About Gert Potgieter Expertise Undergraduate and graduate degrees by distance learning through universities based in the U.S. as well as in other countries (such as South Africa, U.K., Australia, Canada). How to pick a legitimate program and avoid the scams. Accreditation -- what it means and why it`s important.
Experience I have completed courses by distance education from institutions on three different continents. I am an adjunct professor in the online graduate program at a major state university in the U.S.
Publications Author or co-author of 37 scientific publications. (None of them about distance education, though.)
Education/Credentials BSc South Africa; MS, PhD Stanford University; MSc Birkbeck College, University of London (in progress, distance education); MProfComp University of Southern Queensland (in progress, distance education).
RAW wrote at 2007-02-11 07:42:56
Beware of the Ph.D. on-line programs. Northcentral University on-line purports to be 100% online but is primarily a correspondence school. NCU uses deceptive advertising. It purports to have an online Ph.D. program. The school is a distance education correspondence program. It is not conducted over the Internet. The Internet capability of the university is grossly ineffective and is one of the weak links in its program. There is no interaction with students and very little, if any, assessment or interaction with professors. It is what one of my colleagues called, a glorified correspondence school. Yet, NCU continues to promote itself as an on-line delivery system simply because there may be some limited emails and download files or information. NCU may try to compare itself to large private programs, but these schools are mostly owned by publicly held corporations that are subject to Sarbanes Oxley and thus a higher standard of accountability. They also have the resources to provide multi-media on-line educational programs and have the library and faculty resources to provide a viable program. NCU does not have any of these. NCU has demonstrated very little accountability or service initiative. Although NCU is accredited, it promotes its services in a deceptive manner. It should be classified with unethical marketing scams. It is not an on-line program. It is a correspondence school. NCU is not a student friendly environment, nor is it transparent and accountable in its disclosure. NCU advertising is deceptive and I believe that this is wrong and should be changed and or reported to the public at large. Their student service is not effective and their focus is primarily on money. Students will receive much better service from large traditional or private universities. NCU will not refund your money after you enroll and determine that their program was not what they purported it to be. In fact, they will ignore you and use unethical tactics to harass you. They continue to use false advertising and this warrants public disclosure and, at least, preventing others from falling for NCU’s deceptions. Although they may rank well in terms of cost, please remember, you get what you pay for. And you will not get much from this correspondence school. Search for an AACSB school or a regionally credited school that has a long successful history and/ or is backed by a credible organization that has the resources to provide a top rated program.
