NA vs RA grad school

[sanantone]

Nations University also kind of has a totalitarian-sounding name similar to University of the People, but not as bad.

[Ideas]

What's the RA school with the worst rep? Maybe University of Phoenix? Deserved or not they're usually the poster child for for-profit bad apples.

What's a single NA school with a good rep? I don't know if I can think of any that people outside of niches like us would know. So the NA person might make me assume that their unknown school is some RA school I haven't heard of (and therefore likely better than UoPhx at least, per popular opinion)... But if I knew it was an NA school upfront, I'd be inclined to think it was probably on par with UoPhx at best.

Personally I think U of Phoenix comes to many people's minds. High profile.

Aspen is considered one of the best NA schools, apparently. What I mean is schools that have many graduates with successful careers. Some of the other schools that were "one of the best" later got RA approval.

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Huh?  This is a strange question.  I'd like you to find me 10 random strangers not on this board- if I name an accreditor, I'll give you a dollar if they can tell me if it is (1) regional (2) national (3) fiction.  Without googling, can you tell me how many RA accrediting agencies there are? What about NA?  No way the average Joe can name one without looking.  Maybe 2-3 and only if they work in the industry.  

People don't know this kind of thing.  
Also, the general Joe knows probably less than 200 colleges (50 University of, 50 X State Univerisity, the ivys, the big 10, and I'll give them another 50 to account for their knowledge of their own profession and geography).  On that list, I'm sure they wouldn't know if any of the schools were RA or NA - heck people don't even know the difference between NA and RA.  

Unless someone dedicates time to learning the nuances between accreditors, and then actively studies who is accredited, you're not going to get an answer that has any meaning.  Even the OPINIONS of members here are pretty limited.

True about average people. I'm wondering more about smart, educated people.

That is part of why I'm thinking of doing NA versus the bad RA. I feel that I will end up networking with some Ivy League grads and other top listed schools. I'd rather them think "never heard of her school, it must not be good", but assume that I must not have gone to a terrible school. Versus think "she went to U of Phoenix? Suspicious."

However, it's not hard to Google. Do you think the Ivy League grads have an overall correct view of what NA is?

[alexf.1990]

What's the RA school with the worst rep? Maybe University of Phoenix? Deserved or not they're usually the poster child for for-profit bad apples.

What's a single NA school with a good rep? I don't know if I can think of any that people outside of niches like us would know. So the NA person might make me assume that their unknown school is some RA school I haven't heard of (and therefore likely better than UoPhx at least, per popular opinion)... But if I knew it was an NA school upfront, I'd be inclined to think it was probably on par with UoPhx at best.

Personally I think U of Phoenix comes to many people's minds. High profile.

Aspen is considered one of the best NA schools, apparently. What I mean is schools that have many graduates with successful careers. Some of the other schools that were "one of the best" later got RA approval.

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Huh?  This is a strange question.  I'd like you to find me 10 random strangers not on this board- if I name an accreditor, I'll give you a dollar if they can tell me if it is (1) regional (2) national (3) fiction.  Without googling, can you tell me how many RA accrediting agencies there are? What about NA?  No way the average Joe can name one without looking.  Maybe 2-3 and only if they work in the industry.  

People don't know this kind of thing.  
Also, the general Joe knows probably less than 200 colleges (50 University of, 50 X State Univerisity, the ivys, the big 10, and I'll give them another 50 to account for their knowledge of their own profession and geography).  On that list, I'm sure they wouldn't know if any of the schools were RA or NA - heck people don't even know the difference between NA and RA.  

Unless someone dedicates time to learning the nuances between accreditors, and then actively studies who is accredited, you're not going to get an answer that has any meaning.  Even the OPINIONS of members here are pretty limited.

True about average people. I'm wondering more about smart, educated people.

That is part of why I'm thinking of doing NA versus the bad RA. I feel that I will end up networking with some Ivy League grads and other top listed schools. I'd rather them think "never heard of her school, it must not be good", but assume that I must not have gone to a terrible school. Versus think "she went to U of Phoenix? Suspicious."

However, it's not hard to Google. Do you think the Ivy League grads have an overall correct view of what NA is?

Cookderosa is probably being generous with her 100 university estimate. I'd say its closer to 25 for the average person. They''ll know about half of the Ivies, a handful of schools from their state, and a handful of schools with good sports programs. The average Ivy grad will know of a few more universities than the average person, but its not going to be significantly more. Their knowledge will be limited to schools with high profiles in the field the Ivy grad is in, or schools their friends attended. I think its safe to assume that few people outside of recruiters, HR departments, and people on this board actually know the difference between NA and RA.

If you're looking to impress Ivy grads, look for schools with good programs in your field. In the long run, your hobbies, personality, and work history are going to matter more than where you went to college. You might be better off attending a bland university and working on the other areas of your life.

[Ideas]

Cookderosa is probably being generous with her 100 university estimate. I'd say its closer to 25 for the average person. They''ll know about half of the Ivies, a handful of schools from their state, and a handful of schools with good sports programs. The average Ivy grad will know of a few more universities than the average person, but its not going to be significantly more. Their knowledge will be limited to schools with high profiles in the field the Ivy grad is in, or schools their friends attended. I think its safe to assume that few people outside of recruiters, HR departments, and people on this board actually know the difference between NA and RA.

If you're looking to impress Ivy grads, look for schools with good programs in your field. In the long run, your hobbies, personality, and work history are going to matter more than where you went to college. You might be better off attending a bland university and working on the other areas of your life.

Interesting.

Thanks. I like that advice.

