UpGrad DBA Golden Gate U - 70% scholarships for 5,000 students

[Harry101]

The GGU part is not an issue. The red flag is how they offer 65k degrees worth (on Upgrads website also) for 12k-15k to people. Outsourcing as some seem to suggest means Upgrad provides all the materials, professors and everything, which i am not sure how this is legit. 1. they would need to have a license for conducting higher education programs, we are talking here about degrees not PGP courses as some seem to mix them.
Even if you intent do use the degree in Canada, you can not just go to a company in India buy a US degree for cheap if that does not raise red flags then i dont know.
I would love to see if Upgrad has any licensing, because from what i so far have read this is pure misseling of courses.
UGC as is AiU in India have the Ministry of Education backing for regulation, not compling or having permission from the just raises again red flag. This is why number of warnings have been set by the UGC and MoE about Edtech's from India doing doubious things;
UGC notice: https://imgur.com/a/VW2PGGG
1.https://www.timesnownews.com/education/ugc-issues-advisory-for-students-seeking-admission-in-odl-programmes-article-94167699
2.https://www.news18.com/news/education-career/government-to-closely-monitor-code-of-conduct-of-edtech-firms-to-address-any-irregularities-4683983.html
3.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/education-ministry-warns-against-ed-tech-scams-issues-advisory/articleshow/88463310.cms
4.https://yespunjab.com/centre-pulls-up-edtech-firms-for-mis-selling-courses-to-parents-iec-responds/
5.https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2022/may/27/fake-onlinereviews-under-govt-scanner-2458497.html
..these are just from 2022 articles

Now about the distance learning;
1.https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/is-your-foreign-degree-valid-in-india/story-99nl0IvsLIIiEyS1fsbRzH.html
2.https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/who-s-checking-that-foreign-degree/story-Qpgx7t0GVsaoietyh3eNBM.html

These Edtech platforms operate with no refund policy and dodgy operations.
Read some of these legal cases against Upgrad and the experiences people had with them;
1.https://voxya.com/company/upgrad.com-complaints/1212130
2.https://voxya.com/company/upgrad-complaints/1231571
3.https://www.consumercomplaints.in/bycompany/upgrad-a482015.html
..these 3 links are all legal cases that people submited in India, these are not just reviews's.

And given that this forum uncovered tremendous findings regarding SSBM Geneva DBA degrees/accreditation dating back to 2020, i would also advise caution in this case. So i would love to get some info that is backed up by official government approval regarding this DBA course from GGU on upgrads side of things.

[Pikachu]

Further GGU is ONLY approved to offer the DBA ON-Site. This Upgrad thing is problematic IMHO, and could be argued as not actually accredited. Of course GGU offering and delivering an unapproved program can get them in big trouble.

Danger Will Robinson, danger

https://www.wscuc.org/institutions/golde...niversity/

Completely false.

Did you even check the PDF on the link? DBA via distance education is literally listed.


It's on page 3 of the PDF.

[cerich67]

Further GGU is ONLY approved to offer the DBA ON-Site. This Upgrad thing is problematic IMHO, and could be argued as not actually accredited. Of course GGU offering and delivering an unapproved program can get them in big trouble.

Danger Will Robinson, danger

https://www.wscuc.org/institutions/golde...niversity/

Completely false.

Did you even check the PDF on the link? DBA via distance education is literally listed.


It's on page 3 of the PDF.

Did you read my response earlier when that was pointed out to me?

Regardless, the other concerns are still valid IMHO.

While GGU is authorized to do the DBA by distance, it is not GGU faculty doing the delivery.

[Pikachu]

And why is the cost differential an issue? UPenn's MCIT via Coursera costs ~$30k. Their on-campus version costs ~$81k. GeorgiaTech's OMSCS is ~$7k while their on-campus version is ~$36k. University of London's online BSc in CS is ~£11k for the entire program. Their on-campus program, through their constituent colleges, will cost ~£17k PER YEAR. Let's even take the forum's favorite - UMPI. BABA from UMPI's YourPace will cost ~$3.5k. Their on-campus BABA is ~$24k/yr.

@Harry101 - What do you mean by "refund"? You think University of London will refund you fees once you've enrolled? Absolutely not. This isn't udemy where you can get your $$ back if you didn't like the course.

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While GGU is authorized to do the DBA by distance, it is not GGU faculty doing the delivery.

And? That's hardly a unique arrangement. Perhaps you should look at how content for these online programs is/has been sourced:
- University of Maryland Global
- Purdue Global
- UMass Global
- Outlier.org's courses & their new Associate's degree

[sanantone]

And why is the cost differential an issue? UPenn's MCIT via Coursera costs ~$30k. Their on-campus version costs ~$81k. GeorgiaTech's OMSCS is ~$7k while their on-campus version is ~$36k. University of London's online BSc in CS is ~£11k for the entire program. Their on-campus program, through their constituent colleges, will cost ~£17k PER YEAR. Let's even take the forum's favorite - UMPI. BABA from UMPI's YourPace will cost ~$3.5k. Their on-campus BABA is ~$24k/yr.

@Harry101 - What do you mean by "refund"? You think University of London will refund you fees once you've enrolled? Absolutely not. This isn't udemy where you can get your $$ back if you didn't like the course.

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While GGU is authorized to do the DBA by distance, it is not GGU faculty doing the delivery.

