Transfer credit from degree mill to accredited college?

[Brian]

I was wondering if anyone has been able to transfer a degree from a non ra to regional or national program? I was wondering if this is possible. I see some college admission programs say that they will accept some transfer credit from unaccredited institutions.

I suspect this will be a hot topic of conversation. I believe there is always a loophole in everything.:confused:

[johann]

Brian -

Unaccredited colleges - sometimes, to a limited extent. Degree mills - never, except by bluffing and deceit.

Example: Nations University - a well-known unaccredited (by choice) religious school has a good reputation for academic rigor. A B.A. from Nations will gain you entry to a Master's Degree Program in Bible Study at an accredited Tennessee University - sorry, I've forgotten the name, but you can find it on Nations' website - www.nationsu.org

Another: An unaccredited school, SCUPS (Southern California University for Professional Studies) is under the same/similar ownership as the Regionally Accredited North Central University.

With an unaccredited SCUPS Bachelor's degree, you can go right into a Master's program at NorthCentral. I'm not sure if a SCUPS Master's will put you in line for a NorthCentral Doctoral program. It might, though...

If you like, you can check that out for sure at:

SCUPS - www.scups.edu
NorthCentral - www.ncu.edu

Both SCUPS and NATIONS are unaccredited - but not degree mills. They do not sell degrees. Nations in particular has high academic standards.

Degree mill "grads" have sometimes entrenched themselves in good jobs or academic programs by bluffing or deceit. It usually goes badly when the fraud is discovered. I could give you a dozen or more links to stories about how bad it gets, but I'd rather not. As I've said before, I'd rather spend my forum time researching GOOD schools.

I'm tired of being self-appointed Superintendent of the Degree Mill police and I think I'll soon turn in my gun, walkie-talkie and bifocals and concentrate on the GOOD stuff!

Cheers :-)

Johann

[Brian]

I appreciate your reply Johann. I would like to know what experiences anyone has had first hand with transfer credit from an or unaccredited degree . Will unaccredited credit transfer to a good non accredited institution?

I am not looking for a way to cheat the system but make it fair for myself who does not have the money to pay thousands of dollars for education, because of family obligations. I may never have thousands of dollars for this unless I get a degree and increase my salary.

If a diploma mill can get me transferred to my 3rd year, in which I am sure I already have the education through work and non ACE certified seminars and classes anyway; I should be able to sacrifice and get a loan to complete my degree. I can not pay for 4 years of education nor can I take away from my family for that length of time.

I am not interested in testing out as this is an expensive process also. You still have to pay for the credits that you transfer on top of the exams.Portfolio credits are expensive, limited and not guranteed either.:oops:

I hope someone can help!

[DRJ]

I appreciate your reply Johann. I would like to know what experiences anyone has had first hand with transfer credit from a diploma mill or unaccredited degree . Will diploma mill credit transfer to a good non accredited institution?

I am not looking for a way to cheat the system but make it fair for myself who does not have the money to pay thousands of dollars for education, because of family obligations. I may never have thousands of dollars for this unless I get a degree and increase my salary.

If a diploma mill can get me transferred to my 3rd year, in which I am sure I already have the education through work and non ACE certified seminars and classes anyway; I should be able to sacrifice and get a loan to complete my degree. I can not pay for 4 years of education nor can I take away from my family for that length of time.

I am not interested in testing out as this is an expensive process also. You still have to pay for the credits that you transfer on top of the exams.Portfolio credits are expensive, limited and not guranteed either.:oops:

I hope someone can help!


I think Johann was pretty straightforward about Diploma Mills. They are frauds, people who use their product are frauds.

I was under the impression that testing out was a pretty inexpensive way move forward but I am not familiar with the process so perhaps my information is incorrect.

It sounds like you have made a connection between diploma mills or unaccredited degrees and inexpensive. Or perhaps you simple want to get the degree fairly quickly. You may want to reframe you question and ask people on the board for some assistance in finding a fast, inexpensive way for you to obtain a degree that has continuing utility.

Let me suggest one of the least expensive I have seen

http://www.ashworthcollege.com/index.html

Others on the board have taken the route of local community colleges for many of their credits. They seem to be reasonably priced, self paced in a lot of cases and can be done while you are working.

Good luck. I hope other will have some inexpensive but legitimate options for you to consider.

[Brian]

I think Johann was pretty straightforward about Diploma Mills. They are frauds, people who use their product are frauds.

I was under the impression that testing out was a pretty inexpensive way move forward but I am not familiar with the process so perhaps my information is incorrect.

It sounds like you have made a connection between diploma mills or unaccredited degrees and inexpensive. Or perhaps you simple want to get the degree fairly quickly. You may want to reframe you question and ask people on the board for some assistance in finding a fast, inexpensive way for you to obtain a degree that has continuing utility.

