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What others are saying (Caution -- UNCENSORED)
I have cut and pasted the e-mails that I got so far. I will update this periodically. I will post virtually anything but I will not post surnames or e-mail addresses or anything not relevant to this website. Most RECENT e-mails are at the bottom of the page. Occasionally I will reply or comment below a contribution. My responses are in bold and signed "Ed" (Editor).
I’m still bent over laughing at your response below. Thanks for all the insight. My profession has pummeled my finances and my options for other careers are limited without a degree. I’m going to give it a whirl and will let you know how it works out.
Thank you again for the great overview,
PamI hired one of these people with thi so called Life experience degree and he turned out to screw up everything and I had to fire him. What a jerk.
It's a good thing there are no jerks with traditional degrees.
- EdPam - Thanks for the Kudos. Hope things pick up for you soon.
- Ed
"Do you think you will earn your traditional degree before you land a job with your Life Experience Degree? Highly unlikely."
Does nobody care about the personal and intellectual benefits of ACTUALLY BEING EDUCATED?
Let me elucidate you. Many employers (especially one who would accept a "Life Degree") would not even investigate whether the 4 year degree you professed to have is legitimate. That is, you can say you have a degree and they'll take your word for it. So what's the point of going to school for 20+ years? A fucking education.
As much as you think you can "self-teach" at the bachelors, or much more ridiculously, at the master's level, it is not possible to get the same education as you would if you had actually attended classes. There are far too many challenges, expectations and obstacles missed when you solely learn through yourself.
But we're not even talking about "self-teachers," we are talking about people who are essentially pretending that their life has any connection to a college degree. The two are mutually exclusive. The University is not about "what you know" or a piece of paper to get a job, though these are secondary benefits. Furthermore, I would keep my honor intact rather than getting a "life-degree"... Choose a trade, train hard and have some fucking honor, instead of pretending you (who would have an online degree) have a degree. Waving around a piece of paper that relates your life-experience to a college degree is truly sad. It is the last resort for someone who just can't compete with the rest of the educated world.
Thank you,
JRN
Prior "actual" student of
K-12
Highschool
Technical/Vocational School
Community College
Private University
Public University
and life.
JRN - Nobody is suggesting that a LE degree replaces or is a substitute for traditional education. It is simply a job search tool. And it's not about the ability to compete with the educated world. Come down off your pedestal for a moment. For some, there are insurmountable obstacles (especially for the non-traditional older student who works full-time and needs to attend a university). I've heard stories from people that have been trying to return to school for 4 years for a science degree. Because science degrees have laboratories, they cannot simply complete an online degree. The classes needed are only offered during the day when they must work to support a family. The same is true for many healthcare and engineering programs.
In my opinion, being educated and having a traditional college degree are (to borrow your phrase), mutually exclusive.
Many people are now working two or more jobs to make ends meet. Unemployment is at an all time high in many states. Getting a traditional degree is simply not in the cards for many people. It's nice that you would rather keep your honor intact than get a life experience degree. For many people out there, however, honor just doesn't put food on the table.
I do recommend traditional education for people like you who have the financial freedom to make it happen.
- Ed
Would I have problems enrolling in a school of Law using a Life/Experience Degree?
Yes.
- Ed
I discovered your website today and thought you could offer me some sound advice. Here's my situation: I attended 3 years of college at an accredited school here in Canada back in the early 80's. I never received a diploma because I kept changing fields of study. I've worked in the field of civil engineering as a registered surveyor/autocad user for 20 years and for the past 5 years overseas as a field engineer. Since mid 2008 I've been unable to find employment in this field due I believe to my lack of diploma or degree. I have all the experience in the field but lack the 'piece of paper'. Just this week I was approached about a job in Libya and they were keen on me until they realized I lacked the college diploma. Maybe its the age factor as well (I'm in early 50's). I had never heard of these life experience diplomas or degrees. Perhaps that is the solution.
