Shoolini University

[Alpha]

This is a private Indian university that has begun offering onlines degrees with pay-on-placement options.
https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-relea...82468.html

[Johann]

Whenever - wherever I see "pay on placement" I'm suspicious. There's a lot of scamming in these, over here -- and a lot of misery added to people's lives. I hope this isn't such an attempt.

See these links on one scam, discussed in the other forum. It's far from the only one that's been tried.

https://www.geekwire.com/2022/washington...g-company/
https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-release...over-money
https://www.king5.com/article/news/state...850fcf478d

[ss20ts]

Whenever - wherever I see "pay on placement" I'm suspicious. There's a lot of scamming in these, over here -- and a lot of misery added to people's lives. I hope this isn't such an attempt.

See these links on one scam, discussed in the other forum. It's far from the only one that's been tried.

https://www.geekwire.com/2022/washington...g-company/
https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-release...over-money
https://www.king5.com/article/news/state...850fcf478d

Very rarely do they make the cost easily known. If they share it all, it's usually pretty hidden on the website. These programs tend to cost a fortune and be so ridiculously overpriced that one could actually got a 4 year school in person and it would be cheaper let alone an online program.

[Johann]

It's a private Indian school. Let the Indian prospective students worry about it. Over here, often US -based pay-when-working deals have a double price: Expensive, worthless credential and a huge debt load with it -as described in the links. This looks different. It looks like a decent school - proper approval at UGC. They likely wouldn't risk losing that.

I doubt there's a scam here, but I still think -- not for us. The Uni is UGC recognized and they do placements - they claim over 3,000 so far. But those are placements of Indian students in Indian companies. I don't think they'd want us - at least not on a placement deal. They can't do much for us here - far away and not their territory. We're not their "bag"; consequently, they're not "ours." If it were a straight tuition-paying distance-ed deal and they were willing to accept foreigners - we could consider them. As it is, I don't think either side has anything to offer the other, with a pay-on-placement deal.  

I wish them well with their own country's students. They look like a modern, progressive outfit. If they had a regular pay-tuition distance deal at an exceptional price - I'd consider it, if they accepted foreigners. Indian degrees from recognized schools (as this is) usually "travel" pretty well. e.g. Assam Don Bosco, Amity - and numerous schools that cater to Indian students only.

[jsd]

Whenever - wherever I see "pay on placement" I'm suspicious. There's a lot of scamming in these, over here -- and a lot of misery added to people's lives. I hope this isn't such an attempt.

See these links on one scam, discussed in the other forum. It's far from the only one that's been tried.

https://www.geekwire.com/2022/washington...g-company/
https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-release...over-money
https://www.king5.com/article/news/state...850fcf478d

Very rarely do they make the cost easily known. If they share it all, it's usually pretty hidden on the website. These programs tend to cost a fortune and be so ridiculously overpriced that one could actually got a 4 year school in person and it would be cheaper let alone an online program.

And the placement threshold is so low, that even a minimum wage job will result in triggering your repayment plan. If the best the program can land someone is min wage, it is a useless program.

[Alpha]

The whole Indian system is a bit of a mystery to me.  There are LOTS of universities and LOTS of students.  Some go to the best Indian schools and some seem interested in going to school outside India.  The US and the UK are favorite destinations.  And then there's a large "average" group where average students go to average universities.  There's a sharp division between state and private universities and some of the private schools have moved faster into the distance learning game than the state universities, due at least in part to the UGC.  With the exception of places like Amity and Don Bosco it seems virtually impossible to go to any of these schools if you're not either living in India or an Indian citizen living abroad.  It seems quite a closed system.  At the same time, there's huge competition and a LOT of people buying fake degrees on all levels.  You can't keep up with the degree scandals and accusing a leader of having a fake degree has become a way to attempt to bring down political opponents.  My sense is that having a degree in that country is a bigger deal than here in the US.

[bjcheung77]

It's not only their education system, but many systems are also operating fundamentally different than what people experience in the more Westernized education systems in the US/UK, probably Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. India may have the largest list or number of "fake universities", but Pakistan and other neighboring countries aren't that far behind. Whenever anyone wants to study abroad, you need to not double check, but triple check everything is accredited and approved by the correct country counterparts for their dept/ministry of education.

[Johann]

The whole Indian system is a bit of a mystery to me.  There are LOTS of universities and LOTS of students.  Some go to the best Indian schools and some seem interested in going to school outside India.  The US and the UK are favorite destinations.  And then there's a large "average" group where average students go to average universities.  There's a sharp division between state and private universities and some of the private schools have moved faster into the distance learning game than the state universities, due at least in part to the UGC.  With the exception of places like Amity and Don Bosco it seems virtually impossible to go to any of these schools if you're not either living in India or an Indian citizen living abroad.  It seems quite a closed system.  At the same time, there's huge competition and a LOT of people buying fake degrees on all levels.  You can't keep up with the degree scandals and accusing a leader of having a fake degree has become a way to attempt to bring down political opponents.  My sense is that having a degree in that country is a bigger deal than here in the US.

All true. Degrees are a bigger deal there for two reasons. With a population of 1.38 billion, and not quite (yet) the level of "degree-saturation" that has permeated most of the West, there are lots of prospective students. Plus, a (real) degree is seen as a way - perhaps the only way, for many - out of grinding poverty. Fake documents of all kinds abound, not only degrees. India is a country with over 700,000 (!) villages, many of them places of extreme poverty. Desperate people there are known to have their ID and birth certificates altered, to shave a few years off their age, so they can (just possibly) get off their rented 3-acre farm plot and (hopefully) get at least halfway out of poverty, with some kind of job -any job, in the city. 

And yes again. I, too,  believe it is virtually impossible to enter these schools (except for those named) as a distance student, unless you are Indian. They have enough on their plate serving Indians. I'm STILL awaiting a reply to my 2008 email to IGNOU - Indira Gandhi National Open University.   

One roadblock - exam centres. They're usually all located in India. Very few in other countries. Some people suggested the exams could be written at the nearest Indian Consulate, but I never read of someone actually doing that. About 12 or 13 years ago, a couple of Indian Universities opened offices in the US, to offer distance courses to US students. I think one was in Tamil Nadu -- yes, it was. Madurai Kamaraj U. as I remember. But those American offices don't seem to be around any more.

India is a hard place to live, for many, many people. That's why so many want to come here. And why American (and Canadian)  degree programs are such a big attraction for them. Degree -- Visa -- Job. That's how it works.