What's the weirdest thing you've heard someone say about college?

[sanantone]

I really want to say dumbest thing, but I'm trying to take into consideration the United States' odd accreditation system. 

Facebook is always a good place to find ignorant comments and questions. Once, under a University of Florida ad, someone asked, "But, are they accredited?" No, one of the best and biggest state universities in the country is unaccredited. That's how Florida rolls.

A University of Texas branch was advertising a homeschooling program. This guy said not to trust colleges that claim to be accredited and to search the DEAC website for legit programs. You know, because a regionally accredited, public university is not recognized by the government or anything. 

This one is not really dumb or weird, but it could have had serious consequences. A guy asked if a college's advertised master's in engineering was ABET-accredited, and the admissions staff said, "Yes, our school of engineering is accredited by ABET." I was like whoa, whoa, whoa! I had to respond and let them both know that ABET accredits individual programs and that the master's was not ABET-accredited. The staff member thanked me and edited the original response. Most graduate-level engineering programs lack ABET accreditation, but you never know if the guy needed it.

[quigongene]

Along the accreditation lines, "Nationally and Regionally accredited". That's not how accreditation works.

[mysonx3]

"You can't do a whole degree without taking any normal, semester-length classes."

- My aunt, whose husband has a Master's from WGU.

Not really that weird in a vacuum until you consider that her husband had done exactly that.

[sanantone]

Along the accreditation lines, "Nationally and Regionally accredited".  That's not how accreditation works.

I've seen many colleges state this. People are already confused about the difference between the two, and regionally accredited colleges do this. What they're really referring to is their programmatic accreditation.

[MNomadic]

"FULLY ACCREDITED"

Because partially accredited degrees are so common...

[sanantone]

"The federal government won't hire you if you have an online degree unless you have veterans' preference. "

"Ivy League schools will never offer online degrees."

"For-profit colleges don't have regional accreditation."

"For-profit colleges never have specialized (programmatic) accreditation."

"All online degrees are offered by online schools, and all online schools are diploma mills." 

"You'll never get a job with an online degree."

[burbuja0512]

Mine was in high school. The guidance counselor thought that only losers went to community college. Didn't directly say it, but basically lumped the cc students into the same group as those taking shop class and cosmetology. All those poor souls without a future.

So sad that I believed this for a long time. I guess all worked out nicely at my high school reunion when I have a job that's better than probably 98% of my class. But still... how many kids didn't figure it all out?

[sanantone]

Mine was in high school.  The guidance counselor thought that only losers went to community college.    Didn't directly say it, but basically lumped the cc students into the same group as those taking shop class and cosmetology.    All those poor souls without a future.  

So sad that I believed this for a long time.  I guess all worked out nicely at my high school reunion when I have a job that's better than probably 98% of my class.    But still... how many kids didn't figure it all out?  

There's this guy on another forum who always says that community college courses don't transfer every time CCs are brought up. There are transfer credit issues, but that happens when transferring from any college. Many universities have developed 2+2 programs and articulation agreements, and some states protect students from having equivalent transfer credits rejected. However, I believe most of the issues stem from choosing the wrong courses. If you need general chemistry for science majors, and you take intro to chemistry for non-majors, then the course is not going to transfer. If you need calculus-based physics, then you need to take university physics instead of general physics.

[burbuja0512]

Mine was in high school.  The guidance counselor thought that only losers went to community college.    Didn't directly say it, but basically lumped the cc students into the same group as those taking shop class and cosmetology.    All those poor souls without a future.  

So sad that I believed this for a long time.  I guess all worked out nicely at my high school reunion when I have a job that's better than probably 98% of my class.    But still... how many kids didn't figure it all out?  

There's this guy on another forum who always says that community college courses don't transfer every time CCs are brought up. There are transfer credit issues, but that happens when transferring from any college. Many universities have developed 2+2 programs and articulation agreements, and some states protect students from having equivalent transfer credits rejected. However, I believe most of the issues stem from choosing the wrong courses. If you need general chemistry for science majors, and you take intro to chemistry for non-majors, then the course is not going to transfer. If you need calculus-based physics, then you need to take university physics instead of general physics.

LOL Somebody had one problem one time and therefore everyone else has to deal with his problem. 

Mine all transferred, with maybe an exception of a nutrition class.  My daughter and her friend just did a year and a half at CC then transferred into B&M state universities with no issues.   Probably nicer if you can have a special guarantee, but yes it's all about doing your research first.

[davewill]

Mine was in high school.  The guidance counselor thought that only losers went to community college.    Didn't directly say it, but basically lumped the cc students into the same group as those taking shop class and cosmetology.    All those poor souls without a future.  

So sad that I believed this for a long time.  I guess all worked out nicely at my high school reunion when I have a job that's better than probably 98% of my class.    But still... how many kids didn't figure it all out?  

Yeah, that CC route is just for losers... My twins did 2 years at CC, and graduated last year, one from Cal and the other from UCSD. Thanks to the money saved from CC and from mostly going to school from home, we were able to help them do it without debt. They both loved their community college experience. They're both headed off to SDSU, daughter for teaching and son for an MSW. With them going to school from home again, we can avoid debt for that, too...especially if my son qualifies for the stipend next year. 

He has one mentor who works as a therapist, and the poor woman did four years at a university, and then the USC MSW program, all on loans apparently. She was the first college graduate in her family and they were apparently unable to help with expenses. It sounds like she may be in debt for the rest of her life. She told our son she wishes she had taken the CC route.