The Other 85 Percent

Diploma mills

June 30, 2008 | Filed under: Capella, Capella University, Inside Higher Ed, Mike Offerman, New York Times, The Other 85 Percent, Transparency by Design, college, college degree, diploma mills, distance learning, elearning, learning outcomes, online learning

Back in March, I posted an essay by Judith S. Eaton on the future of accreditation that resulted in a number of responses. Ms. Eaton is the head of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and her essay was discussed at CHEA’s summer workshop.

It was agreed during the CHEA discussion that “colleges have a long way to go in showing that they are effectively educating students,” and that there is a relatively short window in which to get this done before Congress might consider mandates on learning outcomes reports. The article above captures the different opinions and the hesitation of many higher education officials and accreditation agencies about such mandates.

As I asserted in March, Transparency by Design is an effort by colleges and universities that serve adults through online programs intends to offer annual reports that detail core and program level learning outcomes. Again, it is not our intent that such reports be mandated as part of accreditation. Rather, this information is intended to empower and enable prospective adult students to make good choices amongst an array of possible options.

But, there is another reason that we should continue our work on Transparency by Design. In addition to empowering prospective adult students, we must help the public to understand that there are online programs and institutions that are focused on high levels of quality, on learning outcomes, and on being transparent about what they are doing. We see the Transparency by Design reports as a way to allow prospective students, employers, oversight agencies and the public to be able to identify the quality online higher education providers. This is important because the internet has not only enabled the delivery of higher education, but has also enabled the growth of scams and outright fraud in the form of diploma mills.

Unfortunately, these types of illegal operations undercut the value of legitimate colleges and universities that offer degrees online. They undercut the hard work that serious adult students have invested in earning degrees online.

I would argue that it is imperative that we continue the work of Transparency by Design, if only to counter these types of activities and to earn the trust of our students, their employers, and the public. And, it seems as if we may also lead the way to what some in Congress and the Department of Education declare is an important step toward greater accountability.

What do you think?

Mike

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