Ask Me Help Desk - Almeda university

Sir
I am student pursuing my hotel management in india in the state of andhra pradesh.My college claims to have been affiliated to almeda university in the state of Idaho which according to my idea is a online university and my doubt is that whether this university really exists and if yes then which accrediting institution accredits this university.

Almeda University

Almeda is a non-traditional university offering degrees based on prior learning. While most businesses DO accept this degree (www.vault.com), it should not be used for admission to pursue traditional learning in another postsecondary educational institution as the success rate of acceptance there is low.

The old educational traditionalists do not like the Almeda program or agree with it -- but it has been proven successful way more often than not in corporate America.

According the Better Business Bureau Almeda University has had two complaints in three years and has responded to and resolved them both to the customer's satisfaction. (You have to call them to get this info as they do not publish it online).

The fact that a reputable university is associated with Almeda only shows that Almeda is working to enhance its legitimacy.

Any university that offer life experience degrees is suspect. Almeda, however, is the best of the shady bunch. They have been around since 1997.

Good luck!
- V

Here's some interesting links regarding Almeda "University"

The first three sponsored links are the most telling:

Quote:

Almeda University
www.AlmedaUniversity.org The official home page for Almeda University
Almeda university
www.belforduniversity.org Convert Your Life Exp Into An Accredited Degree. Free Evaluation.
Almeda university
www.affordabledegrees.com Boua Accredited Degree. Employer Verification. Fast Delivery.

Yes I will even go and say they are not actually shady, they are very honest and above board in what they tell you they do and don't do. Almeda is honest that it is not approved by the US Dept of Education, right on its web site.

I will give it two thumbs up for honesty. The value is the situation, for example in my work with the US medicare people, for my certification I have to have a school approved by them, their standards are the US Dept of Labor

If I wanted to take some master classes at TN University, I could not unless it was from an approved school.

If you are looking for something that has "some" value and that some employers will accept ( may be accepted by US government in jobs not requireing specific certification)

But if you doubt if they are associated, then check with almeda and ask them.

Now don't expect a real school building, these are normally rented office space where they merely do record keeping.

The Univ of Pheniox is one for the best real online schools, it is not a few hundred dollars and you really have to study but they are reconised by everyone I believe.

Curlyben, I do not understand your post stating "interesting links regarding Almeda 'University'." What is so interesting and telling? I see Almeda University at the top as the official Almeda University website and five squatters (you list the first two) purchasing sponsored links. I don't understand what you are talking about? Am I missing something?

Veronica, or should I say Robert.
What is most telling is what can be found on their sites.

Quote:

It's now possible to earn affordable
ACCREDITED DEGREES!

No Studies
No Attendance
No Waiting
No Examinations
No Hefty Fee

Now how can you earn a degree without studying or even being examined in the subject you are studying ?

A degree is an academic title conferred by universities and colleges as an indication of the completion of a course of study, or as an honorary recognition of achievement.
Now normally to satisfy these conditions testing of the students knowledge is required. Normally this is in the form of examinations.

Now to move on to Almeda and the others of this group.
There's a number of very interesting pieces about these 'universities', but I'll post the simplest ones so you can understand.
All links taken from Wiki:
Almeda; Belford; Rochville.

While it is true that there are some unaccredited universities that award recognised degrees, this is NOT true for all of them.
More information concerning unaccredited universities.
The most telling part of this piece is the degree mill warning signs:

Quote:

Not every unaccredited school is a diploma mill - all schools start unaccredited. These are some of the warning signs which may indicate a diploma mill:

