4 ms·
There are basically accredited online institutions in the US that are one step above diploma mills. A tell-tale sign is that the university has a tie in with th
by csa 3y ago
There are basically accredited online institutions in the US that are one step above diploma mills. A tell-tale sign is that the university has a tie in with the federal government / DoD (e.g., Northern Arizona University) — advanced degrees with little or no learning are quite common in some career paths.
For these schools, admissions standards are low — focus is on ability to pay.
If you have academic talent, you can breeze through the coursework and papers. The biggest challenge will be convincing your committee, who probably know very little about your research topic, that your topic is valid.
If you’re not academically inclined, I’m pretty sure you can get someone to take your classes for you and/or write your papers for a relatively low fee (probably lower than tuition).
- TheNewsIsHere 3y agoThat definition may be a little broad without some qualification. Most of the US’s large universities have some kind of online program, and some kind of relationship with the federal government. I went to a private research university that had a large online program and deep ties with the federal government. They had real-world residential campuses, research labs, multiple supercomputing clusters, etc. They wouldn’t have met a diploma mill definition though. The online courses were format adaptations of the in-person courses, and where a lab couldn’t be designed digitally there were IRL requirements. The dropout rate between online and on-campus students was about the same. Faculty were mostly retired or researching and field-practicing PhDs or Masters candidiases (TAs). I did both, and found no real difference in rigor. I have heard it said that regional vs. national accreditation is the “real” red flag.