Is this website Legal?

[Ray]

Is legal.. i just dont understand how it could be...

http://www.instantdegrees.com/

 

[Genesai]

I got my Master degree in professional online scamming and have just opened up my own online degree website!

THANKS INSTANT DEGREES!

 

[Len]

If anyone read the TOS (http://www.instantdegrees.com/tos.html)

All documents obtained through InstantDegrees.com are for the Client’s personal use.

This statement is key, because it could imply you can't use it for any job or anything else, other than as a novelty item.

Exactly, the onus is on you NOT to use it as a educational reference. Same thing as if you create a certificate on your own PC, there is no law against you doing that for your own entertainment. The law only comes into effect if you try to pass it off as real to gain an advantage be it monetary or otherwise.

 

[Ray]

i sent the following email to them. (to see a response. im not really interested)

I am interested in your program...

However i was wondering if i could use these to get a job?

they replied from a hotmail address with

Hi Ray,

So long as specifica accreditatiion is not required, yes.

Accreditation is dealt with in detail in the FAQ

http://www.instantdegrees.com/faq.html

As we explain in the FAQ, if you require a degree with specific accreditation, you should not apply

If after reading the FAQ, you still have questions, please get back to me and I will be happy to assist.

Regards,

Kit Anderson
Client Services Manager
Instantdegrees.com

I hope this so called loophole gets shut down

 

[dombastic]

But is it legal... i think it is messed up how someone can spend 120$ and be set for life...

set for life?

this degree is a joke
if the employer is so stupid, then he deserves nothing better

a scientific degree without dissertation/thesis and publications in scientific journals does not exist anyway

 

[kbweb]

I don't have day one of college experience yet I owned a retail operation for 10 years. Are you saying that I don't deserve experience credits when obtaining a degreee? Just because some people exploit this doesn't mean it can't be a legitimate and legal service. I am fairly certain I could apply myself to certain colleges asking for credit based upon my vast experience in certain areas. I know a shitload more than most 4 year college grads.

Not at all!

For people who really have the knowledge, they SHOULD be able to get it, but not just anybody off the street who swears they are experts.

I myself learned a great deal of HTML, CSS, XML, PHP, MySQL, AS3, and Javascript all in a little more than a year, and can make a fairly descent site. I also learned Russian fluently without any course taught by a person, and can speak with any Russian as a native speaks. I haven't been to college for these, but I'm sure I know almost as much as college grads in computer programming and more in Russian, and I'd like credit for that. But just because I go in, pay $120, and get a paper, doesn't mean I know fluent Russian, or javascript and PHP programming.

How can they check to see if you actually have the knowledge before you go and show your "diploma". Any Joe can go in and swear they are experts in a field and get a diploma when they don't deserve it, and it seems they give it! This is not right.

 

[Ray]

I would have to agree with the post above.. (too long to quote). I believe colleges should award credits for having a majority of knoledge in a subject. However, i do not believe in these degree mills. i also do not believe that they should be able to award any type of diploma.

 

[npcomplete]

I would have to agree with the post above.. (too long to quote). I believe colleges should award credits for having a majority of knoledge in a subject. However, i do not believe in these degree mills. i also do not believe that they award and type of diploma.

First of all: Thanks for serving our country!

As for this part: "I believe colleges should award credits for having a majority of knoledge in a subject."

They already do that in accredited universities. Among other things, I got credit for German this way. My native language is English, but I picked German up along the way. The way it is done at accredited institutions is that you take *all* of the required tests, and if you pass you get credit. Obviously it should be more than taking some oath like "yea, sure, I can speak German".

 

[Ross]

First of all: Thanks for serving our country!

As for this part: "I believe colleges should award credits for having a majority of knoledge in a subject."

They already do that in accredited universities. Among other things, I got credit for German this way. My native language is English, but I picked German up along the way. The way it is done at accredited institutions is that you take *all* of the required tests, and if you pass you get credit. Obviously it should be more than taking some oath like "yea, sure, I can speak German".

This is how i got my first credits for Photoshop class and math !

 

[labrocca]

I would have to agree with the post above.. (too long to quote). I believe colleges should award credits for having a majority of knoledge in a subject. However, i do not believe in these degree mills. i also do not believe that they should be able to award any type of diploma.

I don't believe in the Diploma Mills either but my point is that the loophole involved here isn't wrong. It's an allowance to provide a person actual credit in college based upon experience. If you close that loophole you shut down Diplima Mills but you also turn away real life experience in legitimate accredited colleges which do offer credits based on experience (some at least).

 

[weblord]

then according to this site you can pay them and be a professor.
:imho: this site is a joke and a waste of time, since you can't quote them that you have degree based on what they're selling, it's just a mere diploma factory.

I don't have day one of college experience yet I owned a retail operation for 10 years. Are you saying that I don't deserve experience credits when obtaining a degreee? Just because some people exploit this doesn't mean it can't be a legitimate and legal service. I am fairly certain I could apply myself to certain colleges asking for credit based upon my vast experience in certain areas. I know a shitload more than most 4 year college grads.

