Diploma Mill how do you judge one?

If that bothers you, then earn a legitimate, accredited Bachelors...or at least an equivalent unaccredited one, that requires an equivalent amount of work. Don't cut corners, and then claim the same degree as someone else who has put in a lot more work for it.

 

Don't recall ever saying to just sit in a chair and wait for knowledge to pour upon you {snip} you now are saying knowledge and training are to come from the church? That kind of throws a monkey wrench in your previos argument on school sponsored higher education.

 

I'm coming to this one a bit late, so my apologies...

Absolutely. I don't understand why evangelicals, specifically, have a problem with allowing a thorough and unbiased review of an institution to determine its competency and integrity.

Some semblance of structure of consistency is an earmark of a thorough institution. If any school hands out a degree completion sheet and says, "make it up for yourself" they are misleading the students. Higher education needs to be a two-way conversation. There are some courses that provide important data which will impact the rest of the student's curricula.

I don't understand the question.

There are three tests for me:
1. Low, and I mean almost no, professorial interaction. By this I mean numerous individuals who are competent in their specific disciplines that engage with the student through both lecture and specific assignments.

2. Student gets to determine all of their coursework and there is no second party syllabi from professors that dictate students' coursework. Students are not the experts in education, they need to be pushed and stretched. Professors are the ones who can do this.

3. There is a mail us a check, send us your personally designed assignments, read these books (we trust you), and you'll get a diploma kind of stuff. This isn't the way actual education works.

That isn't an actual education. The big question for anyone considering a school is how much do you want to grow. Do you want a degree for the wall? Or do you want to have a new perspective?

Accreditation is a funky thing. It does have some bearing on the nature of a quality education. But it isn't an be-all-end-all.

 

revmwc,
Let me give you an example of one class I took at seminary, and lets see how it compares. The class I will speak of is a church history class. The professor had her Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Seminary. The text book was Hans Kung's Christianity, Essence, History, and Future The book has 968 pages, which had to be read. I attended one hour lectures three times a week for fifteen weeks. I had to interact with students during the class, I had to write four 10 page papers, and a final group project, by group 3 other people, which was a 50 page paper. Also, I had weekly quizzes on the reading, a 100 question midterm, and a 150 question final, most of the questions were fill in the blank. I was not able to use my notes for these tests. The class was rigorous and difficult. I feel lucky to pass because I took other classes as well, but it took so much of my time. While ten hour long CD's with tests is some work, it does not quite meet the rigor test for me.


However, even if it did, I still have issue with the deceptive accreditation agency. I would rather a unaccredited school just be honest and say they cannot achieve accreditation or will not achieve accreditation instead of going after one that isn't recognized.

I admit the class I am describing is harder than most, but it was required for the M.Div degree from an accredited institution.

I am not trying to be an elitist, but if you ask does SBS meet my criteria as an acceptable school, from what you have said to me, it does not. I wouldn't quite say it is a diploma mill, but the standards for the degrees offered seem lower what is required at accredited institutions.

 

Not as much as some :tongue3: Seriously, no I don't. Again, some have that market cornered so why bother.

Indeed. I should've typed lightning. I suffered a severe back injury due to a car accident while in seminary to the point that I spend a day or two a week off my feet, and usually that day is after preaching twice. I have had a severe flare-up, so my proofing skills have been trumped. My apologies.

Not sure what you're aiming at here. Seems to be off topic.

 

Whoa!

I just read over this thread. I am shocked and dismayed.

First of all, let me reiterate something I've had to reiterate far too many times lately. This is a fellowship forum. That doesn't mean debate is barred; however, the threshold for violations and for failing to abide by posting rules 2 and 3 are much lower than what they are for debate forums. Personal attacks will not be allowed. Snide comments are not welcome. Ad hominem will not be allowed.

We started off talking about diploma mills. Some made very salient and germane posts. Some did not. Many did both in ways that were offensive to individuals. Therefore, this thread is closed. It doesn't matter how right you are - no one has the right to do wrong when they're right in confronting wrong.

Reprise the theme song and roll the credits.