Let me suggest one of the least expensive I have seen

http://www.ashworthcollege.com/index.html

Others on the board have taken the route of local community colleges for many of their credits. They seem to be reasonably priced, self paced in a lot of cases and can be done while you are working.

Good luck. I hope other will have some inexpensive but legitimate options for you to consider.


Thanks DRJ for the info. That is exactly what I needed. Ashworth College seems to be a faster route but can you transfer in clep exams and such? Do they give any life experience credit? Ashworth seems to be the least expensive school that I have seen.

[johann]

Hi Brian -

DRJ's recommendation of Ashworth is a good one - I've made it myself in other postings. I'm fairly sure they don't offer life experience credits and I'm not sure either way about CLEP tests etc. - but they have an e-mail address posted on the website and you could ask 'em about that or anything you like, with no obligation.

I also know that if you want to work hard, you could finish the degree in WELL UNDER the standard two years.

http://www.ashworthcollege.com

The only negative I've heard/read about Ashworth is that sometimes their customer service is slow or poor. They have competitors, so I'm giving you another, similar option to investigate too.

http://www.pennfoster.edu

Penn Foster is also DETC accredited and teaches a fairly wide range of Associate Degrees at around the same price. Again, I'm not sure about test exemptions etc - but you can ask them. I've never heard a cross word about their customer service, either. Years ago, I took a non-degree course from their predecessor school (ICS) and the service was excellent. They only made one error that I recall, in marking a test, and they rectified it immediately when I called them.

Another thing you might want to do is find out how many of the courses are ACE-reviewed at both schools. This is important if you want to go for an advanced degree later, because credit for ACE-reviewed courses is VERY portable to other schools. I know probably 90% of what you'd take at Penn Foster is ACE-reviewed; I'm not sure about Ashworth -- might be just as good, but they can tell you for sure.

While we're on the subject of testing, I agree that testing-out can get quite expensive if you have to pay the school a hefty fee to credit-bank them or grant you exemption. The CLEPs themselves are not that expensive, for what you get. They're about $70, I think and not all tests are 3 credits - I know some will get you 6 or even 12! Especially computer-science related ones, and that's your field, isn't it? At the worst that's around $20 a credit-hour and at best around $5! That's WAY less expensive than the cheapest tuition you'll find -- so I think they can still be a bargain, as long as the school you're going to doesn't whack you for TOO much money for granting the exemptions . See what Ashworth and Penn Foster say about them, before you sign up.

Brian, the various ways we've discussed - Ashworth, Penn Foster, Community Colleges and the Big 3 - COSC TESC and Excelsior - are the easiest, least expensive routes we know of to a REAL degree - - and believe us, you DON'T want one that isn't. A "mill" degree doesn't solve ANY problems - it just creates 'em.

Oh yes, late-breaking news.... Clovis Community College. Finish a whole Associate Degree on-line at $37 a credit-hour. In State or out. On-line exams, no proctor! Even cheaper than Ashworth and Regionally Accredited, to boot! No wonder I like Community Colleges! www.clovis.edu

Thanks to folks at www.degreeinfo.com for the tip!

I wish you every success. :-)

Johann

[DRJ]

Hi Brian -


Oh yes, late-breaking news.... Clovis Community College. Finish a whole Associate Degree on-line at $37 a credit-hour. In State or out. On-line exams, no proctor! Even cheaper than Ashworth and Regionally Accredited, to boot! No wonder I like Community Colleges! www.clovis.edu


Johann

Now that is a find.

[MelanieM]

Wow, I wish I knew about Clovis before. And they even have a Paralegal program. One downside is that you can't finish at your own pace like Ashworth (where I am going now).

I have to add that Ashworths CS is the absolute WORST! They are misinformed and lazy as they apparently do not even read the emails that you may send. Forget about calling. Its an exercise in futility.

I am *stuck* with Ashworth till I finish my undergrad. Blech. But I will make the best of it :)

[Baraban]

This one is exception.
A lady with SCUPS degree was accepted to NCU Graduate program.
From what I know and I didn't check in to this a lot she had very impresive high score in 2 GRE exams.

I don't know if GRE is a must to enter NCU graduate school but in her case it was part of her "package".

[johann]

Baraban

I think you missed the connection, here. SCUPS (now SCU - Southern California University) - unaccredited so far - was under pretty much the same ownership as North Central U. (RA). I'm not sure if that's still the case, now it's changed its name. I haven't checked.

Degrees from SCUPS have long been acceptable academic qualifications for study at NCU. And, as far as I know, this schools was the ONLY unaccredited one conferring degrees acceptable for NCU programs. I've read of SCUPS described as a "feeder school" for NCU.

Not a bad deal, if you want to pursue grad. work at NCU. SCUPS was regarded as a pretty decent unaccredited school and a Bachelor's was reasonable in cost - and a student had a choice for grad work: a lower-priced (unaccredited) Master's at SCUPS or a more-expensive RA degree from NCU.

Johann