Would you ever recommend a NA degree?

[Ideas]

What if someone already had a job they wanted to keep or get promoted in, but was probably going to need a checkbox Masters degree to keep it? And the degree was worth the cost because of the promotion.

And if they thought an NA degree would probably be acceptable. I know it is rarely acceptable, but this is an informal situation where the employer is foreign and not as likely to know or look into it. The employer would not be looking to get rid of them due to experience and job performance, but were pressured into checking if employees met the check box.

Or they could do the real thing (RA), but they would be stuck at lower pay and possibly not finish the RA in time.

I know that for undergrad, the NA degrees are about the same cost as RA. But for the Masters (or very specific other degree) they need, it's a field without the cheaper ones, so RA does cost a lot more than NA, meaning taking out loans.

It is obvious I'm really biased toward the NA degree in this situation. I am against them generally.

[sanantone]

I wouldn't say that NA would rarely be acceptable. Most employers don't know the difference. There's not much variety in NA masters programs. They mostly have the most popular majors i.e. business administration, education, psychology, etc. There are cheap, RA, competency-based options for those.

[bjcheung77]

The national accreditors get their name from their common (but not universal) practice of accrediting schools nationwide or even worldwide.

Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) (recognized by USDE)
Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET) (recognized by USDE)
Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) (Note: This accreditor's recognition by the United States Department of Education is revoked.[76] The Council for Higher Education Accreditation still recognizes this accreditor.)
Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) (recognized by USDE and CHEA)
Council on Occupational Education (COE) (recognized by USDE)

There are four recognized nationwide faith-based accrediting bodies in the United States, all also recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Association of Advanced Rabbinical and Talmudic Schools (AARTS)
Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) Commission on Accrediting
Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) Commission on Accreditation
Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) Accreditation Commission

There are only a handful of NA schools that are actually cheaper than the cheapest RA schools or competency based schools, and all of them are from DEAC. A few of the better ones for cheap/easy/fast - Ashworth, New Charter, Penn Foster, Taft, UofPeople and WLC (William Loveland College - yes, the one with the lawsuit against DEAC).

I would only recommend NA schools for programs that may not be available elsewhere for cheap - such as the Taft Law School for CA residents, another is Grantham University which is also NA, but I would recommend them for their ABET recognized Engineering programs. I would not mind going to a DEAC school that has secondary programmatic/system accreditation as well...

[sanantone]

William Loveland College is no longer accredited. They might be pursuing other accreditation.

[cookderosa]

You can get an accredited degree that isn't specifically regionally accredited - it's legitimate in every way and accepted by almost every occupation. There are, however, occupations that exclude NA degrees, so assuming that's not an issue in this occupation, it makes no difference.

I spent my whole adult career with an NA degree and I ran a department at a community college for many years as well as teaching there - 18 years actually.

I would caution people who assume that NA is faster / easier / cheaper as a general rule. I don't think that's the case as a whole. NA colleges take themselves quite seriously. Obtaining National Accreditation isn't cheap, fast, or easy. In fact, at one time, I applied to Andrew Jackson University (now called New Charter and an NA college) and it was a bit cheaper, a bit more flexible, but was still going to take 2 years of hard work to earn. And for *me* I value time over money, so it was my decision that if I were putting in the time, I didn't want any potential barriers later.

My masters, by the way, was a ton of work. No way I'd do another. (Edit to add: I opted for an RA masters) So, my suggestion is if you think in any way shape or form 10 years from now that you'd ever need an RA masters, do that instead. Whether or not your current employer knows the difference isn't a good litmus test imo.

[rebel100]

I'll take the contrary position. Takes the same time as an RA, likely costs as much. I would forever be looking over my shoulder wondering if they knew and f it was the reason for some problem or lack of promotion.

WGU, Patten, is it Hodges? All of these and more are RA, quick (potentially), and very affordable.

I have less of an issue at the Masters level in your situation than if you asked about an NA Bachelors.

There ya go, my 2 cents.....cost you less than that.

---

What degree are you looking for?

[dfrecore]

There are tons of great options for an RA master's degree - besides competency-based ones, there are ones that you can get for a decent price (maybe $10k-$15k like APU). I'm not sure why you would get an NA? I don't see the point.

[Ideas]

Oh. I guess these schools aren't through a real NA agency because there is more of a price difference between these and RA. They each have some kind of national or U.S. accrediting agency, but I guess they are not considered NA  I think "degree mill" is harsh, because you have to do a lot of courses each with graded exams/assignments, but I guess they get lumped in with everything below NA. 

So I guess I asked the wrong question. Would anything below NA ever be worthwhile? I don't have a specific program in mind, but I saved some links a while ago and would search for more, only if it's worth considering. I guess I would see it as a check-the-box "disposable" degree. Insurance against losing my current job, and possibly to help me earn a little bit more in the current job. Then if it ever helped me gain a different part-time job, or helped me in any other way, that would be a bonus.

At least I would have the real TESU Biology degree (and BSBA) and at least one certification. Biology is not related enough to the job, but I feel like at least I don't seem like a person trying to get away with just degree mills? Or is it too tarnishing that I ever did something below NA? I would not put this non-NA on my resume for most future jobs, of course. Would future grad schools see this non-NA and would they put a red flag on me?

In the next 2-4 years, I am making efforts to switch to a different career field. But I don't want to give up this current part-time job as long as they will let me continue. Even if I get a good job in the other field, I would like to do this part-time on my days off and off hours if I can. Also, I am not sure my different career field attempts will be a full-time success because of my disabilities. They may be part-time.

Because the degree would have such a limited use, I wouldn't want to spend much money. I wouldn't mind putting in my time, because I would enjoy learning, but the longer it takes, the more nervous I am about losing the current job.

Edit: Even with non-NA, maybe it would only be a Bachelors to save money and time. Or I might forego all this and hope certifications are enough, but I also have a friend wondering about non-NA Bachelors to save money.

Edit: I think I could test out of an RA Associates/Bachelors in 3-6 months, but that would be around $4000 or more for Bachelors and $2000 for Associates, and the bigger problem is most of the RA test-out degrees aren't as relevant sounding.

[rebel100]

We do not advocate diploma mill "credentials" of any sort of this forum.

You asked about masters degrees now you are switching gears to bachelor and associate programs.

You will not find acceptance of non legitimate options here, please stop asking.

You might consider Unversity of the People. I believe they are still unnacredited, but they are a legitimate company with an idea.

[Ideas]

We do not advocate diploma mill "credentials" of any sort of this forum.

You asked about masters degrees now you are switching gears to bachelor and associate programs.

You will not find acceptance of non legitimate options here, please stop asking.

Oh, ok. I guess they are worse than I thought.