Amity University: Free Regionally Accredited BA?

[eriehiker]

Msganti on the other site posted a link related to Amity University in Uttar Pradesh, India.  The university is offering a free Bachelors of Arts degree via MOOC.

I did a little research and, apparently, this university is regionally accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.  WASC also seems to list this particular BA on its accredited list.

It would be very cool if there were a completely free option for a regionally accredited degree.

Links:

http://amitymooc.com/home/ba.php

https://www.wscuc.org/institutions/amity...ar-pradesh

https://www.wscuc.org/degree/175863

[Ideas]

That is amazing if it's completely free!

The degree seems very sociology-focused. It simply says "Bachelor of Arts".

[clep3705]

There may be testing fees:

"Once you complete the course(s) as per the desired duration you can apply for END TERM EXAMINATION through online assessment platform at your nearest centre." http://amitymooc.com/home/how-it-works.php

[DavidHume]

There may be testing fees:

"Once you complete the course(s) as per the desired duration you can apply for END TERM EXAMINATION through online assessment platform at your nearest centre." http://amitymooc.com/home/how-it-works.php

I was trying to locate how much the testing fees are, but could only find the fee for a second exam sitting (retake) would be $5 USD

[bjcheung77]

Yeah, I read that on the other board as well, there was a comment that when people sign up, they don't get email notification for follow up. That made me think, all applications were going into a black hole. It'll be great if someone can actually get enrolled as $5/exam is peanuts!

[DavidHume]

Yeah, I read that on the other board as well, there was a comment that when people sign up, they don't get email notification for follow up. That made me think, all applications were going into a black hole. It'll be great if someone can actually get enrolled as $5/exam is peanuts!

I was able to sign up and started playing around with the platform. Some courses seem to be unavailable, but will see if I can get them to load on another device.

[DavidHume]

So after playing around a bit with the modules in some of the courses I started poking around for more of the administrative information.

In order to apply for the degree (unless you have an acceptable prior education from India) you will have to apply for a Certificate of Equivalence from Association of Indian Universities. The cost for this is ~$185 USD plus whatever fees you encounter for the demand draft or electronic transfer and currency conversion.

http://www.aiu.ac.in/Evaluation/evaluati...1.2017.pdf

To arrange the actual exams after completing the modules there is not a simple automatic process. You will have to email a request and wait for instructions. It is unclear if you have to wait the actual time frame listed for the courses before requesting the exam. Some of the courses say 6 months, others say 3 months. I might experiment with this as time allows, but the process is not super user friendly.

[eriehiker]

I completed Module #1 for the Foundation Course in Language. It was super easy. There are Youtube videos that cover things like homophones. I just clicked through. Following each video is a one question quiz about the video. My guess is that this whole thing would not require a great time commitment. I'm going to approach it like a copy of the Reader's Digest in the bathroom - just kind of do some of it when I am bored.

[clep3705]

The question is how much could be transferred in, what can be done to reduce the time sink of watching so many MOOCs.

[msganti]

I am the OP of this on the "other" site.

A word of caution about Amity or any Indian universities - they are not terribly easy to work with like American universities. Most of their staff are probably not trained to interact with foreign students. Do not expect immediate (or any) responses to emails. Some times it's best to call them during their work hours (usually 9AM - 4PM IST). If you are a native English speaker, please speak very...very slow and clearly. If they can not answer your question, politely ask them to transfer to their boss. Expect long holds and delays on phone, so use a VOIP service to avoid costly international calls from your cell phone.