Objective For Degree/Degrees of Purpose .....

[Hard Knocks]

Hi.

I would like to be pointed in the right direction. I am seeking an accredited degree.

I have nearly 20 years experience in my field. I am the founder of my own company and its majority shareholder. I currently teach a course I designed (based upon my experience) at an accredited university. I do not live in America. I am an expat and have opened my company in a foreign market, Poland, where I teach university students in their final year.

I have a severe learning disability, making school totally out of the question. I cope in the real world by using summary reports and relying on the right people to do the right job. I have been successful by playing on my strengths - going so far to teach at the university level.

However, in order to attain a full professorship, I need a degree. In fact, I need two degrees: a Bachelor's and a Master's. And I would like those degrees to reflect my actual experience rather than some general knowledge.

My concern is that I do not want a degree that is worthless or cheapens my experience. I deserve better than that.

I am planning to return to America in the comming year(s) and I would like the option of teaching open to me. After all, I do have the experience.

Would someone kinly recommend an accredited school that really does offer honorary degrees or degrees based upon life experience?

Thanks,
HK

[LilOne1989]

There are many schools that offer credit towards certain courses based on life experience, provided you pass their test to prove you knowledge, but no school that I know of will give you a diploma based solely on life experience.

[Hard Knocks]

Hi LilOne1989;

Thank you for your reply, and honesty. I hope more will respond as I am shopping around.

When I was at university struggling in my freshman years, spread over a three year period, there was an honorary degree presented to one or more persons at every convocation. I have no doubt these degrees were either connected with endowments to the institution or done for prestige.

My problem is that I am neither rich in fame nor famously rich. Yet.

So as to encourage more posts, I know what I am asking is commonly done rather than a too good to be true occurance. Whether or not it can be done on my budget is another matter. It will take a network to help me find a few willing institutions for comparison.

Thanks for the reply.
HK

[DRJ]

I think you will find that the honorary degree is just that. A recognition of some contiribution other than academic to the world or the university. It will not help you in your quest for a teaching position.

There are several universities that will look at your life experience and after a rigourous review and portfolio process allow you some credits towards a degree. There are no legitimate universities that will grant you a degree solely on your life experience.

You mention a learning issue that is creating a block and that you have developed some coping skills to accentuate your strengths and support your needs. I suggest that you contact a local university or teacher training facility and speak to some learning experts. They may be able to help you convert those coping skills into a useable format for learning in the university environment.

Good luck.

[BRAN]

Hi, DRJ
I looked into the experience degree briefly and was wondering If you knew any details about them. I seen several schools that were offering it and wanted to know if were a scam. I have alot of experience in different fields.

[DRJ]

Let me repeat. There are no legitimate life experience degrees.

You may check TESC, COSC or Excelsior (please check their websites to verify that my memory is correct) as three RA schools who will evalutate you for some credits based on the things you learned in life. There are several NA schools that will do the same (see www.detc.org ). This is not an easy nor is it a certain route to credits.

I attended Athabasca University late in life. For the 35 years of experience and learning I brought to them I was able to earn 15 credits. To do that took me 6 months of effort in reflective papers and finding people from my past who could attest to my learning. The process itself is a worthwhile experience and really helped me understand how life and academia come together. The universities that allow this option have a similar rigourous process to help you demonstrate and understand your life learning process.

Check your local universities and colleges carefully. Many of them have a similar process in place.

[Hard Knocks]

Let me repeat. There are no legitimate life experience degrees.


Hello DRJ;

Thanks for your frank answers. One semester of credit for your 30+ years service actually angers me. I admit that I did flunk my business statistics course but I have to admit that I haven't used anything I did learn from it. Waste of money and time, IM-not-soHO.

Luckily, Poland is not very strict about anything. (I have never met so many Drs. outside of a hospital before in my life - and none with any measurable experience, so I teach and they pay me). A new tactic might be to parlay some formal paper from a paper mill into some local honourary diploma here from one of the accredited schools where I teach.

So, a new question:

What does an apostilled degree mean, really? I am familiar with the use of apostilling in business but not in education. What is the purported purpose of an apostilled degree, and what does an apostilled degree actually signify to an employer?

cf. http://www.suffielduniversity.com/FAQ/default.asp#31

Regards,
HK.

[DRJ]

"Apostille is also a French word which means a certification. It is commonly used in English to refer to the legalization of a document for international use under the terms of the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. Documents which have been notarized by a notary public, and certain other documents, and then certified with a conformant apostille are accepted for legal use in all the nations that have signed the Hague Convention." (Lifted from the Wikipedia pages.)

The definition seems to say that this type of degree has legitimacy because it is "notarized", the question is how legitimate is the university that issued it. Many of the "degree mill" universities operate as legal corporations so it is possible they can issue a legal document that can be appostilled. The question then becomes who will recognize this "legal" document as a valid degree. To make this clearer the notary or agent who is issuing the appostile is only verifying the contents of the document not attesting to the value of the institution. (that is my understanding based on some quick research)

My experience suggests that any degree from outside Canada (where I reside) has to be backed up by a letter from one of the evaluating agencies. Many of our universities will issue a letter describing, for non academic purposes, how they consider the degree equivalent. The universities that issue life learnig degrees are never considered equivalent as far as I can tell.

I hope this helps with your question.