What do you think?
Your situation is exactly what the LE degree is all about. In your case, I suggest backdating it so it appears consistent with your experience. You don't have to date it from the 80's but I would go at least 7 or more years back.
- Ed
Your site was very informative. I have a question that I believe only you can answer. Why should one NOT apply to government related jobs with a LE degree?
In short, because you won't get hired. In long form, because they have requirements that suggest they hire only grads from regionally accredited schools. Even if you do get hired, an audit 5 years later could deem your ineligibility to work there and at best, you will get fired. At worse, you might have to pay back substantial moneys and be accused of a crime (if it was deemed that you lied about your qualifications).- Ed
Ed,
I enjoyed reading your article on a degree for Life Experience. I did a lot of research of many different schools and I found one that seems to have better credentials but not mentioned in your article. The name of the school is CORLLINS University.. What do you know about them?
Dennis
Corllins University is the same as SpeedyDegrees, Rochville, Belford, AffordableDegrees, AshwoodUniversity, Lorenz University, UniversalDegrees.com, and many others. All part of this same conglomerate operating from Dubai, UAE. With Corllins, however, they created a new accrediting agency called "APTEC" A spidering of APTEC will reveal that the only school listed is Corllins.
- Ed
I’ve been going back and forth with several online programs from schools such as Boston University, University of Illinois, and University of Phoenix. I’ve also read through the Bain4weeks site and checked into those schools, which seem just as expensive albeit I could get a degree much sooner. I’ve steered clear of the “degree mills” because my fear it would diminish my resume and reputation more than enhance. That said, reading through your site adds interesting perspective. I’m particularly intrigued with the idea of backdating… since who really questions what choices you made have made 10-15 years ago? Do you know which of the schools in your list would honor that type of request?
Thanks for the info, and great site!
All the schools mentioned on Madison's website will offer backdating. Do yourself a favor, however, and find out when the school came into existence. A degree dated 10 years before the school even existed will be too suspicious. Remember that these are almost all touted as ONLINE ONLY. There weren't too many of these in 1978!
- Ed
So what are your credentials ? Since you seem ro be the leading authority on degrees, qualifications, life experience and accreditation?
I can say that I feel that some of these life experience degrees are valid because there are many people who are self taught and at doctorate levels...that I know personally...some have no degrees or papers but have IQ's of 190...so these are very intelligent educated people without masters, bachelors or doctorates...
So I agree with the other side of this as far as four years at dairy queen serving cones doesnt give one a degree in Bus Admin...or other scammers...that try to use them...
Personally I would not apply for a degree unless I have at least ten years of practical experience in that field to support it....so would it be a scam for those who have experience to back their degree..? Besides only a very small percentage of the actual knowledge gained in in a degree is ever used...or applied in the real world.
What makes me an expert? Nothing! I am just like you, but I probably have thousands more hours analyzing Life Experience Degrees. Read about me here:
http://www.aboutlifeexperiencedegrees.com/aboutme.html- Ed
Thanks for the info you put on the internet regarding Life Experience Universities.
I recommend you also list Fees and total costs, by university name and degree,
(High school through PhD).. That will require a statement like; "As of this date____, these are the costs for these degrees at that university"..........JD
I really appreciate your assessment of both Life experience and traditional universities! This is the only paper I have found that provides insight into the reality of a L.E. degree – what to expect, how to use it, what employers typically think, etc.
I now look forward to obtaining a L.E. degree that I’ll know- represents my 24 years of work in the private sector – to go with my legitimate associate degree obtained after highschool.
All the best
It's great to know that my website is being read by so many people! Thank you.
- Ed
I have reviewed all of the colleges at www.degreeinspector.com and have read your website as well…I have many years of experience as an environmental engineer but I do not have my engineering degree…I have my Bachelors and my MBA, both from accredited colleges, but I would like to obtain a degree that is clearly for engineering. The company I work for offers tuition reimbursement and is very supportive of this goal, but I don't want to seem like I want to take shortcuts – I have been in the industry for many years, but to advance further, I really need a more specific degree. I am in Texas. Is something like this a good option for someone like me?
