New DEAC Doctorate

[Sagan]

Transfer of credit is merely one issue--and a rather small one compared the the performance of degrees from different sources.

The "medal" rankings are purely subjective. Like Olympic medals they could represent very, very tight differences between them or vast ones. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Klaus Beer took the silver medal in the long jump at 26 ft 10.5 inches. Just ahead of him for the gold was Bob Beamon with a jump of 29 feet, 2½ inches! More than two feet! (That world record stood for 31 years.)

On the other hand, the 1972 Mens 400m medley swim race was won by a mere .0002 seconds. This in a performance that took more than 4 1/2 minutes. Still, one guy got the gold and the other left with silver.

Also, these distinctions can become meaningless in personal circumstances. There was a time not all that long ago when just a handful of unknown RA schools offered doctorates by DL. (In 1985, for example, there were just 5.) But if you earned one from one of these "silver medal" schools, it could be like a gold medal for you if that's all you could have pursued.

Another distinction is utility. Barry Johnson, the mind behind polarities, got his PhD at Interntational College. (Not even "Tin" on the list.) No one has ever questioned his degree and he is quite accomplished in his field. Personal circumstances matter.

Also, there is a great deal of variance in the "Gold" category above. No one is going to confuse Saybrook or Fielding with Harvard and Yale.

Rather than get tangled up trying to fit a simple framework over a complicated concept, suss out your needs and what will fulfill them. Choose carefully, of course, since your decision will likely affect the rest of your life, regardless of the "medal" you take home.

[newdegree]

Transfer of credit is merely one issue--and a rather small one compared the the performance of degrees from different sources.

The "medal" rankings are purely subjective. Like Olympic medals they could represent very, very tight differences between them or vast ones. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Klaus Beer took the silver medal in the long jump at 26 ft 10.5 inches. Just ahead of him for the gold was Bob Beamon with a jump of 29 feet, 2½ inches! More than two feet! (That world record stood for 31 years.)

On the other hand, the 1972 Mens 400m medley swim race was won by a mere .0002 seconds. This in a performance that took more than 4 1/2 minutes. Still, one guy got the gold and the other left with silver.

Also, these distinctions can become meaningless in personal circumstances. There was a time not all that long ago when just a handful of unknown RA schools offered doctorates by DL. (In 1985, for example, there were just 5.) But if you earned one from one of these "silver medal" schools, it could be like a gold medal for you if that's all you could have pursued.

Another distinction is utility. Barry Johnson, the mind behind polarities, got his PhD at Interntational College. (Not even "Tin" on the list.) No one has ever questioned his degree and he is quite accomplished in his field. Personal circumstances matter.

Also, there is a great deal of variance in the "Gold" category above. No one is going to confuse Saybrook or Fielding with Harvard and Yale.

Rather than get tangled up trying to fit a simple framework over a complicated concept, suss out your needs and what will fulfill them. Choose carefully, of course, since your decision will likely affect the rest of your life, regardless of the "medal" you take home.

The example you gave was about Olympic medals; the example I used in my post was about jewelry metals and their worth. 1oz of gold is worth more than 1 oz of silver. 1 oz of silver is worth more than 1 oz of bronze. Tin is pretty much useless. They do not hold the same value as your example of Olympic medals and how someone can be less than a second from gaining a higher medal. 

Now, when we are talking about prestigious schools, that's another story... I spoke about accreditation and how getting your degree makes a difference. Top schools like Harvard and Yale fall into the Gold Standard. You can't compare a degree from somewhere like the University of Pheniox to a Harvard Degree. Both are regionally accredited, but with different educational standards. Do they both get the job done? Sure, we can say that, but when an employer is faced with screening and choosing a candidate solely on their educational background (not their work experience, which will be a separate factor), they would choose the more recognized or higher-ranking school with better accreditation. 

If I were a hiring manager and two candidates came to me, both with the same level of experience, but one had a regionally accredited degree and the other had a nationally accredited degree, and they both did well on the interview. I would go with the person who has a regionally accredited degree. 

Again, this is my personal opinion, and I believe my logic makes sense behind accreditation and how I ranked them.

[SteveFoerster]

If I were a hiring manager and two candidates came to me, both with the same level of experience, but one had a regionally accredited degree and the other had a nationally accredited degree, and they both did well on the interview. I would go with the person who has a regionally accredited degree.

