Avoid Unaccredited Institutions At All Cost

I am pretty sure that Baker only lists accredited programs. At least, that is his intent.

 

On the secular side of education, an unaccredited school can get your fired and maybe even prosecuted. When I was working for the federal government, two people put in an application for promotion. The job required at least a Bachelors and preferred a Masters. Anyway, these guys listed degrees on their application from Almeda University. During the promotion process, someone noticed that this college was not accredited. Not only did they not get the job, they got fired, and it stuck. They came very close to being prosecuted for fraud.

Almeda University prints its own degree by evaluating your life experience. They require no course work, about 800 bucks, and you get a degree in the mail with a major of your choice. They create their own accreditation agencies. They even have an 800 number set up for employers to call to verify the degree.

There might be unaccredited schools that do actually teach, but I bet they are rare. What would you gain by going to one. For those engaged in activities with places like Almeda, it is nothing but fraud, and living a lie. Check out their site. As a Christian, we have the responsibility to lead an honest as we can life. I would be very careful about attending any unaccredited school, and ask yourself what you are going to gain by it?

http://almedauniversity.org/

 

Mike, I draw a distinction between diploma mills such as Almeda, and unaccredited schools. Most unaccredited schools have some degree of rigor and academic standards for their coursework. And at the very least require students to show up for class.

That said, to be on the safe side, I would certainly come down on the side of accreditation.

As Mike knows, I am a trustee at Mid-Continent University, a Baptist school in Mayfield, Kentucky. MCU is has been preparing for almost a year for its visit by a SACS team as part of its re-accreditation. The paperwork is mind-boggling, and consumes an incredible amount of time to put together. The SACS team will even evaluate the board of trustees and offer suggestions for how we can improve governance.

Nothing escapes SACS attention. We'll be glad when the process is over.

 

Well, this is very true. From the site:

Ages ago, I used Baker's quite a bit and in my memory (that is incredibly fickle at times), there were unaccredited schools on the list.

 

I think I understand your intent, though I am speaking only of ministry training - which ought not to be sought for financial pay off.

 

Oversimplification and over-generalization . . . . .

I hold an UNACCREDITED degree from Bob Jones University, yet it was sufficient for my admission to graduate school at a large state university in biochemistry/microbiology where I was a TA based on my UNACCREDITED undergraduate degree. I personally know hundreds of exceptions to your over-generalization so that it is proven just plain wrong, misinformation, and worthless. A person with an accredited degree ought to know better. :laugh:

 

Unaccredited does not mean degree mill . . . .

Degree mill rags with bogus accreditation can get you fired but unaccredited degrees are not illegal and will not necessarily get you fired. Degree mill diplomas are fraudulent but unaccredited degrees are not.

 

No.:wavey:

 

Well said.

 

Well put. The situation named was an overreaction. I have taught on the Junior High, HS, and college level. I've been an administrator at all three. I've also held other jobs as well as being a pastor. Not one single time has anyone verified the accreditation of my school, and I know this for a fact. My undergrad school is not well known and it was undergoing accreditation flux for lack of a better term when it went from NA to RA roughly around the time I graduated.

The federal government has recently cracked down on federal employees using bogus degrees to get promotions, and well they should. However, bogus does NOT equal UA.

And, my libertarian (small "L") way of thinking says it's none of the government's business what church-schools do. So when Oregon says you cannot promote your educational credentials if earned at a UA school, I say that's none of their business if a Portland area pastor wants to call himself "Dr." after earning a D.Min at an UA school. (Not saying Oregon doesn't have an exception for religious schools).