I will not advise people on their personal situation. I state the facts. You make the decisions.-- Ed
Here's what I think. .
I think if you pretend to say for example; you can do the job of a policeman and you have have say Special Training or some embassy guard duty in various countries. Along with all the weapons training and setting up security perimeters, as well as providing a security detachment to follow an important dignitary around. I think you may have exceeded the training requirements for the academy and S.W.A.T. Team. You understand the nature of jurisdiction when equated to something called the Status Of Forces Agreement (SOFA), and most folks don't even know what that is. I agree with everything you are saying; as a combat medic in the US Army; I have done a lot. There are some medical professionals out there that will never do what I do on the fly. They get to do it in a controlled area, but someone said my experience is not useful in the civilian world. "You don't have enough training" they tell me. We don't benefit from inexperience and we know it, but we still run around telling folks that they can achieve success through only traditional means and I know for a fact that is wrong, as a Marine and now Soldier, I know first hand that you can learn in many different ways and aspects of life in general. I am glad there are folks like yourself out there writing these blogs to open people's eyes to the fact of misinformation. Life experience in very valuable, we don't from just going to school and then... We learn from the mistakes we make in life!!
While these big named Institutions sit around talking about life experience degrees, these "Career Colleges are eating them alive. The are offering straight education and sending folks out into the world with Bachelor and Masters Degrees in less time and even more so ten count it 10 times cheaper. Home study courses that offer the meat and potatoes and teach you straight to the major, putting in the work force right away! jack and Suzy college go the traditional route of having to relearn math, English, science, and history all over again. They stick their noses up to these same schools who's curriculum is just as good with the hassle of paying all the extra fees. An honest person with a life experience degree can do a lot, if the school doesn't believe him/her, make them produce the documentation. As I said before, no college grad fresh out of school can lead a squad of infantryman with some form of experience. Even law enforcement agencies should understand the training required for a soldier can equate to some form of serious college level education; MP's for example. It's funny how the government has all these rules and yet still can not understand the true value of education. One can receive education from just about anything, it isn't allows in the confines of a brick and mortar building. Military medics don't truly learn their craft until they are place in a scenario or "Trail by Fire!! As a medic in the military I train doctors and nurses to receive their Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) credentialing, so I am so removed from the system that my life experience is worthless? I think not. You post is awesome and keep up the good work, also get the word out!!
You said it better than I can, my friend!
-Ed
Hi, I was reading your site for the purpose of understanding if it would be beneficial for me to purchase a degree from the Almeda university.
I am a veteran computer programming with actual industry experience of 10 years and many courses completed in this field including a computer programmer certificate from the IDF - MAMRAM (Israeli army computer experts school).
I do not intend to use the degree for the purpose of applying to a job but rather for immigration purposes - Canada and UK offer immigration program based on qualification - including a degree.
Do you have experience with graduates who used the Almeda degree for that purpose?
Absolutely not. NEVER, EVER attempt to use a Life Experience Degree for an F-1 or H1C Visa. The purpose of these Visa's is to allow students to come to the USA to study on campus. Life experience degrees can be earned in any country without travel to the USA.
- Ed
Thanks for all the information. It has been extremely helpful to me. I’m thinking of getting one of these degrees to apply to an MBA school in Poland. What are your thoughts? My thinking is that the Polish education system is not as strict about credits being transferred from a school that does not belong to their own accreditation system because such a situation would be common in Europe where there are many different accreditation systems spanning across many different countries; each having students wanting to attend university in another country and system. I hope to use this to my advantage and stand in line alongside these other students with a degree that would fit into the same category. Let me know what you think and what your thoughts are.