[sanantone]

Why is the choice between bad RA and NA? The bad RAs tend to be a little expensive. There are plenty of RA, podunk universities that are affordable and unknown.

If one has to attend an unknown school, I think podunk state universities are the best. People rarely question those. I've found that a surprising number of people know that WGU is "that online school" because of the commercials. But, I think WGU has been good at getting the word out that they're non-profit. For-profits tend to get the lowest opinions.

[Ideas]

I guess I'm not seriously considering the bad RA schools. You're right, I'd do a less known not-for-profit RA if I don't do the NA. (I thought it would be nice to know if the NA would be considered similar to U of Phoenix, a little worse, a little better, etc.)

[dfrecore]

First, you're comparing apples to oranges. All RA's vs. All NA's. It's hard enough to compare 2 similar schools in your state, let alone 2 categories of schools that most people even know exist.

I'm with cookderosa, you are WAY overestimating what people know. RA, NA, they're clueless. Yes, smart people too.

And I also agree with sanantone, a state university is almost always going to be your best bet. Especially if it has the state in the name or the word "state" in it.

I spend zero time worrying about what people will think of my degree or the school I went to. No one cares. Unless you are going to an Ivy, or a top-ranked school in your field, after that, it just does not matter.

[cookderosa]

True about average people. I'm wondering more about smart, educated people.

Smart educated people don't know automatically- you have to have a reason to investigate it and an interest in learning it - very small sample size. I can give you examples of people I've met in real life who SHOULD have known but didn't, but they were perfectly smart and well educated. OTOH, I don't think understanding accreditation makes you any smarter or better educated than the guy that doesn't. It's not important to know this kind of stuff.
Accreditation is nerd candy for people like us - I'm a super nerd about a lot of subjects that I know deeply, things you don't know (I'm guessing you don't collect Hostas, do extreme couponing, or teach classes about the foods of Parma Italy) but that doesn't make either of us smarter or more educated. So, to diagram the people who know about NA/RA/fictional accreditors and then to create another set of people with opinions about prestige and then ask about the intersection is crazy town.
Why is there an assumption that accreditation and prestige even have an intersection? Prestige (in my opinion) has nothing to do with accreditation and everything to do with emotion. But that's enough social psychology from me tonight, I have to get to bed.

PS I also think University of the People is a terrible name. I've read MANY posts of people opting for TESU or COSC because they didn't like the name Excelsior - I think picking a name you like is a perfectly legit reason to pick a school. Like picking a baby name- names are important and you should feel proud of where you went to college. I was 99.99% ready for my son to earn his NA degree through a perfectly fine school - he was enrolled, but that .01% of my nerdy over-informed-brain pulled him out and put him into COSC. At the end of the day, I had to choose RA for him - and I'm also 99.99% sure it will never matter for his career, but how you feel is important, and since I made the decision, I had to choose RA for him. My vote is to go with what matters TO YOU so feel good about it. Honestly, people have the same analysis paralysis using completely different criteria never once considering accreditation. TRUE STORY last weekend a student volunteer helping me with one of my culinary classes told me she was transferring out of (where I teach) to a different school (down the street) and ACTUALLY TOLD ME "their colors are purple and gold which is sooo pretty." Real words from someone dropping $50k per year on tuition.

[armstrongsubero]

I think the best sounding name is American Military University. Lol

[sanantone]

True about average people. I'm wondering more about smart, educated people.

Smart educated people don't know automatically- you have to have a reason to investigate it and an interest in learning it - very small sample size.  I can give you examples of people I've met in real life who SHOULD have known but didn't, but they were perfectly smart and well educated.  OTOH, I don't think understanding accreditation makes you any smarter or better educated than the guy that doesn't.  It's not important to know this kind of stuff.
Accreditation is nerd candy for people like us - I'm a super nerd about a lot of subjects that I know deeply, things you don't know (I'm guessing you don't collect Hostas, do extreme couponing, or teach classes about the foods of Parma Italy) but that doesn't make either of us smarter or more educated.  So, to diagram the people who know about NA/RA/fictional accreditors and then to create another set of people with opinions about prestige and then ask about the intersection is crazy town.  
Why is there an assumption that accreditation and prestige even have an intersection?  Prestige (in my opinion) has nothing to do with accreditation and everything to do with emotion.  But that's enough social psychology from me tonight, I have to get to bed.

PS I also think University of the People is a terrible name.  I've read MANY posts of people opting for TESU or COSC because they didn't like the name Excelsior - I think picking a name you like is a perfectly legit reason to pick a school.  Like picking a baby name- names are important and you should feel proud of where you went to college.  I was 99.99% ready for my son to earn his NA degree through a perfectly fine school - he was enrolled, but that .01% of my nerdy over-informed-brain pulled him out and put him into COSC.  At the end of the day, I had to choose RA for him - and I'm also 99.99% sure it will never matter for his career, but how you feel is important, and since I made the decision, I had to choose RA for him. My vote is to go with what matters TO YOU so feel good about it.    Honestly, people have the same analysis paralysis using completely different criteria never once considering accreditation.  TRUE STORY last weekend a student volunteer helping me with one of my culinary classes told me she was transferring out of (where I teach) to a different school (down the street) and ACTUALLY TOLD ME "their colors are purple and gold which is sooo pretty."  Real words from someone dropping $50k per year on tuition.

My former professor, who has a PhD from one of the best sociology schools and was a doctoral program coordinator, didn't even know who accredited our school. He's a very smart man, but he's not working in the registrar or admissions office, so he had no need to know about accreditation. 

The reason why the topic came up is because police officers do need to know about accreditation, and I was giving a presentation on the limitations of NA degrees in Texas.