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I was thinking about pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Liberal
Studies. I don't have a lot of money, but I would like to get the best
education for my limited funds. I have some questions for you.
1) What is the difference between a degree that is nationally
accredited and a degree that is regionally accredited? I know that
regionally accredited degree is more acceptable than a nationally
accredited degree; however, can a nationally accredited be accepted in the
academic and work worlds? (I noticed that one university's advertisement on
your site claims to be "nationally accredited”.)
2) What do you know or what is your opinion of the following website
(http://www.onlinehumanities.com) for accumulating credits to earn a
college degree? Some of the colleges affiliated with this website are
considered degree mills by posters on the www.degree.com discussion boards,
but some colleges associated with Online Humanities are regionally
accredited such as Empire State College and Antioch College of New England
(Graduate School). Do you think it is worth it to take courses through
Online Humnities to earn a degree?
3) Do you know of any regionally accredited colleges that offer credit by
examination for Graduate courses and is not too expensive?
1. By nationally accredited, it
take it you mean DETC accredited. Only ads from regionally accredited
institutions or the foreign equivalent thereof, DETC accredited
institutions, and Cal Coast University, appear in bain4weeks.com (or should
appear). If ads from other degree-granting institutions appear, it is
because they have net yet been filtered out. See the note on advertisements
at the bottom of the home page and in the Notices page
(http://bain4weeks/notice.html).
In so far as it is of concern here, the differences between US regional
accreditation, the foreign equivalent of US regional accreditation, and
DETC accreditation, are as stated in the Fundamentals section of BA in 4
Weeks. The only universities and colleges featured in the text of BA in 4
Weeks are the legitimate kind which confer degrees, diplomas and
certificates that enjoy the widest possible recognition, acceptance, and
portability, in the U.S. and elsewhere. All schools listed whether offering
college credit, full bachelor degrees or master degrees, are either, state
funded, and recognized by the government of the country as an institution
of higher learning, or, in the case of US institutions, they may be public
or private, but they must be regionally accredited.
DETC degrees will receive significantly greater acceptance in the workplace
than in academe. With respect to the acceptance of DETC academic credit and
awards by regionally accredited institutions, there’re are very few among
the 3,500 or so that will accept any. My sense is perhaps a handful of RA
colleges and universities will recognize the legitimacy of credit and
degrees on the basis of a conferring institution’s DETC accreditation. The
issue then, is one of utility.
2. I looked at the website. Not a bad idea, at all. Faculty looked quite
impressive. Only issue I have is that at least one of them appears to be
dead. Much might be gained from the growth of such third party providers.
They identify two regionally accredited schools with whom the claim some
kind of articulation agreement. If there is a devil to be found, it will be
in the detail of these agreements. Worth doing due diligence before
committing to a course of study. There are links to the web pages of
various other schools, but that does not imply affiliation to the linker or
endorsement of the linker, by the “linkee”. I do agree though that linking
to degree mills will do nothing to promote onlinehumanities.com’s
acceptance into “polite society”. Strategic error in my view.
3. Graduate credit by examination? Depends what you mean by not too
expensive. Mentioned many time here – Western Governors University (WGU) is
a regionally accredited assessment institution offering graduate programs.
I was among the first graduate students there and was the guinea pig in
their first graduate assessment exam. Then there is the EBS MBA program of
Heriot Watt University. The degree is earned by passing nine 3-hour exams.
There is no coursework. I’ve offered my detailed views on the wares of both
schools in this Q&A and elsewhere in the website. Try a site search.
DETC accreditation is perfectly legitimate but if you want a graduate
degree that will command universal or near universal acceptance, enroll in
a program offered by a US regionally accredited institution or the foreign
equivalent thereof.
Lawrie
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