PS for Hard Knocks: It did not bother me at all that they granted only 5 credits. Their decision had nothing to do with the value of my learning nor with the extent of my knowledge so I did not take it personally. The problem for the university is that I was not able to demonstrate my learning.

If you wish to pursue a degree that allows you to demonstrate your learning simply by testing please look at TESC, COSC or Excelsior. You may want to look at a web site titled
bain4weeks.com for some ideas as well. If you review the BAin4weeks site please read it all before you proceed. It is possible to gain a degree by demonstrating your knowledge through testing rather than going to class so this may be an option for you to consider.

[GBrown]

[color=darkblue]Hello DRJ;
What does an apostilled degree mean, really? I am familiar with the use of apostilling in business but not in education. What is the purported purpose of an apostilled degree, and what does an apostilled degree actually signify to an employer?
cf. http://www.suffielduniversity.com/FAQ/default.asp#31


It means that the piece of paper is a real piece of paper - nothing more, nothing less. It means absolutely nothing in the world of academia, and is a very common ploy used by degree mills in an effort to 'authenticate' their offerings. Ignore the bells and whistles and look at the core issues.

Oh, and by the way, I agree with all the other advice. You cannot get a degree based solely on life experience (http://www.degree.net/news/ethics.html). Honourary degrees are just that as well. The are not used in the world of work in order to be called 'Doctor'. If you want a real, accredited degree, like you asked in your opening question, you have to work for it.

Cheers,

George

[Hard Knocks]

<snip>
If you wish to pursue a degree that allows you to demonstrate your learning simply by testing please look at TESC, COSC or Excelsior. You may want to look at a web site titled
bain4weeks.com for some ideas as well. If you review the BAin4weeks site please read it all before you proceed. It is possible to gain a degree by demonstrating your knowledge through testing rather than going to class so this may be an option for you to consider.

This is good information, DRJ. Thanks. I will have a gander.

[Hard Knocks]

It means that the piece of paper is a real piece of paper - nothing more, nothing less. It means absolutely nothing in the world of academia, and is a very common ploy used by degree mills in an effort to 'authenticate' their offerings. Ignore the bells and whistles and look at the core issues.

Since Poland is not a party to the 1961 Hague Convention, it may mean just that. I will follow up with the American embassy here.
GBrown, what are the core issues?

Oh, and by the way, I agree with all the other advice. You cannot get a degree based solely on life experience. Honourary degrees are just that as well. The are not used in the world of work in order to be called 'Doctor'. If you want a real, accredited degree, like you asked in your opening question, you have to work for it.

Cheers,

George

Pardon me, but I have exclusively worked for it. I realise you mean "work for it" in the positive sense of an academic hit the books and study theory way. Since the Canadian government classifies my disability (permission I have should I wish to take a student loan) as to allow me to carry a "full course load" consisting of a mere two classes per semester, and I need thirty classes of three credits each to complete, I will be nearly fifty and out of work more than 7 years earning it.

I shudder to think what kind of repayment I will have on my student loan. What sort of job should would you suggest I interview for with a seven year full-time Bachelor's Degree on my C.V.? I won't even have the contacts of my student peers.....

Moreover, my situation makes me very sensitive to the individual learning styles of the kids I teach now, who are in their final graduate year: students who I am fit to teach but not graduate alongside.

Just thought I would clarify this up a bit though this clarity and $2 still only gets me a small latte at Starbucks.

HK

[Hard Knocks]

I went to www.BAin4Weeks.com but the site is out of date. There is not even a contact page for Lawrie Miller, the owner. The site is copyright 2004. In a word, the site looks dead.

Typically, whatever is written (on the Internet) is lifeless and or useless. Unless it is porn, of course. Yes, I am discouraged.

However, the site's premise is great. I have not looked over the whole site but from what I have seen its objective is to direct the reader to universities who administer exam proficiency tests. This might be a way of accumulating transfer credits (like a rally) from one institution to another until the last one confers the degree, or it could be that all exams for the degree can be done at one university. I do not know if this requires sitting an exam on-site (to accommodate a time limit).

I never got to ask for clarification because when I went to find a contact there was no page.

Also, the site is overrun like weeds with Ads by Google pushing Degree Mills.


Would John Bear be so kind to weigh in on this situation? BAin4Weeks has a great idea. I am willing to sit whatever exam someone feels they need to give me to justify my experience for academic credit. (My old government funded school, gave me double time to write two exams per semester - my government approved maximum course load of 6 credits.) I might not score very high in minutae but I am confident I can pass the 80% core of what I do/teach.

If I do not have a time limit and/or can write from home (Poland), I would score even higher.

Are there any more schools like those featured on BAin4Weeks?

- HK

[DRJ]

Sorry that the bain4weeks site is so dated. I have not really looked at it closely for some time. I am not as familiar with some of the testing options from the US perspective as some might be but have heard lots about CLEP testing.

Try a review of this site for some details. It may not be the most complete but it will start you on the path.



http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/about.html

[Kyle]

"Apostille is also a French word which means a certification. It is commonly used in English to refer to the legalization of a document for international use under the terms of the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. Documents which have been notarized by a notary public, and certain other documents, and then certified with a conformant apostille are accepted for legal use in all the nations that have signed the Hague Convention." (Lifted from the Wikipedia pages.)


Thanks I was wandering what is this Apostille nonsense.
Still I do not get it why people spend 600-1000 USD to get their degree apostille waste of money.