I'm sure you would, but once you get off of forums like this, it's rare to run into anyone who thinks about this stuff enough to have an opinion about it.

I can see employers treating high prestige schools differently, as I once worked for a place that liked to hire out of those sorts of schools (I squeaked in with my degree from lowly GW because I was mid-career). But once you get below the hundred or so schools that most people have actually heard of, typically any legitimate degree checks the box. And that's not just me saying that, btw: we've had this conversation over on DegreeInfo and that's what people who actually do HR say as well.

[ss20ts]

Transfer of credit is merely one issue--and a rather small one compared the the performance of degrees from different sources.

The "medal" rankings are purely subjective. Like Olympic medals they could represent very, very tight differences between them or vast ones. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Klaus Beer took the silver medal in the long jump at 26 ft 10.5 inches. Just ahead of him for the gold was Bob Beamon with a jump of 29 feet, 2½ inches! More than two feet! (That world record stood for 31 years.)

On the other hand, the 1972 Mens 400m medley swim race was won by a mere .0002 seconds. This in a performance that took more than 4 1/2 minutes. Still, one guy got the gold and the other left with silver.

Also, these distinctions can become meaningless in personal circumstances. There was a time not all that long ago when just a handful of unknown RA schools offered doctorates by DL. (In 1985, for example, there were just 5.) But if you earned one from one of these "silver medal" schools, it could be like a gold medal for you if that's all you could have pursued.

Another distinction is utility. Barry Johnson, the mind behind polarities, got his PhD at Interntational College. (Not even "Tin" on the list.) No one has ever questioned his degree and he is quite accomplished in his field. Personal circumstances matter.

Also, there is a great deal of variance in the "Gold" category above. No one is going to confuse Saybrook or Fielding with Harvard and Yale.

Rather than get tangled up trying to fit a simple framework over a complicated concept, suss out your needs and what will fulfill them. Choose carefully, of course, since your decision will likely affect the rest of your life, regardless of the "medal" you take home.

The example you gave was about Olympic medals; the example I used in my post was about jewelry metals and their worth. 1oz of gold is worth more than 1 oz of silver. 1 oz of silver is worth more than 1 oz of bronze. Tin is pretty much useless. They do not hold the same value as your example of Olympic medals and how someone can be less than a second from gaining a higher medal. 

Now, when we are talking about prestigious schools, that's another story... I spoke about accreditation and how getting your degree makes a difference. Top schools like Harvard and Yale fall into the Gold Standard. You can't compare a degree from somewhere like the University of Pheniox to a Harvard Degree. Both are regionally accredited, but with different educational standards. Do they both get the job done? Sure, we can say that, but when an employer is faced with screening and choosing a candidate solely on their educational background (not their work experience, which will be a separate factor), they would choose the more recognized or higher-ranking school with better accreditation. 

If I were a hiring manager and two candidates came to me, both with the same level of experience, but one had a regionally accredited degree and the other had a nationally accredited degree, and they both did well on the interview. I would go with the person who has a regionally accredited degree. 

Again, this is my personal opinion, and I believe my logic makes sense behind accreditation and how I ranked them.

And then when my husband was considering completing his bachelor's degree online during Covid shutdowns, multiple people he works with including managers and directors told him to go to PUG - Purdue University Global - over WGU. Why? THey'd never heard of WGU, but they were very familiar with Purdue University. Now PUG is not PU, but it is essentially a sister university. PUG and PU grads all belong to the same alumni association. Now if we lived in Utah or a western state, the response may have been different. The managers and directors did not have an issue with the word global in the university's same. Yes, there are some people who have an issue with online education even though it's 2026. I kind of wonder if those types of people have an issue with education in general or if they're jealous because they sat in a classroom for 15 weeks listening to some old monotone guy ramble on about cost accounting for an hour at 8am on Mondays. The reality is that most people haven't a clue about accreditation. And it really means nothing to them. We see lots of people on here especially when they're in the beginning stages of their educational journey not know or understand the differences in accreditation. Outside of academia it's really not that serious.

[Sagan]

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"They don't know and they don't care."

By the way, this is the fundamental enabling factor for the diploma mill industry.