• Often it's simply a matter of cost. NA is generally less expensive.
• DETC* schools are generally more liberal in accepting transfer credit than RA schools - particularly in graduate programs. This is mostly appealing to older students who balk at the idea of starting over again when returning to school after years of experience. This is in addition to a more liberal approach to experiential learning. The few RA schools that address these issues tend to be more expensive than their peers.
• Prestige is always an issue, but not the only one. NA is not only Distance Learning and DETC. The forums are full of posts from people who find “the perfect” technical degree at a school accredited by one of the professional NA accreditors; however their posts generally express concern over the prestige and acceptability of the accreditation. In addition, there are non-traditional degree programs that are either not available from RA schools or not available from DL RA schools. One example of such a program is the Doctor of Arts at Harrison Middleton.  - Which brings to mind that each institution stamps its programs with its own style. Different options, electives, requirements etc.

In the end it ultimately comes down to what you are looking for in your pursuit of higher education, and what your goals are.  I must stress however that it's generally a good idea to stick with a regionally accredited school.  Always keep in mind that NA can create obstacles when it comes to credit transfers, job interviews and furthering your education.

*Distance Education and Training Council: National Accreditor

Clayton County Schools Has Lost Accreditation by Alberta Parish

Well, it’s official!  Clayton County Schools will lose its accreditation as of September 1, 2008, which was announced on Thursday, August 28, 2008 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.  Clayton County Schools had failed to meet eight out of nine requirements to keep its accreditation status.  Four Clayton County school board members who, earlier this year, had been blamed for the school system’s accreditation problems, have been permanently removed from their positions, and thousands of students are now left to wonder what will become of their immediate futures, as many were on track to graduate from high school in June of 2009 and attend college later that year.

Coming from a family where there are currently three college graduates that I know of (myself included and two cousins), I find what happened in Clayton County to be a tragedy of epic proportions.  I don’t have children, but I’m just as angry as the parents of these children.  Do you realize how hard life is or can be with no education or minimal education beyond high school?  I have a two-year degree, which in today’s slave labor market really isn’t all that wonderful.  There are people in Atlanta with a Bachelor’s Degree that is having a difficult time finding employment in the very field that they attended college for.  Therefore, many of them are often forced to take jobs that pays a considerably lower salary than what they would’ve made had they landed a job in the field that they attended college for. 

Education is only part of a key to success.  The other part of that key is parents instilling within their children the value of a good education. 

Even if a child attends a horrible school system, he or she can still make it if his/her parents invest their time, effort, and energy into the education of that child.  Even by encouraging a child to pick up a book and read, or encouraging a child to read one book per month, this alone with increase that child’s reading scores. 

There are students in Clayton County with a 3.0 to 5.0 grade point average and who would’ve gotten scholarships before graduation to attend some of the best colleges/universities in the United States whose immediate futures as far as graduating on time, and getting that athletic or academic scholarship when they expected to that are now in jeopardy.  Some of these students have worked too hard to see their futures or dreams deferred.  Some have worked too hard to be told that their school has lost its accreditation.  Some have worked too hard for three years at one high school only to be forced into another school (in a different county) just to be able to graduate on time and with an accredited diploma. 

Within a year from September 1, 2008, Clayton County Schools has a chance to regain its accreditation status if current school board members meet all nine of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools requirements, which were first reported in February of this year.  It was four years ago when Clayton County Schools were first in danger of losing its accreditation.  Obviously, mistakes within the school system and with its board members were never fully corrected, which eventually cost an entire school district.  Not only have students been affected by this school system accreditation nightmare, but Clayton County residents and business owners have also paid the price for the errors, misjudgments, and lack of consideration for Clayton County students on the part of a few school board members.

Not all children can graduate from high school, and go straight into professional sports (as a player) or the entertainment industry (as an actor, singer, songwriter, musician or rapper).  Therefore, college is really the only other option that most high school seniors across the country have (unless they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth).  And even in this, most multi-millionaire families still require their children to attend college.  Let’s hope that within this year Clayton County Schools regain its accreditation status so that high school seniors (who still live in the school district) can graduate with an accredited diploma in June of 2009, and go on to do marvelous things in life.

As of 7 minutes ago, according to the AP, the Clayton County School District has lost accreditation. How in the world can a whole county's school system lose accreditation? That is just too messed up! Seriously, this screws over 50,000 plus kids. Not only is this just irresponsible, it is downright shameful. Oh, and the reason for this loss? The SACS feels that the Clayton County school board is 'dysfunctional' and 'fatally flawed'.

My heart goes out to all those kids, ESPECIALLY the seniors. This year just got a whole lot more difficult for them.