My thoughts are that I know nothing about the acceptability of LE degrees in Poland, but I do hope you write back to me and let me know how you fared.
- Ed
I hired one of these people with thi so called Life experience degree and he turned out to screw up everything and I had to fire him. What a jerk.
It's a good thing there are no jerks with traditional degrees.
- Ed
I recently submitted my resume to Almeda U for an assessment. About 1-2 days later, they (Almeda U) informed me according to their assessment of my life experiences that I had qualified for a BA and MBA. I was reluctant to get their degrees, I was skeptical so I enrolled with American Intercontinental U. Boy, what a mistake. I was given classes that I thought I did not want since I had over 30 years of work experience in the Logistics field in different categories. After being disillusioned, I withdrew and went back to thinking about getting the degrees from Almeda U. Though the degrees go outstanding and authentic I am still reluctant to get them. However, I need to get them since the job I have now I do not qualify for the job I want because I do not meet the "minimum" requirements - a degree.
All I need is a word of encouragement. Thanks for the time.
WOW! It's about time someone had the kahones to tell it like it is! John Bear can kiss my ass.
Thanks to Suffield University, this is a tremendous accomplishment for me. If it wasn't for Suffield University I would not be able to list a BS degree and a Masters degree on my resue. This opens many doors for a government employee with oer 30 years of experience in "Project Management".
This is good for the person who like to go through life cheating. Get a real degree and then you don't have to know you cheated to get your crappy job anyway.
My Almeda University degree has opened a few doors for me but not as many as I hoped.
this are scams all of them.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I have a degree from Almeda University but have been afraid to add it to my resume because I wasn't sure how to represent it. You have opened my eyes. I have redone my resume and am facing the job market with renewed enthusiasm. I can't thank you enough!!!!
Always a pleasure, - Ed
If you think that five hundred bucks for a Life Experience degree is a rip-off, be aware that York University charges $1200.00 just in parking fees! Texas Tech charges an I.D. Maintenance fee. Here are some more actual fees charged by "legitimate" universities
Information Technology Fee
Library Fee
Cultural Activities Fee
Medical Services Fee
Student Services Fee
Late Payment Registration Fee
Testing Fee
Drop/Add Fee
Computer Lab Fee
Graduation Fee
Student Union Fee
Student Recreation Center Fee
Student Transportation Fee
ID Card Maintenance Fee
Student Business Services Fee
Intercollegiate Athletic Fee
Energy Fee, and more.
By the way, these fees are charged to all students. Not just the 50 percent that graduate.
It would be one thing if everyone who started college had a great experience there, graduated, and actually used their knowledge, not just the degree, to create a better life for themselves. But that's not always, or even usually, the case. According to ACT (http://www.act.org/news/releases/2002/11-15-02.html) 49 percent (nearly HALF) of all freshmen entering a traditional four-year college will not graduate. Fully 25 percent of the freshmen will not even return for their sophomore year. 10 percent of the freshmen withdraw from college before the end of the first semester. The colleges know this and they plan for it by having less housing for seniors than freshmen. Colleges do not even have the facilities to graduate all those freshmen entering their school.
Listen to this quote from a Forbes article entitled "Five Reasons to Skip College" published just last year (April 23, 2006): "For, in truth, most professions - journalism, software engineering, sales, and trading stocks to name but a few - depend far more on 'on-the-job' education than on classroom learning."
Isn't that the story behind the Life Experience degree? Get one and doors open-faster, easier, and much less expensively than by squandering years of your life and tens of thousands of your dollars on a traditional college "education".
Another post that tells it better than I can. Thank you.
- Ed
Bogys rip offs and scams all of them.
Alls Ive got to say is that you better check on the return policy of these universities because some of them will steel your money and not give you a penny back at all no matter what and for any reason.
You can lie on the applications for these schools and nobody checks. I could write that I have 15 years working for a corporation and get my Life Experience degree when I never really worked there at all.
