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

[Pikachu]

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/ 

Paragraph 3 of UpGrad's general terms:
Each Program may have a separate set of terms dealing with refunds, deferrals, payments, etc. governing such Programs, and our corporate clients may have executed separate written agreements with us, which, in the event of a conflict, will supersede these Terms to the extent of the conflicting provisions.

Many programs do have a separate policy dealing with refunds. Here's one:
https://cdn.upgrad.com/UpGrad/temp/aa945...Policy.pdf

You still fail to understand my point. Universities are not udemy courses. They do not refund after you are knee-deep in the course. No university does this. Even University of London's refund policy clearly states refund is only applicable within 14 days of the "Cancellation Period". And they define "cancellation period" as:
The Cancellation Period will normally be within 14 days of the Fee payment or, where applicable, from the time the student is given access to programme materials on the Virtual Learning Environment, whichever is later.

So basically, UoL will only refund if your request is sent within 14 days of either you paying the fees or you receiving access to the course, whichever is later.

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As for SSBM. Who cares about SSBM, this topic is about GGU. You keep on maligning a regionally accredited degree as dodgy just because you seem to dislike the intermediary, one of the platforms through which it's offered - UpGrad in this case.

[Harry101]

"You still fail to understand my point. Universities are not udemy courses. They do not refund after you are knee-deep in the course. No university does this. Even University of London's refund policy clearly states refund is only applicable within 14 days of the "Cancellation Period". And they define "cancellation period" as:
The Cancellation Period will normally be within 14 days of the Fee payment or, where applicable, from the time the student is given access to programme materials on the Virtual Learning Environment, whichever is later."

Not sure where you got the 14 days since "given access" in the pdf file. What it says is if a refund is requested it should be resolved within the 14 day's.
As for the udemy comparison, correct given that upgrad provides pgp certification/courses they also offer degree programs, but as someone already mentioned it is outsourced to cut the cost and provided by upgrad. For that you need higher education licensing, since the degree's in some example bare the name of the CEO of Upgrad, pay attention on the wording, degree's, not course certificets.

"You keep on maligning a regionally accredited degree as dodgy just because you seem to dislike the intermediary, one of the platforms through which it's offered - UpGrad in this case."

Again confusion on your end, i said since the thread opened that there is no problem with GGU, but the intermediary, and no one can provide a clear evidence on questions being asked. And if you deem my concern invalid it is up to you, but people wasting money and time on something dodgy is actually serious. All i did is provide government warnings and websites,court appeals that have Upgrad involved with misselling. Also SSBM is a good talking point given that it is also a DBA course offered on the Upgrad platform.

Not sure why such harsh words on your end.

[sanantone]

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.

Not without controversy. 

https://www.utimes.pitt.edu/news/johnstown-officials

[smartdegree]

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.

Honest question - why do the detractors here say the degree is taught by Upgrad?  GGU's own website says that:

"Golden Gate University Worldwide offers online education that is accredited by WASC Senior Colleges and Universities Commission. Virtual courses are taught by the same faculty and are held to the same rigorous academic standards as courses offered in traditional classroom settings."

Nowhere does it say that the courses will be taught by Upgrad faculty.  It says "taught by the same faculty" in straight English.  

https://www.ggu.edu/online/ggu-worldwide/

Moreover, GGU already runs an on-campus DBA. Why would they copy your Outlier example when GGU already has a set curriculum similar to the on-campus DBA? How can that be "another case of GGU selling its name"?

I am a very rational person and understand when to be cautious. But the comments being made here are not logical to me. You should base it on facts, not hunches. Otherwise, this forum will just be about conspiracy theories.

[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.

---

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.

Honest question - why do the detractors here say the degree is taught by Upgrad?  GGU's own website says that:

"Golden Gate University Worldwide offers online education that is accredited by WASC Senior Colleges and Universities Commission. Virtual courses are taught by the same faculty and are held to the same rigorous academic standards as courses offered in traditional classroom settings."

Nowhere does it say that the courses will be taught by Upgrad faculty.  It says "taught by the same faculty" in straight English.  

https://www.ggu.edu/online/ggu-worldwide/

Moreover, GGU already runs an on-campus DBA.  Why would they copy your Outlier example when GGU already has a set curriculum similar to the on-campus DBA?  How can that be "another case of GGU selling its name"?  

I am a very rational person and understand when to be cautious.  But the comments being made here are not logical to me.   You should base it on facts, not hunches.  Otherwise, this forum will just be about conspiracy theories.

I've already mentioned that Upgrad's page says that they're using GGU faculty. 

