Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
NA vs RA grad school
#1
I'm curious which would give you a better immediate impression of a stranger. If they graduated from one of the worst reputation RA schools, or if they graduated from an NA school that was one of the best reputation ones?

Assume whatever schools you personally think are the worst RA and best NA. If it helps, assume two strangers who have equal job titles, equal pay, are the same age, and have the same amount of work experience.

I think it's a toss-up without a clear answer, but I'm wondering how others think. I feel like the NA grad probably paid less, however, so it would be a little smarter, perhaps? Then again, the RA grad has probably given themselves slightly better future options if they need to change employers or go back to school.

I'm not trying to start a discussion about the pros and cons of NA/RA because there are many discussions about that already. But would like to know your opinion about "good" NA schools versus "bad" RA? I am very strongly considering a good-rep NA school, partly due to the cost, but wondering if I should instead go to a low-rep RA school.

I don't plan to be in situations where my NA degree disqualifies me or anything, but I still think I'll get compared somewhat based on my school's rep and accreditation. (It would also disqualify me from adjunct teaching if I do NA, but I think a low-rep RA would basically keep me out too because I'm not competitive in other ways.)

Reply
#2
Are there NA schools with good reputations? From my experience, they either have bad reputations or no reputation. If they have a good reputation, it's usually among a very small group of people.
Graduate of Not VUL or ENEB
MS, MSS and Graduate Cert
AAS, AS, BA, and BS
CLEP
Intro Psych 70, US His I 64, Intro Soc 63, Intro Edu Psych 70, A&I Lit 64, Bio 68, Prin Man 69, Prin Mar 68
DSST
Life Dev Psych 62, Fund Coun 68, Intro Comp 469, Intro Astr 56, Env & Hum 70, HTYH 456, MIS 451, Prin Sup 453, HRM 62, Bus Eth 458
ALEKS
Int Alg, Coll Alg
TEEX
4 credits
TECEP
Fed Inc Tax, Sci of Nutr, Micro, Strat Man, Med Term, Pub Relations
CSU
Sys Analysis & Design, Programming, Cyber
SL
Intro to Comm, Microbio, Acc I
Uexcel
A&P
Davar
Macro, Intro to Fin, Man Acc
Reply
#3
(10-26-2018, 11:33 AM)sanantone Wrote: Are there NA schools with good reputations? From my experience, they either have bad reputations or no reputation. If they have a good reputation, it's usually among a very small group of people.

That's a good question. There are certainly some NA schools that I respect for offering a very inexpensive degree which provides opportunities to people in developing countries (university of people, nation's U, etc) but I wouldn't consider them for myself trying to pursue grad school and careers in the states. So I'm not sure if that counts as good reputation.
WGU BSIT Complete January 2022
(77CU transferred in)(44/44CU ) 

RA(non WGU)(57cr)
JST/TESU Eval of NAVY Training(85/99cr)
The Institutes, TEEX, NFA(9cr): Ethics, Cyber 101/201/301, Safety
Sophia(60cr): 23 classes
Study.com(31cr): Eng105, Fin102, His108, LibSci101, Math104, Stat101, CS107, CS303, BUS107
CLEP(9cr): Intro Sociology 63 Intro Psych 61 US GOV 71
OD(12cr): Robotics, Cyber, Programming, Microecon
CSM(3cr)
Various IT/Cybersecurity Certifications from: CompTIA, Google, Microsoft, AWS, GIAC, LPI, IBM
CS Fund. MicroBachelor(3cr)
Reply
#4
What's the RA school with the worst rep? Maybe University of Phoenix? Deserved or not they're usually the poster child for for-profit bad apples.

What's a single NA school with a good rep? I don't know if I can think of any that people outside of niches like us would know. So the NA person might make me assume that their unknown school is some RA school I haven't heard of (and therefore likely better than UoPhx at least, per popular opinion)... But if I knew it was an NA school upfront, I'd be inclined to think it was probably on par with UoPhx at best.

