The email claims that college degrees are easy to buy, and expresses dismay that many students continue to "just sit around in their usually boring local University classes, wasting money."It goes on to suggest that I might buy a degree by verifying my life or work experience and "get all the documents like the diploma certificate with the University's legal verification and official seal certifying the degree chosen, the transcript, a cover letter, copies of the College's or University's official certificate of accreditation, the institutions postal prospectus approval and a few important things more."
You will note that the sentence structure does not appear to be that of a college graduate, or of someone whose first language is English. Not only is the possessive form of "institution" missing its apostrophe, but the writer assures us that we will get its "postal prospectus approval."
Does anyone know what a college's "postal prospectus approval" is? Did you get one when you earned your degree the old, boring, money-wasting way?
Later, the e-mail even misspells the word "cheese" while admonishing me that my hard-earned legitimate education cost me "tons of cheeze." It doesn't take a college degree to tell when something smells, and I'm not talking about a hunk of Limburger.
Since "students" can get "the degree you want" by "verifying life experience," I wonder if some will choose Bachelor of Beer, Masters of Meandering, or Doctor of Dithering degrees. Pondering the possibilities could keep a virtual class going for hours.
We've long had diploma mills selling worthless paper to people who think it means something to buy a degree. Religious "schools" are some of the worst offenders, and often give "life experience" credit in exchange for a credit card number. I know of pastors who brazenly call themselves "Dr." when all they have is an "honorary" degree from a flimflam school that tries to gain credibility by showing up on the famous preacher's resume.
I love education earned in the traditional way, though I'm fully aware that some of our most educational experiences don't come from schools or award degrees that can hang on the wall.
Those who have real educations don't need the crutch of a degree that cost them nothing more than a phone call to a mysterious New York City number and a few hundred bucks.
Those who get suckered in to such a scam -- perhaps thinking a fake degree will help them get a job or improve their lives -- are bound to learn a hard lesson. Let's hope they find it worth the price -- or else get smart before they put the check in the mail.
4 comments:
Dr. Cartledge,
One of my primary goals in life is to earn my PhD from a prestigious institution. As I am going through my MDiv walk, I often have to force myself to stop looking ahead and enjoy the experience for what it is. Unfortunately, many people see their degrees, regardless of degree level being conferred, as a means to an end. In undergrad and grad school you find people talking about finding ways to get out of school, to get that piece of paper. I think such language is to be expected. After all by the time I get done I will have (hopefully!) taken over 240 hours of classes...sometimes we can't help but peek at the finish line. However, the problem comes in when we forget that it is not the paper, the degree, the status that we obtain in education (although certainly, it's part of it). In education we gain new perspectives, a broader sense of the world and discover fascinating conversations we never knew were being held. When we begin to see education as a resume filler and little else, that's when and why degree mills can function. The fact that ministry is one of the greatest offenders of this sad phenomenon is tragic commentary on our approach to education and scholarship.
I totally agree with you, Joshua.
I am only a Bachelor of Science, but I also took the hours needed for Real Estate Appraiser trainee. Never found a job for the experience, though.
Have other hours in other things under my belt as well. I just wanted to say that before I got my four-year degree in 1998, I thought it meant something to have such a thing. After taking the actual courses and seeing what it's like in class, I can truthfully say that it doesn't mean too much. How can one say it does when in each class you take, you barely crack the book, only studying some of the chapters in a lot of courses, skipping so much material.
I can understand that our knowledge base now doubles every two years. As much as anyone can understand it (Not!) It's just too much. I would imagine that the Master's program would start to get into more detail, but I don't know. Maybe you MUST go through the doctoral program before you ever get into the meat of a subject.
Things were a little different, just a tad slower when I graduated high school in 1969.
star
Star and Josh,
I think that a true education equips you with the tools to dig deeper into the area of interest, particularly a PhD (or a rigorous master's), so that you can learn for yourself and make a contribution to the body of knowledge while communicating it. At least, that's the case in a liberal arts degree. As far as business, education, law, and even seminary degrees, I don't know that this is often the case.
One question I have for Dr. Cartledge is what about D. Min. programs. I know that they can be good for resumes, and actually contribute to the minister's competency. But for reasons that you mentioned in your article, and personal reasons, I just don't seem to get excited about it. I would appreciate any advice.
By the way, I know that there are many with D. Min's who worked hard for those, and many good schools offer excellent D Min programs. I hope that my comments did not sound judgmental in any way, just honest thoughts that I wrestle with.
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