* It lacks accreditation by a nationally recognized accrediting agency, especially if it is accredited by an accreditation mill.
* Words denoting a legal status such as "licensed", "state authorized" or "state-approved" are misused to suggest an equivalence to accreditation.
* The address is a postal box or mail forwarding service.
* Promotional literature contains grammatical and spelling errors, words in Latin, extravagant or pretentious language, and sample diplomas.
* Degrees can be obtained within a few weeks or months from the time of enrollment, back-dating is possible.
* Faculty members hold advanced degrees from the institution itself or similar organizations.
* Academic credit is offered for life experience, and this features heavily in the selling points of the institution.
* Tuition and fees are paid on a degree basis rather than on a per-semester, per-quarter or per-course basis.
* Prospective students are encouraged to "enroll now" before tuition or fees are increased, or they qualify for a "fellowship", "scholarship" or "grant".
* It has no library.
* Doctoral theses and dissertations are not lodged with the Library of Congress or other national repository.
* The school's website looks amateurish or unprofessionally made.

Well as Almeda ticks a number of these, I'm sure I don't have to continue.
Thank you for your time.

Curlyben, now I understand to what you were referring. It wasn't the links themselves, but the content contained on the websites. Thank you for clarifying this.

All of these schools offer Life Experience Degrees and they each have different levels of required experience necessary to earn these degrees. But whether they check or verify the information submitted is doubtful.

So whether you refer to them as Diploma Mills or Unaccredited Life Experience Degree Granting Institutions, my question to you is simply SO WHAT? Are you suggesting that people in their mid 40's with tons of life experience pay tens of thousands of dollars and waste years of their lives to get a piece of paper that says they are worthy to continue in life? The simple fact is, whether you like it or not, the vast majority (more than 92 percent according to epubliceye.com) of people that have received their life experience degrees from one of these “diploma mills” are quite satisfied with the doors the degrees have opened for them and would do it again.

It is true that these degrees may not be legal in 5 or 6 states (especially for government jobs), but most of the states have no laws against these degrees. If they are legal and your employer accepts them, what is the problem?

Why do people get degrees anyway? It is certainly not to learn anything. It is not even to get a degree; Not really. The real reason people go to a university is so they can have the name of a well-known institution on their resume. Thousands of people spend the usual four years in a course of study, working and studying very hard to be able to get their degree, but in a place which nobody has ever heard of. The result of all this time and money will be almost worthless. What if a university called “University of Uzupugsta” existed, and it was furthermore a fully accredited university by accreditors recognized by the Department of Education, and a person gave their all to study there and earn their degree? What would it be good for?

When a prospective employer looks at your qualifications, and they see a degree, they are very unlikely to think about whether that university is accredited or not. They likely will not ask you. Instead, they will see one of two things: Degree from well-known, prestigious place like Harvard, or degree from a place they've never heard of. Even if you worked to get your degree legitimately, it will have all been for virtually nothing if it was at a community college or some other local institution. It is virtually worthless.

And so what all this means is you have basically two choices. You can get a degree from a well-known place, or from an unknown place. Since there are very few people who can get into one of the dozen or so Ivy Leagues, you are most likely going to have to choose a lesser-known name. And since you know that this name will be scorned by anyone who sees it, why would you want to invest four years of your life and thousands of dollars for that?

Unless you have the money, time, and prerequisites to get into a nationally-recognized university a degree from a "diploma mill" may serve exactly the same purpose as one from a community college, for a lot less money – especially if you have 15 or more years work experience already under your belt. If you are able to go to Yale, I would encourage you to do so, as there are certainly very few people in the world who can. Only a select few are enrolled into each of those big-name universities each year, and their name on your resume will certainly attract lots of people wanting to hire you. But if you cannot, you may be simply throwing away your money to get a "real" degree from an unknown place. Since employers rarely ask questions about the university named, do you think it will make any difference in their eyes whether it is an unknown accredited place, or an unknown non-accredited place? Unlikely.

I hope I speak for Curlyben hereby encouraging those that have obtained a Life Experience degree to post on this forum to describe their experiences.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veronica678

Curlyben, now I understand to what you were referring. It wasn’t the links themselves, but the content contained on the websites. Thank you for clarifying this.