There are exceptions of course. The largely for-profit, NA schools for nursing I think serve the market well (from what little I know of the field), but in speaking in generalities and weighing popular public opinion, I'm still going to lean toward the bad RA.

But there's certainly a valid argument to be made that since the public has no idea what NA vs RA is, and since the public does have a bias against a place like UoPhx, you might as well go to a no-name NA, save some money, and avoid the UoPhx stigma. (my counter would be there are good options of lesser-known RA schools that are going to be just as cheap if not cheaper than NA -- JFKu, WGU, etc -- so you can have your cake and eat it too -- RA/no stigma/cheap)

Ultimately it depends on your end goal, NA could work fine for one's personal situation. And it's not like most people are set on teaching or are in fields that require certain accreditation for licensure, or want to turn their NA Masters into a RA doctorate. So it could be fine for someone. For me personally, since ultimately I wouldn't be saving time or money in most NA masters programs, would rather go with the less limiting RA option.

(10-26-2018, 11:44 AM)jsd Wrote: What's a single NA school with a good rep? I don't know if I can think of any that people outside of niches like us would know.


sanantone beat me to my main point Big Grin
Northwestern California University School of Law
JD Law, 2027 (in progress, currently 2L)

Georgia Tech
MS Cybersecurity (Policy), 2021

Thomas Edison State University
BA Computer Science, 2023
BA Psychology, 2016
AS Business Administration, 2023
Certificate in Operations Management, 2023
Certificate in Computer Information Systems, 2023

Western Governors University
BS IT Security, 2018

Chaffey College
AA Sociology, 2015

Accumulated Credit: Undergrad: 258.50 | Graduate: 32

View all of my credit on my Omni Transcript!
Visit the DegreeForum Community Wiki!
Reply
#5
(10-26-2018, 10:46 AM)Ideas Wrote: I'm curious which would give you a better immediate impression of a stranger. If they graduated from one of the worst reputation RA schools, or if they graduated from an NA school that was one of the best reputation ones?

Assume whatever schools you personally think are the worst RA and best NA. If it helps, assume two strangers who have equal job titles, equal pay, are the same age, and have the same amount of work experience.

I think it's a toss-up without a clear answer, but I'm wondering how others think. I feel like the NA grad probably paid less, however, so it would be a little smarter, perhaps? Then again, the RA grad has probably given themselves slightly better future options if they need to change employers or go back to school.

I'm not trying to start a discussion about the pros and cons of NA/RA because there are many discussions about that already. But would like to know your opinion about "good" NA schools versus "bad" RA? I am very strongly considering a good-rep NA school, partly due to the cost, but wondering if I should instead go to a low-rep RA school.

I don't plan to be in situations where my NA degree disqualifies me or anything, but I still think I'll get compared somewhat based on my school's rep and accreditation. (It would also disqualify me from adjunct teaching if I do NA, but I think a low-rep RA would basically keep me out too because I'm not competitive in other ways.)

Huh? This is a strange question. I'd like you to find me 10 random strangers not on this board- if I name an accreditor, I'll give you a dollar if they can tell me if it is (1) regional (2) national (3) fiction. Without googling, can you tell me how many RA accrediting agencies there are? What about NA? No way the average Joe can name one without looking. Maybe 2-3 and only if they work in the industry.

People don't know this kind of thing.
Also, the general Joe knows probably less than 200 colleges (50 University of, 50 X State Univerisity, the ivys, the big 10, and I'll give them another 50 to account for their knowledge of their own profession and geography). On that list, I'm sure they wouldn't know if any of the schools were RA or NA - heck people don't even know the difference between NA and RA.

Unless someone dedicates time to learning the nuances between accreditors, and then actively studies who is accredited, you're not going to get an answer that has any meaning. Even the OPINIONS of members here are pretty limited.
Reply
#6
(10-26-2018, 11:56 AM). cookderosa Wrote:
(10-26-2018, 10:46 AM)Ideas Wrote: I'm curious which would give you a better immediate impression of a stranger. If they graduated from one of the worst reputation RA schools, or if they graduated from an NA school that was one of the best reputation ones?