Good luck. And WAY TO GO Clayton County! Way to represent Georgia! ...such an EPIC FAIL!

YAY!!!!

That means us. Apparently we have to update a whole lot of documents etc. But... its good news.
I am sooo excited. I did a little happy dance. That's how excited I am.

Yes I still have to be patient. The accreditation wont happen overnight, but its in sight.

I told Ashley, and then it comes back to the when do we do the 3 day prep course with CYFS. As I said previously we were thinking if the accreditation doesn't happen we may purse having a bio baby before we adopt. Ashley tentatively stated August next year. So I said to Ashley what happens if we get our homestudy done in May, it could still be a year from that till we receive a referral. Ashley said, that "I meant that if we didn't have accreditation then we would have a baby". "Its a different story if we do."

YAY.

So I would love to do the prep course now, but I still think we should wait, the only thing is that the newsletter states that there is about 50 people waiting on accreditation, so what if there is a huge back log of people wanting to do the course.

Must be patient
Must be patient
Must be patient

PRAISE the LORD!

Just as importantly, Drexel is doing what it can to make the necessary connections into the existing Philadelphia bar.  The university is renowned for its co-operative education program, in which it places students in the "real world" for internships, and the law school has followed suit.  Earlier this week, the law school also hosted the YLD Law School Outreach program.  Representatives of the senior bar, judiciary, YLD and affinity bar associations were present to introduce themselves to the students. 

From those students I met at the well-attended event, it certainly appears that they are aware of the opportunities they have and want to take advantage of them (or maybe it was just the open bar).  They want to become involved, meet bar leaders and seek advice on job hunting.  All in all, Drexel Law is on the right track and should be a welcome addition to the Philadelphia legal world.   

For more info, check this out: Check Out Distance Education Reviews.

Hay gente importante…pronounced (I *Hen Tay * M Pour Taun Tay)…which means…There are important people...

…and I’m NOT one of them!

I believe that I’m FINALLY getting the message…there’s no such thing as “just teaching.” Before I begin, please allow me to preface this rant by reiterating that this school is BETTER than where I came from (but so is Sasquatch’s bunghole), however the façade is beginning to crumble.

I believe in education. REALLY. I’m a nerd…I know I’ve said this before, and I mean it when I say it (proud of it, too). However, as a teacher in the urban and/or near-to-urban public school system, I believe that I am in the WRONG profession. Those people keep fucking with me! I just want to teach! I don’t want to deal with displaying their dozens and eons worth of meaningless, standards-based, data-driven posters and shit in my room! Today, a representative from the central office visited our department meeting to “warn” us that gente importante (important people) will be coming to our rooms this week in search of this paper shit on our walls. Also, said gente importante would be subject to place students under interrogation…seeking to discover the following burning academic enigmas:

w How often has your teacher incorporated writing into your lesson?

w Is your teacher preparing you for the state graduation test?

w Has your teacher demonstrated the proper method in which to structure a persuasive essay?

Never mind the fact that our school system has been in session for EIGHT DAYS!!!! This is the Inquisition. This is the delousing of a dirty whore’s crabs. This shit is for the birds! I don’t give a damn about the county and their expansive charts that cover a good four feet of wall space…what I care about is the cultivation of a positive learning environment/community within my classroom. I also care about:

w Making photocopies for students (of which is nearly impossible…13 English teachers have been allotted 1000 copies for the entire school year)

w Internet connections (so I know there’s a damn fire drill or STRANGER DANGER)

w Ability to access the school’s online grade book service (I just got a working computer in my room today)

w Student access to technology (non-existent)

w Updated class rosters w/access to student personal info…like parent’s phone number

Okay, okay…I know…I’m complaining again! But damn it…why is it so difficult to JUST TEACH? I am obviously not una persona importante!

The PAASCU is a service organization which accredits academic programs which meet commonly accepted standards of quality education.

The Acreditation  means a concept based on self-regulation which focuses on evaluation and the continuing improvement of educational quality. It is also a process by which institutions or programs continuously upgrade their educational quality and services through self-evaluation and the judgement of peers. Lastly, it is a status granted to an educational institution or program which meets commonly accepted standards of quality or excellence.

Administrators, associate deans of the different programs, faculty, staff, non-teaching personnel and students are hardly working and preparing for their visit.

Among those who will visit is Mrs. Concepcion Pijano, PAASCU Executive Director. Along with her are Prof. Leonela Africa, Dr. Marilou Tadlip, Sr. Marivic Galamay, SFIC, Dr. Ruth Manubag, Fr. Eduardo Tanudtanud, OMI, Mrs. Ruthsel Pe, Mr. Lay Sopagara, Dr. Patrick John LIm, Dr. Mark Labuntog, Engr. Stevan Dimaguila and Mr. Pen Sithud.

