What do you think of the FREE online college degree?

[geissingert]

Have any of you heard of this? https://www.uopeople.edu/programs/   

Is it truly an accredited college degree? What are your thoughts?

[udi]

It's not regionally accredited and you still have to pay $100 per exam. Ends up costing thousands.

[geissingert]

It's not regionally accredited and you still have to pay $100 per exam. Ends up costing thousands.

It looks like they take credits in. It seems like it's $100 per course. Wondering if anyone has graduated from there and what the true cost was.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

The cost will be $60 to apply, plus $100 for each of the undergrad assessments. Transfer credits are $17 per course (not credit). The Bachelor's is estimated to cost $4,060 without transfers, with a Master's at $2,560 on average.

It is a non-profit. However, it is nationally- versus regionally-accredited.

Also, the peer review format is somewhat unique, as far as assessments go.

Do your due diligence to see if it is an acceptable option for your goals. I'm a big fan of the approach toward wide accessibility, and curious to see how they develop.

[ThatBankDude]

I would not recommend anything that is nationally accredited.

[davewill]

It's not new around here, but it's not test friendly, so there's not much opportunity to lower those costs, plus having to deal with it being NA. However, it could be a godsend for the scholarship students, like foster care kids and third world students. I actually really like the concept and hope they go far.

[cookderosa]

University of the People has been around for a while - they earned national accreditation only within the past 2ish years if memory serves. If you have an opportunity to obtain an RA degree instead, that's my suggestion, however there's nothing wrong with their program separate and apart from the limits you'll see with any NA degree (which is probably only an issue for a handful of people)

[videogamesrock]

Some limitations if you want to transfer into an RA masters program. The only limitations I see are in teaching — if that is your goal. I see no limitations in the private sector.


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[clep3705]

Jennifer, are you saying a degree from U of P would be okay for someone just looking for a checkbox degree? Can a person get into graduate school in history with it?
AP, 
PrettyFlyforaChiGuy, let me see if I understand. 76 hours from 25 CLEP, DSST, and TECEP (do they take all of these?) exams would cost $2,500. 45 hours from 15 courses would cost $255. Would this hypothetical $2,755 degree actually be worth anything?

Do we need a new term here, degree laundering? Get a nationally accredited bachelor's degree to get into a regionally accredited master's degree program. It seems like a regionally accredited master's degree would render the national accreditation of the bachelor's degree moot, if this would even work.

[Merlin]

Jennifer, are you saying a degree from U of P would be okay for someone just looking for a checkbox degree? Can a person get into graduate school in history with it?
AP, 
PrettyFlyforaChiGuy, let me see if I understand. 76 hours from 25 CLEP, DSST, and TECEP (do they take all of these?) exams would cost $2,500. 45 hours from 15 courses would cost $255. Would this hypothetical $2,755 degree actually be worth anything?

Do we need a new term here, degree laundering? Get a nationally accredited bachelor's degree to get into a regionally accredited master's degree program. It seems like a regionally accredited master's degree would render the national accreditation of the bachelor's degree moot, if this would even work.

Technically you can get those CLEP exams for free through modern states, so the price would be lower than that.

While there are a few RA masters programs that will accept NA degrees, there aren't many. However, I don't see it as degree laundering since both are legitimate degrees, just from different accrediting bodies.

Besides, the difference between NA and RA schools isn't necessarily a matter of academic rigor, though that appears to be most people's assumption.

Most people have no idea about what accreditation means or what kind their school has as long as it is accredited. So for many people, they won't even realize there is a difference unless it is pointed out to them after the fact. Such as when they apply to an RA grad program with an NA bachelor's degree and are turned down. Though going the other way is rarely a problem.

Then again, there are many people who don't need an RA grad degree, they just need a grad degree because it will get them a promotion at work or something. Unless someone is going into academia, or there are other extenuating circumstances, an NA degree may be just fine.

I find it annoying that there are two systems to begin with. All it does is make education that much more of a pain for people to figure out.