Assume whatever schools you personally think are the worst RA and best NA. If it helps, assume two strangers who have equal job titles, equal pay, are the same age, and have the same amount of work experience.

I think it's a toss-up without a clear answer, but I'm wondering how others think. I feel like the NA grad probably paid less, however, so it would be a little smarter, perhaps? Then again, the RA grad has probably given themselves slightly better future options if they need to change employers or go back to school.

I'm not trying to start a discussion about the pros and cons of NA/RA because there are many discussions about that already. But would like to know your opinion about "good" NA schools versus "bad" RA? I am very strongly considering a good-rep NA school, partly due to the cost, but wondering if I should instead go to a low-rep RA school.

I don't plan to be in situations where my NA degree disqualifies me or anything, but I still think I'll get compared somewhat based on my school's rep and accreditation. (It would also disqualify me from adjunct teaching if I do NA, but I think a low-rep RA would basically keep me out too because I'm not competitive in other ways.)

Huh?  This is a strange question.  I'd like you to find me 10 random strangers not on this board- if I name an accreditor, I'll give you a dollar if they can tell me if it is (1) regional (2) national (3) fiction.  Without googling, can you tell me how many RA accrediting agencies there are? What about NA?  No way the average Joe can name one without looking.  Maybe 2-3 and only if they work in the industry.  

People don't know this kind of thing.  
Also, the general Joe knows probably less than 200 colleges (50 University of, 50 X State University, the ivys, the big 10, and I'll give them another 50 to account for their knowledge of their own profession and geography).  On that list, I'm sure they wouldn't know if any of the schools were RA or NA - heck people don't even know the difference between NA and RA.  

Unless someone dedicates time to learning the nuances between accreditors, and then actively studies who is accredited, you're not going to get an answer that has any meaning.  Even the OPINIONS of members here are pretty limited.

cookderosa - I like that you added the #3 option (let's face it there are many legit schools who have names that sound outright like they must be fictional), which would make many 'people on the street' assume they wouldn't be accredited at all.  

Ideas - I think that the question itself may be too broad, as I believe it could make a difference in what the degree major is.
Amberton University
- MS Human Relations and Business - 2022
Thomas Edison State University (TESU)
- BSBA General Management - 2018
- ASNSM Computer Science -2018

Reply
#7
University of the People is a terrible name.
Graduate of Not VUL or ENEB
MS, MSS and Graduate Cert
AAS, AS, BA, and BS
CLEP
Intro Psych 70, US His I 64, Intro Soc 63, Intro Edu Psych 70, A&I Lit 64, Bio 68, Prin Man 69, Prin Mar 68
DSST
Life Dev Psych 62, Fund Coun 68, Intro Comp 469, Intro Astr 56, Env & Hum 70, HTYH 456, MIS 451, Prin Sup 453, HRM 62, Bus Eth 458
ALEKS
Int Alg, Coll Alg
TEEX
4 credits
TECEP
Fed Inc Tax, Sci of Nutr, Micro, Strat Man, Med Term, Pub Relations
CSU
Sys Analysis & Design, Programming, Cyber
SL
Intro to Comm, Microbio, Acc I
Uexcel
A&P
Davar
Macro, Intro to Fin, Man Acc
[-] The following 2 users Like sanantone's post:
  • alexf.1990, GoodYellowDogs
Reply
#8
(10-26-2018, 01:22 PM)sanantone Wrote: University of the People is a terrible name.

