<p>I was just told about a new start-up college, which shall be unnamed here for a while to start the discussion rolling, and I was amazed at how schlocky its Web site is and how platitudinous its marketing statements sound. But it apparently will succeed in separating some families from their money, and some students from the opportunity to attend some better college. </p>
<p>What's the slimiest, sneakiest, and most downright misleading college you've encountered? What kind of college would you advise your friend, your child, or yourself NOT to attend? I'm interested to hear what you recommend I should look out for.</p>
<p>I personally steer clear, and advise my clients to steer clear of, any for-profit institutions. I'm sure there are some decent ones, but many are borderline. I also advise that if you hear from a college that you've never heard of before that you investigate its accreditation.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I personally steer clear, and advise my clients to steer clear of, any for-profit institutions.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I've worked with three people who earned degrees in programming at DeVry. They were well-prepared for their jobs. That's all I know, and I suppose YMMV.</p>
<p>ITT Tech immeadiately pops in my head. It's all right there in the advertsiment: credits will not transfer, and they give you degrees in subjects you don't need a degree to get into the field.</p>
<p>Schools that advertise on television, such as ITT Tech and others constitute an industry supported by K street lobbyists. They become eligible for student loans, then put their students into enormous debt. Most of the students accepted are not capable of doing technical work. I won't comment on the teaching. This scam has been written about; but the lobbyists prevail. They use the idea that the poorest students deserve a technical education, and that the loans should be their with parity to colleges. </p>
<p>You people are amazing--you've been able to post during the server hiccups. Thanks for the replies. </p>
<p>Okay, how about rather more scammy than less scammy colleges among what appear to be nonprofit colleges? (How would a typical customer KNOW whether a college is proprietary or not, and why should the customer care?) My nominee, the inspiration for this thread, is the start-up called Founders</a> College. From the dot.com URL (not .edu) to the silly list of courses, this seems to me to be very poor value for the money, but I saw an online discussion posting by a parent who seemed glad to know of this new opportunity to spend lots of money on post-high-school schooling. What's your take on this newbie college? What other colleges, old or new, seem to fit into the same market segment?</p>
<p>One of my colleagues at Duke told me that Founders College is the baby of one of its faculty.</p>
<p>I have no idea about the quality of ITT degrees, but I am leery of them after the way they recruited my husband. He's taught some computer animation and CAD courses for a few semesters at various institutions, as an adjunct only. Having seen his resume on a website, a local ITT contacted him about joining their faculty and after having one phone conversation--and having had no assessment of his teaching ability or anything else--the recruiter asked if he might be interested in chairing the department. Now, my husband is a brilliant guy, but he's never done anything like that before and I thought it was outrageous that they'd suggest it. I don't know if they were desperate, or run things in such a way that it doesn't matter if their chairs have very little academic or teaching experience--but either way, I thought it was awful. He said no (to all of it).</p>
<p>I'm always disappointed by schools that hide or don't mention key aspects of their mission or environment when recruiting. I've repeatedly seen one school in particular talk almost exclusively about their location (The beaches! The shopping! The celebrities!) and not mention a thing about their religious affiliation, which is strong and prominent in the campus culture. </p>
<p>There's another school that was "in the works" a while ago. A representative visited my last institution to research "best practices". When I asked about the funding and who was behind the project, he said it was "a Catholic group". Of course, I immediately started naming groups: Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, etc. He finally elaborated: Opus Dei. Opus Dei operates schools in plenty of other countries, but no colleges in the US. I don't know what came of that project...</p>
<p>EDIT: I should have googled before posting. Opus Dei operates one</a> college and five high schools in the Chicago area.</p>
<p>As for Founders College, I clicked around and found this:
[QUOTE]
Gary Hull, Ph.D.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer</p>
<p>Dr. Gary Hull is Director of the Program on Values and Ethics in the Marketplace at Duke University.
<p>Opus Dei operates one college and 2 high schools in Chicago. 2 of the other 3 high schools are in the greater DC area and the third is outside of Boston.</p>
<p>"How we are different
Founders is based on a revolutionary idea: A college education should be an integrated, logical whole that trains your mind to think clearly and incisively. The experience should inspire in you a lifelong passion for knowledge. College should not be a hash of disconnected, propaganda-filled courses that are lacking in meaningful content. Most of all, it should not be boring; it should be intellectually challenging and thrilling. Our revolutionary teaching methods and unique, structured curriculum produce a learning experience like no other."</p>
<p>That's a pretty harsh critique of Duke, or so I would think.</p>
<p>There was a School of Pharmacy --took LOTS of tuition money & ran classes until the state closed it down because it was not accredited & had other big problems with it. Folks lost LOTS of $$$ & were lucky to get a few pennies on the $$$ they paid in tuition & other fees. The funds were used on rental, salaries, etc. Really sad!</p>
<p>To find out if a school is legit, look at what it offers & ask around in the community where the school is located. Do folks hire its grads? What is the rep in the community? What happens to its grads? How long as the school been around? What is the accreditation status? If no one in the community has good things to say about the school, I'd look elsewhere.</p>
<p>They got a steal on a beautiful property in south Virginia which will give them a campus nicer than some older schools. The state wants to help development in that area and may give them some money too.</p>