last resort for programs that can't get "real" professional accreditation. For example, DETC accredits law degrees that don't meet ABA standards, engineering programs that don't meet ABET standards, and now potentially natural health programs that don't meet CNME standards.

 

This was originally posted by The Professor but due to a moderation problem, it got buried. I'm reposting it to the end of the thread by his request. The comments are his, not mine.

I usually choose to remain a lurker in this forum, for the most part, which has provided me a great deal of excellent information and insight as I've made the leap back into pursuing an undergrad degree after dropping out of a traditional B&M school 30-some-odd years ago as a troubled and directionless young man.

Fast forward to today, with an ongoing and successful 20+ year career in the IT sector in which numerous professional certifications has served me quite well in lieu of a college degree – ie. PMP, Cisco, Microsoft and others – basically for the sake of personal growth and resume enhancement, I am in the process of pursuing a BS Business Admin/IT concentration degree from a reputable and well-respected DETC institution. As a side note, I have been advised on more than one occasion by my current employer, a highly-successful mid-sized global data center and colocation provider, that the PMP and Cisco certs are deemed as more valuable than a degree for my current role as Senior Project Manager/Network Engineer. But I digress…

After giving careful consideration to both Excelsior and Charter Oak here a few bullet points of what ultimately tilted my choice towards the DETC institution:

At the tender age of 51, with a successful career and numerous professional certifications under my belt, I have little desire to: 1. pursue anything past an undergrad degree, 2. teach, 3. pursue a career associated with academia or in an academic environment (a personal preference which is irrelevant to this thread and which I won't go into here so as to avoid assailment).

The flexibility of the DETC program I have selected fits my needs and lifestyle nicely considering the constraints/priorities of a demanding job as well as two small children at home, which can become all-consuming at times. A more rigid structure and format would preclude me from this endeavor altogether.

Having spoken about the RA v. DETC issue with at least a couple of dozen hiring managers, HR professionals, and other colleagues with various corporations in the IT sector, both large and midsize, no one has voiced any significant reservations or preferences either way so long as the institution is well-respected and accredited. A handful did express some concern over DL degrees in general; however, the more progressive individuals/organizations, particularly in the IT sector that are already at the forefront of this on-going technological revolution we find ourselves in, really couldn't care less about the B&M v. DL and/or RA v DETC debate.

If one wants to get caught up in hypotheticals and theoretical potentialities about limiting one's career prospects and hireability, and what is actually "good enough" when it comes to higher education, then it would be reasonable to reject DL altogether and only consider one of the big three universities (and I don’t mean EC, COSC or TESC in this case). A little tongue-in-cheek here to make a valid point.

In the final analysis, the program I have chosen in a number of ways has proven to be a good bit more rigorous than the almost fully tested-out version I almost went with at Charter Oak. I could go on with some of the more detailed nuances of the process I worked through over a period of months, but this pretty much captures the gist at a high level. At the end of the day, I remain confident that I have made a good decision based on my goals and needs at this time in my life.

 

Chip:

A quick question: were there no RA alternatives that could deliver to you a program that met your needs/constraints?

 

This post was accidentally put in the wrong thread. I meant it to go in the "Please comment to DETC - unwonderful schools applying for accreditation"
thread. Sorry.

 

Since the DETC is so far under the radar to most of the caring populace, the following has even less value than speculation and conjecture, but to fit in: if DETC graduates had a published failure rate to find a job in their matriculated degree field at the same failure rate as that of RA grads, it would be excoriated and cast to further depths of uselessness than it is currently.

RA schools are a failure in many metrics. This is the bane of concern to all that are involved in accreditation or reaccreditation activities. There is limited dialog over this phenomenon. It is real. And considering it affects multi fold more than the pittance of numbers in DETC schools, one might imagine the hue and cry to be something more than relative silence.

As always, never consider a degree, program, institution, or accreditation for an objective that it cannot, or will likely not, help you achieve. DETC applies to that caveat under a wide variety of scenarios. It is, nonetheless, grand to live in a world where choices do exist and where people are allowed to consider them wisely – or perhaps not so wisely at times.

 

It is important to reiterate that regardless of the level of adamant opposition to DETC or the strident claims of superiority of RA, this should not be the determining basis for the educational choices and decisions made by students. The fact remains that each prospective student needs to determine whether a particular mode of accreditation will best address the enhancement of their career and professional aspirations or in fact serve to hinder it and which is within their personal resources (ie, financial, etc) to successfully complete. It is as simple and straightforward as that and no amount of hype or hysteria regarding the superiority or inferiority of any mode of accreditation will change this fact.