<p>A distant relative is finishing up her undergrad at a state college, and says she’s looking at a graduate school in Florida. It turns out its a for-profit university. I don’t know this girl enough to question her choice (we are only Facebook friends, and I have only met her once), yet I still worry that this could be a terrible decision. My guess is she is naive, and thinks its a regular school. Are these schools always bad? Are they legitimate? This one is called Argosy.</p>
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<p>The question to ask is whether the school is accredited or not and, if so, by whom. One does not want to go into debt to get a degree from a non-accredited school from which one will have difficulty finding employment.</p>
<p>I think it’s accredited, but does that make it reputable? And why would a student chose it over a regular university? The girl in question is going to get her undergrad degree from a regular state u. What makes these kinds of schools desirable?</p>
<p>Argosy has branches at a LOT of places, including HI. </p>
<p>Here’s one thread about it:</p>
<p>[Why</a> is there a negative view towards Argosy University? - Page 6 | Psychology [Psy.D. / Ph.D.] | Student Doctor Network](<a href=“Why is there a negative view towards Argosy University? | Page 6 | Student Doctor Network”>Why is there a negative view towards Argosy University? | Page 6 | Student Doctor Network)</p>
<p>If you search Argosy and opinion on it, you can find a lot of hits. It would be important for HER to ask places she wants to consider applying to work at what THEY think of a graduate degree from that U. I have been told that some for-profit Us are considered “diploma mills” by employers and not respected by them at all. Don’t have personal information as to whether or not Argosy falls into this category but suspect that the flagship state U might get more respect that a for-profit private U.</p>
<p>It is important to find out about placements that are made by the school–where their graduates end up, what % of them get jobs IN THEIR FIELD or whatever else they want, what % complete their degrees, whether they get masters, PhDs or other degrees, % that pass tests for certification/licensing on 1st attempt etc.</p>
<p>Depending on the field, many legit Us help fund graduate study of students they want by offering research or teaching positions. This can reduce the cost of attendance significantly. These openings are highly competitive and require very good grades, recommendations and experience is helpful as well.</p>
<p>For some government jobs, having a Masters Degree, as long as it’s from an accredited school, will give you an automatic pay raise.</p>
<p>Many of the primarily online for-profit universities offer greater flexibility in class schedules than traditional institutions do. This makes them very attractive to people who are working, because they can fit the classwork around their schedules.</p>
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<p>By what accrediting organization?</p>
<p>The more reputable universities are regionally accredited. Many of the for-profit universities are accredited by an organization that accredits “career colleges”.</p>
<p>In addition, some majors have major-specific accrediting bodies. For example, engineering and engineering technology degree programs are accredited by [url=<a href=“http://www.abet.org%5DABET%5B/url”>http://www.abet.org]ABET[/url</a>]. Business degree programs are accredited by [url=<a href=“http://www.aacsb.edu/]AACSB[/url”>http://www.aacsb.edu/]AACSB[/url</a>].</p>
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<p>Perhaps students looking for this type of school for course work that is not available at a community college may want to look at [Western</a> Governors University](<a href=“http://www.wgu.edu/home4]Western”>Western Governors University – Online College), which is [regionally</a> accredited](<a href=“http://www.wgu.edu/about_WGU/accreditation]regionally”>Accredited Online Universities | Accredited Online Colleges | WGU).</p>
<p>I have friends that received their bachelors in nursing from for profits. Can’t say it really helped them much other than they get to say they have a b.s. degree. Bull…I mean bachelor of science. I personally find it suspect. I would advise anyone I know against for profit schools.</p>
<p>Yes, there are legitimate for-profit colleges, but becasue there are so many dicey ones out there, it’s extra important to do the research before enrolling.</p>
<p>I agree with the advice about talking to potential employers. While some employment situations just require the credential (regardless of the school that granted the degree), most hiring managers DO look at the school. For-profit degrees are often viewed with some suspicion.</p>
<p>Often, employers are looking for multiple things from a degree. They may prefer degrees from selective programs not because those degree holders learned more but because to gain entry to the program (and then successfully complete it) means the candidate has already passed through a rigorous screening process.</p>
<p>For-profits tend to admit just about all applicants who can sign up for government loans. (Get ready for the successor to the mortgage meltdown.) So, the fact that a job applicant was accepted at For Profit U tells the employer nothing. The fact that the applicant completed the degree program implies some degree of diligence on the applicant’s part, though the rigor of the program may be questionable to some.</p>
<p>The quality of the for profit colleges vary greatly. The University of Phoenix started out stressing graduate degrees that were paid for by employers. If the employers didn’t think they were worthwhile, they wouldn’t have paid for it.</p>
<p>There are many other for profits that exist purely to soak up Federal grants and federally subsidized loans. Some have also conspired with private loan providers to get students to sign up for loans with 22% interest rates.</p>
<p>A big question is: will the credits from this for-profit be accepted at most non-profit universities. If the answer is no, then run away from it. </p>
<p>There are tons of students who run up lots of debt at less reputable for-profits and then find out that they can’t use the credits anywhere else to get a higher degree.</p>
<p>Many for profits have lied about the job prospects for their grads. </p>
<p>One for profit was found to have hundreds of people employed in recruiting new students, and only one person employed in helping their graduates find jobs.</p>
<p>One small religious college was going bankrupt. A for profit bought the assets simply to be able to use that college’s acreditition. They turned that small college into a diploma mill issuing thousands of online degrees per year.</p>
<p>Argosy College is a branch of EDMC Corporation which has recently had at least 18 state’s Attorneys General file suit against them for fraudulently administering Federal financial aid. The tuition is extremely high and the degrees are not recognized by a lot of employers because e the schools are accredited by ACICS which is a national accreditor whereas every real State University is accredited by a regional accreditor. Schools that hold national accreditation can NOT transfer credits to a State University. So, please call her, email her, SOMETHING. These schools are known widely as rip-offs. Google the name Argosy, EDMC, and lawsuits.</p>
<p>A recent report by GAO found that for a subset of professions, students that attended for-profit institutions had lower pass rates on licensing exams than students that attended other types of schools.</p>
<p>A family member got quite a few mailings from Argosy. They appeared good & interesting to the young student until further checking, including with profs at her university, I never heard Argosy mentioned again.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for this information. I barely know this girl, but she is my cousin’s child ( a cousin who I’ve met once since we were adults) so I feel slightly maternal anyway. I feel weird getting into her business, but maybe I should.</p>
<p>truthferret, I sent her your quote on Facebook. Thanks!</p>
<p>The girl sent me a message back, thanking me for the information. It sounded like she was heavily influenced by a phone solicitation.</p>
<p>Wow–suggest to her that she talk with instructors at her current U about their opinion of Argosy. SCARY how easily phone calls can influence some people!</p>
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<p>Guess she doesn’t have enough suspicion to automatically assume that a phone solicitation generally means a bad deal at best and a scam at worst.</p>