In Praise of SoBaT

[openair]

I have some recommendations for anyone who wants to make a case for SOBAT. Please try to answer these questions.

1) SOBAT does not currently provide any statements on the topic of who authorized them to issue degrees. Do you find this practice acceptable? Why?

2) What are the names and qualifications of the individuals responsible for SOBAT including the owner and faculty? Do you find the lack of such details acceptable?

3) Can anyone just start a school and grant degrees as they please?

eLearner, I agree with your point about the element of subjectivity, as some of the mistakes could alter one's life trajectory. But I have not seen accreditation upgrading practices with NACES members. Validential is unique in that regard. Blacklisting is a different matter. It isn't the result of approving an unaccredited school and then backtracking on the decision. NACES members would typically approve an accredited institution at one point and then take a different course of action at a later point, as controversies arose with these schools. That's not the same thing. As for the payments for degree transcripts, I can totally sympathize with your frustration.

[newdegree]

Has anyone recently gotten their degree from SoBaT and been accredited by Validential? From what I hear, they are no longer evaluating these degrees.

[NotJoeBiden]

They are not valid degrees.

[sahabah]

Reading about the online “School of Business and Trade (SoBaT) on this forum had me curious, and over the past couple weeks I completed their MA in Social Sciences program. 

I have nothing but good things to say. While it’s possible to accelerate through the program for a seasoned learner, it’s not a quick process. The 12 exams required across different domains of human knowledge really do require substantial engagement with the texts, to the point that despite their open-book nature, they do not lend themselves to quick search engine answers.

After completing, I was invested and impressed enough to even pay the modest graduation fee for a diploma to support the institution (who issues then both a PDF diploma and transcript, with a verification code to authenticate those documents on their website). For self-directed learners, one could actually get a lot out of this program. 

YMMV on the utility of the application of the credential in the private sector in a North American context, but from an integrity standpoint, this program is every bit as legitimate as other similarly formatted accredited programs, from Ashworth to Capella. 

If these folks added proctoring to their exams, this could be a real interruption in higher ed. The exams were thought provoking and challenging, and included international relations, human geography, communications, climate change, public health ethics, writing, social work research, human psychology, political science, advanced sociology, statistics, and world history.

Thank you. How to pay for the graduation fee please?

[bjcheung77]

Thank you. How to pay for the graduation fee please?

Did you take all the classes required from them? Did you not take a look at the rest of their website?
For a Bachelors, it's $165 CHF, for a Masters it's $185 CHF. You need to order in the #OpenCourseWare.
Link: https://sobat.org/graduation/

[SteveFoerster]

I have some recommendations for anyone who wants to make a case for SOBAT. Please try to answer these questions.

I'm not making a case for SOBAT, but I'll answer anyway because it's fun.

1) SOBAT does not currently provide any statements on the topic of who authorized them to issue degrees. Do you find this practice acceptable? Why?

Not really. Given that the one fee they charge they accept in Swiss francs, and given that there are a few Swiss cantons from which one can run a degree granting school without any oversight, it's actually kind of foolish that they don't list a mailbox in Zug as an address, or something like that, when they clearly could do so. Compare these two conversations:

"My Master's degree is from SOBAT."
"Where's that?"
"Switzerland. I did it online."
"Oh, okay."

vs.

"My Master's degree is from SOBAT."
"Where's that?"
"Uh, I don't know."
"dafuq?"

2) What are the names and qualifications of the individuals responsible for SOBAT including the owner and faculty? Do you find the lack of such details acceptable?

I'd care less about this if there were a clear answer to your first question.

3) Can anyone just start a school and grant degrees as they please?

Yes, actually, but it depends very much on the jurisdiction and the nature of the institution.

As an aside, it's a shame that the "School of Business and Trade" doesn't offer any programs in Trade, which, given the cost, I might have considered doing just for the fun of it regardless of their recognition.

[panda02]

How do i even sign up?
When i click enroll, it takes me to log in page with no option to create an account.

[vrilpr]

How do i even sign up?
When i click enroll, it takes me to log in page with no option to create an account.

They seem to have closed both LIBS and Sobat. LIBS website is not working and Sobat has removed the option to view the programs and login.