And? That's hardly a unique arrangement. Perhaps you should look at how content for these online programs is/has been sourced:
- University of Maryland Global
- Purdue Global
- UMass Global
- Outlier.org's courses & their new Associate's degree

There's a difference between purchasing prepackaged courses for your faculty to teach and outsourcing everything. 

Outlier creates their own courses, I believe. Since they're unaccredited, they have an agreement with Golden Gate University to award the degree. So, this is just another case of GGU selling its name.

[freeloader]

I find the whole issue of accreditation for GGU fascinating. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is the statements regarding dissertation supervision on the UpGrad website, including this:

1:1 Thesis Supervision
Interact with Golden Gate University senior academic advisors — many of whom are working professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area—during live, interactive 1:1 sessions with the allotted thesis supervisor.

Is this saying that a faculty member associated with GGU will serve as the dissertation/thesis supervisor? If so, then GGU could easily justify the arrangement to their accreditor by saying they will grant the 32 credits for the dissertation/thesis and verify the content of the core and concentration courses or even accept them as transfer credits. The bulk of the credits and the most salient part of a doctorate—the thesis/dissertation—would be directly supervised by GGU. As a perspective student, this would also be preferable as you would have the advisor (and perhaps other GGU faculty) to serve as academic and professional references. Much better than UpGrad adjuncts/employees.

OR, is this saying literally what it says—that students will interact with GGU academic advisors, who are distinct and different from the GGU faculty, thus leaving the door open for non-GGU faculty as dissertation supervisors?

[sanantone]

I find the whole issue of accreditation for GGU fascinating. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is the statements regarding dissertation supervision on the UpGrad website, including this:

1:1 Thesis Supervision
Interact with Golden Gate University senior academic advisors — many of whom are working professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area—during live, interactive 1:1 sessions with the allotted thesis supervisor.

Is this saying that a faculty member associated with GGU will serve as the dissertation/thesis supervisor?  If so, then GGU could easily justify the arrangement to their accreditor by saying they will grant the 32 credits for the dissertation/thesis and verify the content of the core and concentration courses or even accept them as transfer credits. The bulk of the credits and the most salient part of a doctorate—the thesis/dissertation—would be directly supervised by GGU.   As a perspective student, this would also be preferable as you would have the advisor (and perhaps other GGU faculty) to serve as academic and professional references.  Much better than UpGrad adjuncts/employees.

OR, is this saying literally what it says—that students will interact with GGU academic advisors, who are distinct and different from the GGU faculty, thus leaving the door open for non-GGU faculty as dissertation supervisors?

They list GGU professors as the instructors.

[collegecareerstudent]

All I know is, if the prior syllabi are to believed- this program is going to be extremely challenging and no joke. I'm actually rather intimidated- and that's saying something at this point.

[Pikachu]

Outlier creates their own courses, I believe. Since they're unaccredited, they have an agreement with Golden Gate University to award the degree. So, this is just another case of GGU selling its name.

Outlier's regular courses are all RA credits via University of Pittsburgh and yet there's not a single Pittsburgh faculty teaching them.

[Harry101]

And why is the cost differential an issue? UPenn's MCIT via Coursera costs ~$30k. Their on-campus version costs ~$81k. GeorgiaTech's OMSCS is ~$7k while their on-campus version is ~$36k. University of London's online BSc in CS is ~£11k for the entire program. Their on-campus program, through their constituent colleges, will cost ~£17k PER YEAR. Let's even take the forum's favorite - UMPI. BABA from UMPI's YourPace will cost ~$3.5k. Their on-campus BABA is ~$24k/yr.

@Harry101 - What do you mean by "refund"? You think University of London will refund you fees once you've enrolled? Absolutely not. This isn't udemy where you can get your $$ back if you didn't like the course.

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While GGU is authorized to do the DBA by distance, it is not GGU faculty doing the delivery.

And? That's hardly a unique arrangement. Perhaps you should look at how content for these online programs is/has been sourced:
- University of Maryland Global
- Purdue Global
- UMass Global
- Outlier.org's courses & their new Associate's degree

Ehm you mean this refund policy by the UoL, quite generous and well put? :
https://www.london.ac.uk/sites/default/f...w-2019.pdf

Now compare it to UpGrad's, no refund what so ever, and then the reports how they ghost people for the "free trial" period;
https://www.upgrad.com/terms/ 
Payment Terms and Refund Policy 

So again it is proven how UpGrad is doing doubious thing's.

If we go by their second DBA program, the one from SSBM Geneva (which first started back in March 2021), then it is pretty clear that the 1:1 supervision is nothing more then a marketing ploy. The said students will watch prerecorded videos that where made by SSBM staff (taken from earllyer Zoom calls in first batches) and then maybe every 3 months Zoom calls with SSBM. Those who paid for the on campus visit will go to Geneva and spend a week there with SSBM's "campus", this is true, but it costs 3,5k $ more then the ones with no visit (two options 7k or 10,5k the visit option)
The rest of the program is "upgrad buddy" professors who are under contract with Upgrad back in India doing the advisory/mentor support.
This is how the GGU program will probably be done in the same manner, but with one key difference GGU is a reputable recognised officially while SSBM is not.
  But as i keep asking for proof , does Upgrad have a license to teach Higher education in India? Keep in mind 12k-15k is nothing if you are going to spend 3 years doing research hour's on a dodgy degree, not sure how much your hour is worth, that's up for you to decide.