Friday, September 28, 2007

Top Ten signs your degree or school is fake!

Top Ten Signs Your Degree is Fake

1 Your chosen university is not accredited. To learn if your college or university holds recognized accreditation check out these databases to search for your school or perspective school.

The accreditation database is brought to you by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Post secondary Education retrieved at: http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation/

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) database lists approximately 7,000 degree-granting and non-degree-granting institutions and over 17,000 programs that are accredited by United States accrediting organizations retrieved at: http://www.chea.org/search/default.asp
Simply scroll down to bottom of page and agree with disclaimer and search for your school.


2. The school you are attending or planning to attend is accredited but not by an agency recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation. Chea's main web site can be retrieved at: http://www.chea.org.
Internet degree mills are "accredited" by bogus agencies that have no authority to accreditate and usually have created the bogus agencies themselves.
3. Admission criteria consist entirely of possession of an identification card or license and a valid Visa or MasterCard. Previous academic record, grade-point average and test scores are deemed irrelevant and you can often be accepted without having to provide proof of graduation from high school or transcripts .
Here is an example of documentation that is needed to be accepted by Lamar State College retrieved at: http://www.lsco.edu/Students/Students_Who_May_Apply.htm , however, for the online student they must sign a transcript request that is sent to the school they attended which is sent back to perspective college or University . If you are sending a copy of your diploma or G.E.D. certificate buyer beware applies .

4. You are offered a college degree based on a "review" of your faxed resume for life time credit. No valid distance-learning university or college in the United States will award a graduate degree based solely on a review of career experience. Accredited undergraduate programs typically limit credit for experience to a maximum of 10 courses or 30 semester credits this is approximately on year of a four-year degree.

5. You are promised a diploma within 30 days of application regardless of your status upon entry. This is typically a Degree mill which is in the business of selling paper.

6 You are promised a degree in exchange for a lump sum: typically, $2,000 for an undergraduate degree, $3,000 for a graduate degree sometimes more. Universities charge per credit or per course tuition and fees. Some online school prorate book cost into the tuition.

7. Your prospective online university has multiple complaints on file with the Better Business Bureau. The bureau records consumer complaints about online degree mills. Visit BBB online at http://www.bbb.org. Look not only for your state but also the different states that the school claims it has a campus in.

8. Your online "admission counselor" assures you that online universities can't be accredited by CHEA-recognized agencies. Most online schools also have separate brick and mortar facilities as well and offer both traditional ground campus education and online. Do not take an admission specialist word, do your homework.

9. A Schools website will also offer invaluable clues. Look for the list of Instructors and their bios. If there is no list this is a major problem also look at where these Instructors graduated from, and what degree they hold. If Instructors hold a Associates Degree they are not in a position to teach legally.

10. Overseas university offering online degrees almost exclusively to U.S. citizens but is located in a foreign country, do not be fooled by online degree and diploma mills. Many maintain impressive Web sites and advertise heavily online yet this does not make them legitimate. Take the time to verify accreditation by an agency that is recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation.

Remember it is your money and time you will waste if you don't check it out.
Check accreditation of the online degree at US Department of Education http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.asp
Check legitimacy of the Internet University at the Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Write to the Diploma Mill Police that authenticates Internet Institutes of Education.http://www.geteducated.com/services/diplomamillpolice.asp

Online Students file complaints

Long Distance Education has become quite popular in the age of technology yet many students feel they are not getting value for their education. Often a student will fight a problem within the structure of the school but end feeling deflated and discouraged when their issues are pushed aside.

Recently I have recieved many email correspondance regarading civil rights issues within online schools and have few answers. The best advice I can give is to immediately file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights. Provide as much documentation as you can and stick to the facts. The types of complaints they handle are: discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin; discrimination on the basis of sex; discrimination on the basis of disability; discrimination on the basis of age.

In general they usually only handle complaints filed within 180 calendar days but have accepted cases past this calendar period.

Here is the direct link to the complaint form with the Office for Civil Rights:
http://wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/CFAPPS/OCR/complaintform.cfm

I have also been approached in regards to how to tell if the online college one is attending is real or bogus. I will post a seperate blog for this but I caution other students to do research before enrolling in an online college. Learn as much as you can about the school first and do not be afraid to file complaints when you find there is something wrong about the school you are attending.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

How to file a formal complaint

When filing a complaint against an Instructor or faculty member it is important in the online environment to save as much documentation as possible this includes emails, live class chats, message board communication's that support your claim and grade book responses.

When you write the complaint stick to the facts with the date, time and event. Use screen shots of live class if you have these to support your claim. Although it can be hard try not to express how this makes you feel unless you do it in your last paragraph before summary.

If your advisor does not help in this situation which is often the case you can go to the department head and chair of your course studies. The next step is usually the dean. If you do not get a chance to participate in the outcome of this process you can file a complaint with higher education accreditation committee that your school falls under. If you are unsure please contact me for help.

There are many great online schools out there today that take great pride in their students learning process which hires quality professors who believe in the learning process and go out of the way to help a student get the most out of the educational process. Do not be afraid to explore other colleges, it is your money and you deserve to get what you pay for.

One thing I have learned is that I need to know when I graduate that my degree will be worth something and not just a piece of paper. That I am learning the latest technology and will be prepared for my chosen field. Today I am proud of what I am learning at my new school, they have proven that they are leaders in my chosen field and as I watched others graduate I was amazed how quickly they got quality jobs making excellent money some even before graduation through the placement services at my school.

I will be graduating in 2008 with excitement and grateful for what I have learned. If you feel the school you are presently attending is not providing you with the tools you will need to succeed upon graduation then do some serious thinking. Your future is in your hands and with all the quality online schools out there today it is important to find one that will have value to your chosen field.