There is much talk today about the value
of an education.
According to well-circulated statistics, a person with a
4-year degree can expect increased earnings of $900,000
over a lifetime compared to a high school graduate. A
person with a master's degree can expect to make $1.3
million dollars more compared to a high school graduate,
and $400,000 more compared to a person with a bachelor's
degree. The statistics look even better when one compares
the income potential of a person with a PhD, or with a
Professional degree (MD or JD professional), to a high
school graduate (Increased earning, 2005).
Not only these statistics do not say the whole story, but
they are no less deceptive than the practices of those
pushing degrees from diploma mills. You almost need an
additional degree in knowledge just to figure out the
magnitude of the higher education scam.
The first problem with these numbers is that the price of
an education, including the interest over 20 years you
might pay if you take out a loan in order to get an
education, is never mentioned. Even state colleges today
can be very expensive when you add in all the real costs,
out-of-state education costs more than in-state, private
schools are at least twice as expensive, and when one
factors in those numbers, the extra sweat to get a degree
looks a lot less appealing or rational.
Another grossly overlooked issue is that averages aren't
predictive for the individual regardless of how good they
look on the surface. You may earn a lot more or even a lot
less in your chosen field, depending on a variety of
factors, not all of them under your control (Weston,
2005).
Then come the details. One thing which isn't typically
mentioned is that an Associate degree actually does offer
a "big bang for the buck" (you are lead to believe
otherwise with all the hype on advanced degrees); some
Master's degrees do not offer additional economic
advantage compared with a Bachelor's; studying engineering
or computer science generally offers a greater return over
a lifetime in earnings; and getting a professional degree
(MD or JD professional) can cause quite a bit of debt, but
also seems worth the trouble overall (Weston, 2005).
However, even honest researchers don't ask whether a
business has to give you a job even when you do have a
degree, and it is accredited by one of those six magical
regional accreditors recognised by the United States
Department of Education (USDE) and the Council for Higher
Education Accreditation (CHEA). In fact, not even the US
government, or any of the 50 state governments, is obliged
to give you a job if you have an accredited 4-year degree,
even if it is an honours degree! Why all the hype about
accredited degrees then — some states like Oregon even require them for
employment with the government —, when there are
absolutely no guarantees other than the degree will cost
you a lot of money, will demand great sacrifices on you,
and possibly even on your parents, and it may not pay off
as much as you thought?
Finally, even honest researchers don't ask whether
completing your degree is worth much in an economic sense
if you are already 35 or older (older adults already
suffer open descrimination in employment); whether
employers treat all accredited degrees equally (they
don't, nor can the government oblige them to do
otherwise); whether all the credits you've earned at one
accredited institution are perfectly transferrable or
accepted at another accredited institution (they aren't);
whether the government treats all degrees from accredited
institutions equally (they don't, nor can "We the People"
do anything about it either); or whether an accredited
degree from a lesser
institution is less expensive than a
non-regionally accredited degree from a greater institution
(it isn't).
Have you begun to realise that this accreditation thing is
one Big Scam, and maybe you should continue your education
for different reasons, or simply for the love of knowing
all true philosophers are supposted to possess?
William Cullen Bryant University isn't a
"regionally-accredited" institution, but it is not a
lesser institution, and it is in fact accredited by other
institutions, which honor its degrees a lot more than the
US government honours its "accredited" degrees.
William Cullen Bryant University is a university owned by
the Teutonic Knights Templars Royal Peculiar ACC,
an Arizona non-profit corporation (file No. -1130056-0).
The education offered here is so inexpensive you will not
need a loan, nor will you need financial aid or
scholarships in order to offset the expense that the
quasi-government bureaucracy of the accreditation agencies
adds to the tuition price tag. There is also no
quasi-government bureaucracy telling the university what
field of study should be available, and what shouldn't, no
limits on freedom of educational speech, no need to accept
the FDA's "gunpoint medicine" either, if you prefer more
naturopathic, homeopathic, or holistic approaches to
health.
William Cullen Bryant University offers degrees that can
be based in part on past education, work history and life
experience. Bachelor's degrees, Master's degrees, or PhD's
are offered in the following fields: