European International University

[Unlucky]

I mentioned EIU "sells" their Professional Doctorates.  It's a weird operation,.

I don’t know much about EIU, and I’m not particularly interested because it’s primarily a business school, a major that I’m not currently pursuing. But I wouldn’t go as far as saying that they “sell” degrees, at least based on what I’ve read on their website. They claim to implement a VAE process (Validation des Acquis de l'Expérience), which translates to Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). Regardless of EIU practices, VAE is a legitimate way for obtaining degrees in France and other countries like Australia and most recently Switzerland.

In a legitimate VAE process, one’s achievements and work experience is rigorously evaluated by a “Jury” (professors) to determine if an application is worthy of receiving a degree or partial credits. Applicants sometimes have to do an oral presentation in front of said Jury to emphasize their expertise in the subject matter. Established, state-recognized French universities issue such degrees, with criteria that may slightly vary from one institution to another. VAE degrees, according to Wikipedia, are embedded in the European Erasmus and the Bologna declaration, and aren’t differentiated by their method of delivery. 

Now, the questions we should be asking are: Do EIU and the like adhere to the rigorous, well-established standards when awarding such degrees? If a VAE degree was issued from a fully recognized and accredited university in its home country, will it be evaluated as equivalent in the US/Canada by NACES/AICE members? Has the RPL system been abused in the past (i.e., does it have a bad rep?) If so, by whom? These are areas that require further research and investigation.