It is, but it's definitely better than Smartly Institute, which is currently working on NA/DEAC accreditation
Northwestern California University School of Law
JD Law, 2027 (in progress, currently 2L)

Georgia Tech
MS Cybersecurity (Policy), 2021

Thomas Edison State University
BA Computer Science, 2023
BA Psychology, 2016
AS Business Administration, 2023
Certificate in Operations Management, 2023
Certificate in Computer Information Systems, 2023

Western Governors University
BS IT Security, 2018

Chaffey College
AA Sociology, 2015

Accumulated Credit: Undergrad: 258.50 | Graduate: 32

View all of my credit on my Omni Transcript!
Visit the DegreeForum Community Wiki!
Reply
#9
(10-26-2018, 01:25 PM)jsd Wrote:
(10-26-2018, 01:22 PM)sanantone Wrote: University of the People is a terrible name.

It is, but it's definitely better than Smartly Institute, which is currently working on NA/DEAC accreditation

Smartly used to be stylized as Smart.ly which reminded me of Musical.ly, the app that let pre-teens make cringe-worthy music videos.
Graduate of Not VUL or ENEB
MS, MSS and Graduate Cert
AAS, AS, BA, and BS
CLEP
Intro Psych 70, US His I 64, Intro Soc 63, Intro Edu Psych 70, A&I Lit 64, Bio 68, Prin Man 69, Prin Mar 68
DSST
Life Dev Psych 62, Fund Coun 68, Intro Comp 469, Intro Astr 56, Env & Hum 70, HTYH 456, MIS 451, Prin Sup 453, HRM 62, Bus Eth 458
ALEKS
Int Alg, Coll Alg
TEEX
4 credits
TECEP
Fed Inc Tax, Sci of Nutr, Micro, Strat Man, Med Term, Pub Relations
CSU
Sys Analysis & Design, Programming, Cyber
SL
Intro to Comm, Microbio, Acc I
Uexcel
A&P
Davar
Macro, Intro to Fin, Man Acc
Reply
#10
Instead you get a cringe-worthy MBA Wink
Northwestern California University School of Law
JD Law, 2027 (in progress, currently 2L)

Georgia Tech
MS Cybersecurity (Policy), 2021

Thomas Edison State University
BA Computer Science, 2023
BA Psychology, 2016
AS Business Administration, 2023
Certificate in Operations Management, 2023
Certificate in Computer Information Systems, 2023

Western Governors University
BS IT Security, 2018

Chaffey College
AA Sociology, 2015

Accumulated Credit: Undergrad: 258.50 | Graduate: 32

View all of my credit on my Omni Transcript!
Visit the DegreeForum Community Wiki!
[-] The following 1 user Likes jsd's post:
  • quigongene
Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Fastest way to get into graduate school megaworp 20 883 03-22-2024, 11:23 AM
Last Post: davewill
Star a JD for JSD: another Northwestern California University School of Law journey thread jsd 31 6,843 03-08-2024, 08:40 PM
Last Post: HogwartsSchool
  Harvard Extension School Students Rally for Degree Name Change smartdegree 116 15,343 02-22-2024, 09:51 AM
Last Post: sarahmac
  Northwestern California University School of Law - My Journey GoodYellowDogs 47 14,280 02-14-2024, 11:24 AM
Last Post: MFG
  School of Business and Trade evaluation bjcheung77 12 1,244 01-11-2024, 10:36 PM
Last Post: adrian052
  Article bashes Harvard Extension ALM Grad smartdegree 50 8,272 12-25-2023, 09:32 AM
Last Post: posabsolute
  European Grad Studies Abroad: Cost of Living vs Low Tuition Fees bjcheung77 7 1,408 12-23-2023, 08:43 PM
Last Post: nykorn
  Medical School, AMCAS, Prerequisites, Pass or fail, online college, etc... CanICode 22 3,352 10-18-2023, 08:38 AM
Last Post: CanICode
  Seeking a grad school OTmina 4 1,062 10-11-2023, 11:13 PM
Last Post: OTmina
  Caribbean Immigration (Med School Discount! - Secrets - Shhh...) bjcheung77 19 4,501 09-29-2023, 10:14 PM
Last Post: SophiaPrincess

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)