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NA vs RA grad school - Ideas - 10-26-2018
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.)
RE: NA vs RA grad school - sanantone - 10-26-2018
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.
RE: NA vs RA grad school - MNomadic - 10-26-2018
(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.
RE: NA vs RA grad school - jsd - 10-26-2018
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
RE: NA vs RA grad school - cookderosa - 10-26-2018
(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.
RE: NA vs RA grad school - allvia - 10-26-2018
(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.
RE: NA vs RA grad school - sanantone - 10-26-2018
University of the People is a terrible name.
RE: NA vs RA grad school - jsd - 10-26-2018
(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
RE: NA vs RA grad school - sanantone - 10-26-2018
(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.
RE: NA vs RA grad school - jsd - 10-26-2018
Instead you get a cringe-worthy MBA
