Canyon College Dubbed Online Diploma Mill

Visit The Canyon College website at Canyoncollege.edu, and you see a rather austere presence for an online college that prides itself on the more than 60 degree programs and 100s of online courses it provides to interested parties. The sales hooks are the lures of a prestigious online degree and the ability to earn it without having to attend classes at a brick and mortar school. The listing of online degrees is impressive: there are journalism, forensic psychology, accounting, nursing, advertising, computer science, and a lot more!

Canyon College operates out of Carmichael, California, and charges $435 per course for a bachelor's degree, $500 per course for a master's degree, and $550 per course for a doctorate. Certificate programs have varying tuition costs per course, and prospective students are urged to review the admission information. The faculty listing reads like a who's who of the titled and degreed, and with a liberal credit transfer program, Canyon College sounds like a good deal.

There is but one fly in the ointment: Canyon College is accredited by the Association for Innovation in Distance Education (AIDE) and the American Naturopathic Medical Accreditation Board (ANMAB), but the Carmichael Canyon College is not accredited by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education. As a matter of fact, according to Breyer State, AIDE is not actually an accrediting body that is recognized or approved by the U.S. Department of Education.

This of course echoes the findings of Fox News' story regarding the experience Jane Killen had when she sought to further her career with a master's degree in nursing she had obtained from Canyon College. This particular college was said to be based in Idaho - 111 Poplar Street in Caldwell, ID 83605 - but when following the link for the school, it appears to be the same as the one currently listed as being found at 4017 Garfield Ave, Carmichael, CA 95608.

When Jane Killen proudly presented her Canyon College degree she learned that it was about worth as much as the paper it was printed on. Moreover, she was accused of attempting to pass a bogus degree as a real one and could open herself up to litigation. It goes without saying that Ms. Killen feels frustrated. She is an unwitting victim in a world of accrediting bodies nobody ever heard of and Internet scammers who make up such accreditation agencies faster than the Department of Education can debunk them. Of course, Canyon College actually offered her an education. This is more than some of the diploma mills can say.

Take a look at the underbelly of the Internet and the education business. A cursory search of online diploma mills pointed me to Speedy Degrees where you can unashamedly buy a degree. Pick out a doctorate of your choice for $599 and qualify by virtue of your life experience and validity of your credit card. Choose the year of graduation (it costs $60 extra if it is a date other than today), a GPA (graduating summa cum laude costs another $60; graduating with a 3.0 GPA is free), and within a few short weeks you are an honored graduate of Ashwood University.

Is it accredited? You bet! Ashwood University is accredited by the World Online Education Accrediting Commission (WOEAC) and the Board of Online Universities Accreditation (BOUA). Don't worry if you never heard of Ashwood University. The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Post Secondary Education has not either. And unlike Canyon College, it does not offer an education.

Let the buyer beware!

Source:
http://www.canyoncollege.edu/
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.asp
http://www.breyerstate.com/aideinfo.htm
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,405786,00.html
http://www.speedydegrees.com
http://www.ashwooduniversity.net/ashwood/online-degrees/online-doctorate.asp