All of these schools offer Life Experience Degrees and they each have different levels of required experience necessary to earn these degrees. But whether they check or verify the information submitted is doubtful.

So whether you refer to them as Diploma Mills or Unaccredited Life Experience Degree Granting Institutions, my question to you is simply SO WHAT? Are you suggesting that people in their mid 40’s with tons of life experience pay tens of thousands of dollars and waste years of their lives to get a piece of paper that says they are worthy to continue in life? The simple fact is, whether you like it or not, the vast majority (more than 92 percent according to epubliceye.com) of people that have received their life experience degrees from one of these “diploma mills” are quite satisfied with the doors the degrees have opened for them and would do it again.

It is true that these degrees may not be legal in 5 or 6 states (especially for government jobs), but most of the states have no laws against these degrees. If they are legal and your employer accepts them, what is the problem?

Why do people get degrees anyway? It is certainly not to learn anything. It is not even to get a degree; Not really. The real reason people go to a university is so they can have the name of a well-known institution on their resume. Thousands of people spend the usual four years in a course of study, working and studying very hard to be able to get their degree, but in a place which nobody has ever heard of. The result of all this time and money will be almost worthless. What if a university called “University of Uzupugsta” existed, and it was furthermore a fully accredited university by accreditors recognized by the Department of Education, and a person gave their all to study there and earn their degree? What would it be good for?

When a prospective employer looks at your qualifications, and they see a degree, they are very unlikely to think about whether that university is accredited or not. They likely will not ask you. Instead, they will see one of two things: Degree from well-known, prestigious place like Harvard, or degree from a place they've never heard of. Even if you worked to get your degree legitimately, it will have all been for virtually nothing if it was at a community college or some other local institution. It is virtually worthless.

And so what all this means is you have basically two choices. You can get a degree from a well-known place, or from an unknown place. Since there are very few people who can get into one of the dozen or so Ivy Leagues, you are most likely going to have to choose a lesser-known name. And since you know that this name will be scorned by anyone who sees it, why would you want to invest four years of your life and thousands of dollars for that?

Unless you have the money, time, and prerequisites to get into a nationally-recognized university a degree from a "diploma mill" may serve exactly the same purpose as one from a community college, for a lot less money – especially if you have 15 or more years work experience already under your belt. If you are able to go to Yale, I would encourage you to do so, as there are certainly very few people in the world who can. Only a select few are enrolled into each of those big-name universities each year, and their name on your resume will certainly attract lots of people wanting to hire you. But if you cannot, you may be simply throwing away your money to get a "real" degree from an unknown place. Since employers rarely ask questions about the university named, do you think it will make any difference in their eyes whether it is an unknown accredited place, or an unknown non-accredited place? Unlikely.

I hope I speak for Curlyben hereby encouraging those that have obtained a Life Experience degree to post on this forum to describe their experiences.

Thanks a lot, Veronica - for your elaborate input on the foregoing debate on life experience degrees issued by Almeda and other similar institutions. To add to what you have already said, I think the decision to obtain a degree from an accredited or unaccredited university is all about personal preference! I for one for instance, is a holder of a degree from one of those life experience schools. And I can tell you that I have regained confidence in my ability to perform since my obtention of the degree. I'm highly respected by co-workers and supervisors. I was recently promoted, as a result, to a higher grade position - and am doing quite well! I'm quite an inspiration and source of knowledge to my co-workers!

The key to any degree, irrespective of how, or where it was obtained is - " the holder's ability to perform the job required of him/her". Nobody cares to find out whether your diploma is accredited or not, as long as you're doing a very good job!

I work with colleagues who obtained their diplomas from accredited universities, but they all consult with me on many issues on their field that they lack the expertise necessary to perform!

It should be noted here therefore, that not just any one is eligible for life experience degrees! People who do apply for these degrees are successful individuals who have attained a high level of expertise in their fields. The degrees are not designed for individuals without experience!

Cheers! From a successful life experience degree holder!