Where does "legitimate university" end and "diploma mill" begin?

[BlackSkirtTetra]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I have a friend who is entering an all-online MA program. It's housed in a real brick-and-mortar university, but the program itself is 100% online except for the internship.

This in and of itself concerns me. I wouldn't hire somebody in a field like psychology who went to school online. After all, what is counseling and therapy, if not demonstrated through real-world people skills?

This lead me to question--at what point does a university become a diploma mill? I know there are lists of the best programs, but is there a list of programs or institutions to steer clear from?

 

[Pragma]

I have a friend who is entering an all-online MA program. It's housed in a real brick-and-mortar university, but the program itself is 100% online except for the internship.

This in and of itself concerns me. I wouldn't hire somebody in a field like psychology who went to school online. After all, what is counseling and therapy, if not demonstrated through real-world people skills?

This lead me to question--at what point does a university become a diploma mill? I know there are lists of the best programs, but is there a list of programs or institutions to steer clear from?

Hard to say, as all Universities do print and distribute diplomas (Wait - do online programs send you a PDF file instead? 😀).

But seriously, it is going to be hard to tell moving forward. In each of the universities I am affiliated with for various reasons, offering online options is at least being discussed if not implemented. Lots of places will at least offer hybrid courses if it creates a way to enroll another section for students. I think you have to go on the reputation of the University as a whole as opposed to the modality of instruction. Purely online Universities tend to have poor reputations.

 

[AnnoyedByFreud]

Honestly, it seems like some form of online education is being applied across almost all universities, or at least being considered. It really does seem to be the wave of the future, sigh. Diploma mills are typically easy to get into, have massive class sizes, etc. It's true, though, as more "legit" schools offer online programs, it can be hard to tell the difference between a good program and a crappy one. In the end, I think it will cheapen the worth of higher education.

 

[roubs]

Honestly, it seems like some form of online education is being applied across almost all universities, or at least being considered. It really does seem to be the wave of the future, sigh. Diploma mills are typically easy to get into, have massive class sizes, etc. It's true, though, as more "legit" schools offer online programs, it can be hard to tell the difference between a good program and a crappy one. In the end, I think it will cheapen the worth of higher education.

Agree, I still think class size is still a good metric. Even with an online program are they willing to provide good mentoring or are they just trying to usher in as many as they possibly can?