Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / April 2006

Online education has a wonderful potential but is fraught with dangers
and pitfalls.  This might be useful to you.
(from: http://abacus-es.com/onlineeducation/)

It is very easy to acquire a degree for less than $1,000
that has little or no practical value. It is also perfectly possible to
spend tens of thousands of dollars on a degree that is similarly
worthless. One can also spend over $50,000 and years of hard work on a
degree that is generally recognized. However, there are ways to achieve
a valuable and accredited degree for a fairly reasonable price, though
this requires a good deal of research.

Well, we have done the research and it is the purpose of this page to
help potential online students find a good online educational option
while avoiding scams, price gouging, and dreadful disappointment.

Degree Mills

There exist a number of online institutions which promise an
"accredited" degree based on "life experience" with no class
attendance, no textbooks, no work, and a few hundred dollars.

Firstly, it is easy for any institution to acquire and claim
accreditation. A number of accrediting bodies have been formed
expressly for the purpose of accrediting degree mills. It is therefore
critically important to understand what accreditation means. Please see
our discussion page on accredited degrees and accreditation.

It is not our purpose here to disparage degree mills. It is perfectly
possible that a need for a degree may exist (career advancement, pay
rise, etc.) that can be satisfied by a degree from a degree mill. Such
a degree is certainly the least expensive of all academic options and
if serves the immediate purpose, perhaps it is the best alternative.
The downsides are that the granting institution may not stay in
business for very long and thus "lifetime transcripts and verification"
can just be empty promises. There is also the very real possibility
that the institution may be publicly discredited at some point leaving
its allumni exposed and embarrassed. Some degree mills are:

   * Rochville University Although Rochville University has a page
that makes it appear to be offering legitimate curricula, it also has a
page advertising Affordable Accredited Degrees! with No Studies, No
Attendance No Waiting, No Examinations, No Hefty Fee
   * Belford University Belford University claims to be the only fully
accredited university providing degrees on the basis of both life
experience and online equivalency test. The accreditation to which it
refers is not regional accreditation.

Mainstream Regionally Accredited Degrees

These vary widely in both reputation and price but most require a great
deal of time and coursework as well as tests and papers. Prices can be
excessive. It is by no means clear that the education acquired through
mainstream, established institutions is necessarily superior; one need
only consider some of the graduates of established, and even ivy-league
universities to come to that conclusion. There is also the ineluctable
fact that propaganda, orientation, and indoctrination will be practiced
on some conscious or unconscious level whose marks and effect are as
much an integral part of established education as are competence and
erudition. To determine if a degree is Regionally Accredited (the
accreditation that counts) see the discussion of Accredited Degrees and
Degree Granting Institutions
(http://www.abacus-es.com/onlineeducation/accreditation.html).

Recommendations
There are a number of regionally accredited institutions granting
degrees online
(http://www.abacus-es.com/onlineeducation/bachelordegreeonline.html).
Here's one:

Western Governors University

With a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education together
with other grant and foundation support, WGU offers regionally
accredited (the mainstream recognized accreditation) through online,
competency-based degree and licensure programs. WGU is specifically
tailored to teachers, a field in which alternative accreditation bodies
are not generally recognized. Unlike many institutions, WGU ostensibly
strives to achieve a level of competence in its graduates, and is not
simply intent upon having them jump through exigent and generally
irrelevant hoops. Cost is about $3,000 per six month block. Financial
aid is available.

See Online Degrees (http://abacus-es.com/onlineeducation/degrees.html)
for material on other institutions