 

[DBADT2007]

I don't believe in the Diploma Mills either but my point is that the loophole involved here isn't wrong. It's an allowance to provide a person actual credit in college based upon experience. If you close that loophole you shut down Diplima Mills but you also turn away real life experience in legitimate accredited colleges which do offer credits based on experience (some at least).

I don't think there should be a loophole at all and this one is as bad as it gets. However, by that I am not saying that life experience should not be taken into account, as going to an accredited college/university and taking the exams or even presenting real life application of the subject matter should be enough to be awarded with a diploma.

For example labrocca, in your case I don't see the need of an examination since your retail business is your proof (real life application of the subject matter), do you get what I mean? Knowledge of the subject matter should be proved either by examination or by real life application, the argument here is for the verification process, which is non-existent in a system that abuses the legal loopholes aforementioned.

 

[npcomplete]

I don't think there should be a loophole at all and this one is as bad as it gets. However, by that I am not saying that life experience should not be taken into account, as going to an accredited college/university and taking the exams or even presenting real life application of the subject matter should be enough to be awarded with a diploma.

For example labrocca, in your case I don't see the need of an examination since your retail business is your proof (real life application of the subject matter), do you get what I mean? Knowledge of the subject matter should be proved either by examination or by real life application, the argument here is for the verification process, which is non-existent in a system that abuses the legal loopholes aforementioned.

It is perhaps a bit more complex when it comes to diplomas. Accredited universities have a depth + breadth requirement. The depth is in the "major" for undergraduate degrees, but there is also a breadth requirement to make sure that the person has a well-rounded education. Universities already allow you to challenge most courses by exam, but the diploma also requires a reasonable degree of breadth in studies. Using the case of German in my earlier post, I took this by exam to satisfy the foreign language requirement. My undergraduate degrees were in math and physics, but I still needed to demonstrate that I knew a foreign language. There are other distribution requirements for diplomas. For example people in the sciences must also take classes in humanities, and vice versa. In graduate school I didn't have to worry about distribution requirements outside my field of study... although I ended up using my knowledge of the German language to read key papers in physics.

I suppose one could challenge *all* courses associated with a particular degree, including the courses associated with the breadth requirement. I don't know if any institutions allow you to challenge everything. At the time I was single... and taking classes outside the physics and math departments had other benefits :hehe:

 

[DBADT2007]

It is perhaps a bit more complex when it comes to diplomas. Accredited universities have a depth + breadth requirement. The depth is in the "major" for undergraduate degrees, but there is also a breadth requirement to make sure that the person has a well-rounded education. Universities already allow you to challenge most courses by exam, but the diploma also requires a reasonable degree of breadth in studies. Using the case of German in my earlier post, I took this by exam to satisfy the foreign language requirement. My undergraduate degrees were in math and physics, but I still needed to demonstrate that I knew a foreign language. There are other distribution requirements for diplomas. For example people in the sciences must also take classes in humanities, and vice versa. In graduate school I didn't have to worry about distribution requirements outside my field of study... although I ended up using my knowledge of the German language to read key papers in physics.

I suppose one could challenge *all* courses associated with a particular degree, including the courses associated with the breadth requirement. I don't know if any institutions allow you to challenge everything. At the time I was single... and taking classes outside the physics and math departments had other benefits :hehe:

Actually those requirements are sometimes entirely waived for some elite individuals that have shown through their own merit to be extremely successful and cunning in their own respective field major without the need to have the well-rounded base of education that you have mentioned.

Case in Point: Not to long ago, Bill Gates received an "Honorary Diploma" in Business from Harvard University. So, there are exceptions to the rules.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198500321

 

[npcomplete]

Actually those requirements are sometimes entirely waived for some elite individuals that have shown through their own merit to be extremely successful and cunning in their own respective field major without the need to have the well-rounded base of education that you have mentioned.

Case in Point: Not to long ago, Bill Gates received an "Honorary Diploma" in Business from Harvard University. So, there are exceptions to the rules.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198500321

"honorary diplomas" are hardly anything new... and by *any* measure Bill Gates is an exception to most rules.

Good point though. I am still curious whether there are "non-honorary" degrees at accredited institutions that are awarded to individuals based solely on challenging the standard depth+breadth requirements. I would certainly not oppose something like that. OTOH, I think it would make degrees from accredited institutions meaningless if (for example) it became standard practice to award standard business degrees to everybody that has managed a Burger King.

To counter my own argument: There are some real morons coming out of college these days, so challenging *everything* for credit might not be so difficult... (spoken like the true geezer that I am) :hehe:

That is why I said earlier in this thread that one needs to really dig during interviews regardless of degree to make sure that the interviewee is not a complete moron with a valid degree.

 

[DNQuest.com]

Case in Point: Not to long ago, Bill Gates received an "Honorary Diploma" in Business from Harvard University. So, there are exceptions to the rules.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198500321

I guess Bill needs the help to get another job...