Thank goodness cheating on exams, plagiarizing, falsifying bibliographies, turning in work done by someone else, receiving improper assistance on assignments, and intentionally facilitating cheating on the part of others NEVER HAPPENS in TRADITIONAL American higher education. Right?
Wrong!
In a sample of 1,800 students at nine state universities, seventy percent of students admitted to cheating on exams, eighty-four percent to cheating on written assignments, and almost half to inappropriately collaborating with others on assignments (McCabe & Trevino, 1996). Source: ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges Los Angeles CA.
- Ed
Thank you for your candid information concerning Life Experience degrees. It seemed direct, straight forward and balanced.As a minister, I have completed vast amounts of study and research that were not part of a seminary or Bible school. I completed almost enough hours for a BBA from an accredited university but never returned to finish.Over forty years of being involved in church studies, ranging from being taught and teaching , all the major Christian doctrines, having written college level courses for my church and taught them, after teaching extension Bible college courses at my church, drafting theological papers for teaching advanced doctrinal courses and a manuscript that will probably become a text book, I think it would be safe to say that I have a great deal of theological knowledge.Because I'm now 60 years of age, returning to a "brick and mortar" school was not practical. While taking "on line" courses would have been an option, in reality, I would have probably retaken courses covering subjects I was already reasonably aware of. I continue to study and read to expand my knowledge to help others.Degrees can be earned from Harvard and other accredited institutions via the internet,My position is that the Bth, Mth, and DD that I earned from my life experience more than equates to classes taken in a regular class room. Since I taught some of these classes and wrote my own class materials on a college level, I think I have a reasonable base from which to speak.When I received my degrees, I took them to my pastor (who holds a PhD in clinical counseling from a well known Baptist, accredited university) and asked his opinion. He concluded that there was no problem with what I had done. He had even been ready to draft a letter of recommendation and experience should I need it.I think if someone is trying to use "life experience" that they don't have rather than attend college, they are in error.Having spent time in the professional world, a 4 year degree will get you only so far. You have to be able to "do the job" you're hired to do.Anyway, I thank you for this forum to share my position.I have all my diplomas proudly displayed. And, they didn't come "cheaply". I could not have "enrolled" and "earned" them had I not honestly "done the work".I humbly use my title of Dr. but I am proud of the accomplishment.There is. methinks, a place for Almeda University.
Thank you for your e-mail! - Ed.
This is xxxx from China, how are you doing?
I like your style because is direct and realistic. I've been reading your website and www.degreeinspector.com. Both are interesting and helpful. I've contacted Madison from degreeeinspector too.
I'm Italian and I was thinking to get a degree from Almeda University. I'm working here in China and I hope a degree will help me to find a better job.
Unfortunately I don't have a university education but only a high school diploma. On the other hand I have 10 years of experience in hotel and restaurant management. I used to work in the hotel owned by my family since I was a young boy. During the years I enhanced my skills, gained more responsabilities and attended courses to comply with the new regulations in matter of security and health. I feel I'm prepared and skilled enough, I speak Italian, English (I studied 6 months at university in California) and Mandarin Chinese (I attended one year of a language course at university in China, I'm an upper intermediate speaker) but unfortunately when I search for opportunities I'm turned down because I don't have any degree. For interesting positions a degree is mandatory, as written on the advertisements. I send my CV anyway, but I guess they are all rejected since I don't qualify with the minumum requirements (read degree).
I'm 34, I feel young and positive, and I would like to try new opportunities. In order to fill a manager post in China, and to get a working visa, as a foreigner I have to present a university degree (translated in Chinese) to the local autorities.
Since I've been living in China for 3 years and I know the trend here, I can say the situation it's quite different from USA, an Almeda University degree won't cause any trouble in order to obtain the working visa. The only problem would occur if I want to apply for jobs in foreign owned companies, expecially American ones, but it's also true those companies are private owned and not governative.
Thank you very much for your attention, I wish you all the best.