Why is this a violation of academic integrity?

[Vle045]

I am asking this purely out of curiosity, NOT because I had/have any intentions of doing it.... 

The below is from the website of one of the schools I was looking at.  They ask for official transcripts from all RA institutions and also say failure to report any previous academic work may be considered a violation of academic integrity.   

So first, let’s consider those of us who signed up for ENEB with no real plan or goal on what you want to do with it.  Does THAT count?

Or let’s say you took some classes at an NA school like Columbia Southern.  Or maybe University of the People.  Do those count?

What about courses on sites like Coursera?  Not ones that you audit, but maybe a guided project or Specialization?

Or maybe a free certificate like the one through USF that wasn’t for college credit but awarded a certificate?

Maybe it seems like I am splitting hairs, but I am genuinely curious.  Especially so that if I *DO* need to know this in the near future, I will know what I do - and do not - need to include.  I have done several of the above and/or have considered them.



“Official transcripts from all regionally accredited institutions where baccalaureate and/or post-baccalaureate coursework was completed or attempted

TRANSCRIPTS
Only credits from regionally accredited institutions may be accepted in transfer. Failure to report any previous academic work at another college or university may be considered a violation of academic integrity.”

[Alpha]

You might get different answers from different schools but I believe that it is generally considered to be a misrepresentation of your academic records.  In essence it is a lie of omission.

[Vle045]

You might get different answers from different schools but I believe that it is generally considered to be a misrepresentation of your academic records.  In essence it is a lie of omission.

That makes sense, but I guess additionally, what counts?   All of the above?  The one class I took years after I graduated?  I mean... it was an A, so at least it’s a good grade. LOL.

[Alpha]

You might get different answers from different schools but I believe that it is generally considered to be a misrepresentation of your academic records.  In essence it is a lie of omission.

That makes sense, but I guess additionally, what counts?   All of the above?  The one class I took years after I graduated?  I mean... it was an A, so at least it’s a good grade. LOL.

I have never worked in a university admissions office but I think it largely depends on whether you get caught in the lie.  I know that's a cynical view but on a certain level there's no good way for them to know about that course that you took years after graduation.  But if they somehow find out about it after your admission it conceivably could be used against you.  A slap on the wrist, perhaps

[Vle045]

It’s definitely interesting (to me at least). Now when I applied to Walden, I told him about all the schools I went to but they only wanted the transcript for the school where I earned my BS degree.

[bjcheung77]

Walden and most for profit institutions don't really need all that transcript info as they are only looking for one thing - you have a Bachelors degree BEFORE they can admit you to their Masters. The main reason is that, they are not going to be evaluating anything else for admissions, unless you're looking to transfer credits into their Masters degree. If this was for a Bachelors, it'll be the same, they want to know if you have prerequisites completed for X degree you're looking at...

Now, for competitive programs where there are plenty of applications but not enough space to enroll prospects, then you would want to send in everything as they'll compare your records submitted with what they have access to on the National Student Clearing House. Several Nationally Accredited and Internationally Accredited Institutions - not just Regionally Accredited Institutions participate and will have a "verification" they can look up very easily.

[Vle045]

Oh that is an interesting point of view. I never would have considered the competitive aspect.

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But wait, if they can verify, why do we even have to send in anything ourselves??

[freeloader]

At the college I initially attended, it was a violation of the honor code to complete a course that was the same as or substantially equal to one that you had taken before. I took Spanish I and II in high school, so I was not allowed to take Spanish I at my university, for instance. If I didn’t think I was ready for Spanish II, I could have written a letter explaining the situation and requested to take the departmental placement exam. If the exam said I wasn’t ready for Spanish II, then it would have been fine to take Spanish I.

I don’t know how many people would want to redo a bunch of classes or a whole degree, but I suppose if your grades were bad enough there might be a temptation to do it.

My other thought is that there are schools that won’t grant a person a 3rd bachelors degree. There might be schools that wouldn’t grant a 2nd, 4th, etc.  I also talked to an admission counselor at a school that, it turns out, would not admit me for a bachelor’s in accounting because I have a master’s degree. UMPI won’t grant a BLS after you have earned a bachelor’s degree elsewhere; I am sure other schools have similar requirements for BLS/interdisciplinary studies/general studies type degrees. 

By failing to disclose your prior coursework and degrees, you could be running afoul of these and similar rules.

[Vle045]

Oh wow! Those are some interesting rules. I wonder if a Graduate certificate would create the same restriction as a masters at that one school. So far I have finished zero credits on that MBA program. If I don’t finish it, I wonder what restrictions that might place on me, if any.

[dfrecore]

I'm going to guess that if you went to a RA or NA school, then you should disclose that; if you took courses through Coursera (or any other alt provider) that's not actually worth college credit, then you don't have to.

The reason you have to send a transcript is because of FERPA - they can't just go to a previous school and ask for your records, those are private. Now, the fact that you owe money to the school is NOT private I don't think, so they can disclose that. Unpaid student loan debt will be out there somewhere. But your actual grades and whatnot, nope.