There is a sense in which many online and for-profit universities are sort of diploma mills — even when they make some effort to transcend that status. Their students, often, are seeking not a degree they can take to market, but rather a credential that will qualify them for a raise or a promotion. As a result, quality is far less important than convenience and easiness.
Yes, these schools are "market-driven," but it’s not the same market that other universities compete in (despite the best efforts of successive Republican administrations). Mostly. Unfortunately, the same imperatives prevail for certain programs in "real" universities, notably graduate programs in Education.
> a credential that will qualify them for a raise or a promotion…. Unfortunately, the same imperatives prevail for certain programs in "real" universities, notably graduate programs in Education.
I was going to play devil’s advocate and say that selling credentials to those seeking automatic salary increases was an important part of the revenue stream of many regular brick-and-mortar universities as well, but you did get to that point at the end. Continuing to play devil’s advocate, I’m not sure there’s a qualitative difference here. The M.Ed. degree is a profit-center both online and off, at diploma mills as well as at "respectable" [sic] universities.
March 14th, 2009 at 11:08AM
There is a sense in which many online and for-profit universities are sort of diploma mills — even when they make some effort to transcend that status. Their students, often, are seeking not a degree they can take to market, but rather a credential that will qualify them for a raise or a promotion. As a result, quality is far less important than convenience and easiness.
Yes, these schools are "market-driven," but it’s not the same market that other universities compete in (despite the best efforts of successive Republican administrations). Mostly. Unfortunately, the same imperatives prevail for certain programs in "real" universities, notably graduate programs in Education.
March 14th, 2009 at 1:24PM
> a credential that will qualify them for a raise or a promotion…. Unfortunately, the same imperatives prevail for certain programs in "real" universities, notably graduate programs in Education.
I was going to play devil’s advocate and say that selling credentials to those seeking automatic salary increases was an important part of the revenue stream of many regular brick-and-mortar universities as well, but you did get to that point at the end. Continuing to play devil’s advocate, I’m not sure there’s a qualitative difference here. The M.Ed. degree is a profit-center both online and off, at diploma mills as well as at "respectable" [sic] universities.
(Also: some recent comments from me on how the M.Ed. effectively locks academic faculty out of rewarding jobs, constricting the academic job market further and denying students important educational opportunities.)