I'm not understanding the Outlier part. Outlier is using University of Pittsburgh and GGU to launder their courses and degrees. Neither school needs the courses that were designed by Outlier.

[smartdegree]

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.

I've already mentioned that Upgrad's page says that they're using GGU faculty. 

I'm not understanding the Outlier part. Outlier is using University of Pittsburgh and GGU to launder their courses and degrees. Neither school needs the courses that were designed by Outlier.

The first comment I had was in response to the other poster whose main argument is that GGU is outsourcing the teaching to Upgrad. which is not true based on the evidence.  My question was about your post on "just another case of GGU selling its name".  How can that be when GGU designs the curriculum and has its own faculty teach the courses at Upgrad?

[Harry101]

"The first comment I had was in response to the other poster whose main argument is that GGU is outsourcing the teaching to Upgrad. which is not true based on the evidence. My question was about your post on "just another case of GGU selling its name". How can that be when GGU designs the curriculum and has its own faculty teach the courses at Upgrad?"

Maybe cause of the deja vu considering what happened with SSBM Geneva's DBA and UpGrad's program? Mind the markting news reports about said program with all sorts of claims back in 2021, but now proven all kind's of wrong.

But the same question from my last 4 post goes to you, how does a 65k-70k $ worth degree ends up being sold by an Indian company for 12k-15k ? since you are saying it is not outsourced as someone else pitched the idea.

[rachel83az]

But the same question from my last 4 post goes to you, how does a 65k-70k $ worth degree ends up being sold by an Indian company for 12k-15k ? since you are saying it is not outsourced as someone else pitched the idea.

The same way Coursera degrees are cheaper than degrees offered directly by the school: negotiations and advertising. They've done the calculations and decided that they can offer a discount of X amount to students coming from Y platform. It's not an uncommon practice these days. 

A better question you should be asking: Why are they charging local students who don't know about UpGrad an extra $50k+ for a degree that apparently only costs them about $10k to deliver?

Because they can.

Because people will pay it.

[smartdegree]

"The first comment I had was in response to the other poster whose main argument is that GGU is outsourcing the teaching to Upgrad. which is not true based on the evidence.  My question was about your post on "just another case of GGU selling its name".  How can that be when GGU designs the curriculum and has its own faculty teach the courses at Upgrad?"

Maybe cause of the deja vu considering what happened with SSBM Geneva's DBA and UpGrad's program? Mind the markting news reports about said program with all sorts of claims back in 2021, but now proven all kind's of wrong.

But the same question from my last 4 post goes to you, how does a 65k-70k $ worth degree ends up being sold by an Indian company for 12k-15k ? since you are saying it is not outsourced as someone else pitched the idea.

Those are easy questions. 

1) Just because you say there are issues with SSBM does not mean the same thing applies to GGU.  As their own website indicates, GGU runs the show here (their own curriculum, their own professors), it is their degree that is being offered and their reputation at stake.  Those are facts.  Do you have facts on GGU that support otherwise?  

2) Managerial Economics 101 - Price discrimination.  A company can extract greater profits by charging different prices to different people.  Best example is University of London's distance division - they price tuition based on where you live - everything else (faculty, etc) remain the same.  This happens frequently even within the Ivy League - they charge close to nothing for those with low income, while letting the higher income folks pay 80k tuition.  Some would say that isn't fair but it happens and it's part of everyday life.  

There is also the concept of diminishing average costs.  The bulk of average costs are the overhead (fixed costs).  The marginal costs are actually low, so higher volume can compensate for low prices by spreading the overhead across a greater number produced (or students in this example).  That's how Georgia Tech is able to offer a top-of-the-line Masters in CS at $6,600.  That's also how volume retailers like Walmart still make money despite low prices.

I have no skin in this game (I'm not even considering this program), but I believe making accusations without supporting facts is just plain wrong.

[ss20ts]

But the same question from my last 4 post goes to you, how does a 65k-70k $ worth degree ends up being sold by an Indian company for 12k-15k ? since you are saying it is not outsourced as someone else pitched the idea.

The same way Coursera degrees are cheaper than degrees offered directly by the school: negotiations and advertising. They've done the calculations and decided that they can offer a discount of X amount to students coming from Y platform. It's not an uncommon practice these days. 

A better question you should be asking: Why are they charging local students who don't know about UpGrad an extra $50k+ for a degree that apparently only costs them about $10k to deliver?

Because they can.

Because people will pay it.

Coursera courses have professors from the school and aren't offering a discount to one country only like the GGU program.