The accreditation has this following characteristics:

      1. its prevailing sense of volunteerism;

      2. its strong tradition of self-regulation;

      3. its reliance on evaluation techniques;

      4. its primary concern with quality.

With the collaboration of everyone in the university, they are hopeful of a positive output to their visit.

Thanks -- Michele

This year our school will undergo accreditation, and one of the recommendations of the accreditation team that came two years ago was to communicate within the department. So far no time has really been allocated for department meetings, and I'm not even sure what I would say within the department that would make people willing to stay after school. So here is my solution: Create a Wordpress blog specifically for accessing standards, asking questions, interacting as a whole school unit. We can make it a fun place and include pictures of people I "caught" doing something cool in the English department. I could talk with teachers about how they use the new textbooks that we bought for this year, and give ideas for the other teachers to use.

So will it work? Stay tuned.

If you've ever attempted something like this in your small school for teacher-teacher interaction, let me know, and let me know if it was a success or a complete failure.

by Ransom Stone

A diploma mill, often called a degree mill, is an organization that confers academic diplomas and degrees which require little or no academic study. Diploma mills are not recognized by any official educational accrediting bodies.

In the United States, accrediting bodies meet the standards set forth by either the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). These educational accrediting organizations then review and award legitimate accreditation to school who apply to meet their standards.

On the other hand, a diploma mill operates without the supervision of a state or professional agency and grants diplomas which are worthless at best due to the lack of school standards, or fraudulent at worst.

Some diploma mills claim accreditation from agencies who are not USDE or CHEA certified to monitor accreditation. Often, the mills themselves create the bogus accrediting agency who then "accredits" the officially unaccredited schools.

Accreditation through dummy accrediting organization lends an air of legitimacy to diploma mills in the eyes of the uninformed.

Some will even claim accreditation through prestigious international organizations like UNESCO, which does not possess the authority to accredit or recognize institutions of higher learning in the United States or anywhere else in the world.

Caveat: Lack of accreditation does not necessarily mean an educational institution is a degree mill. New schools which are applying for educational accreditation can be legitimate. Real accreditation is a tough and lengthy process.

Diploma mills exhibit a number of characteristics which differentiates them from properly accredited institutions of higher learning. Legitimate schools may have some of these characteristics, so you have to remember to look at the big picture.

Diploma mills lack accreditation from USDE or CHEA recognized accrediting organizations. Promotional materials and websites may claim the school is "licensed" or "state authorized" or "state approved". All that means is that the business has incorporated in a particular state. It has nothing to do with accreditation. Same as the UNESCO ruse.

Does the college have a campus? Just because there is a pretty picture on the website does not mean an actual school exists. Is the address a P.O. Box? Or does the website fail to list an address altogether? Red flags.

At diploma mills, degrees can usually be obtained in a short amount of time - under a month - or even in a few days from the time of enrollment. While legitimate online colleges and universities can award degrees in less time than a residential school (due to year round classes), an unrealistically short program time is a sure bet the degree is fraudulent.

While legitimate online universities may award some credit for well-documented "life experience", only a bogus institution will award a degree based solely on that life experience.

Check the credentials of the faculty members. If their doctorate degrees were awarded from the same institution where you are applying instead of well-known universities with a long tradition of conferring graduate degrees, you may have a diploma mill.

Another sure sign of a degree mill is charging tuition and fees on a per-degree basis. Real colleges charge on a per-semester, per-quarter, per-course, or per-credit basis.

Even online colleges and universities have facilities like a residential campus. Diploma mills often lack all facilities and personnel necessary to run an educational institution.

If the school is situated in the United States, does it have an .edu top level domain name. This is not absolute, as some diploma mills obtained their .edu extensions before regulations tightened. Many bogus schools will register for domains in other countries even though they serve mostly U.S. students, has no native staff, and offers esoteric programs like astrology and natural healing.

The danger in fake degrees from diploma mills is having unqualified people obtain employment, raises, and promotions by passing off their degrees as legitimate.

===

Ransom Stone offers free advice and counseling regarding online colleges, universities, and degree programs from his blog at http://www.virtualjoefriday.com.

1. When educational needs are identified and verified by organizations that do not receive commercial support and are free of financial relationships with industry (eg, US Government agencies), and

2. If the CME addresses a professional practice gap of a particular group of learners that is corroborated by bona fide performance measurements (eg, National Quality Forum) of the learners’ own practice; and

3. When the CME content is from a continuing education curriculum specified by a bona fide organization, or entity, (eg, AMA, AHRQ, ABMS, FSMB), and

4. When the CME is verified as free of commercial bias.

Alternatively, these conditions could provide a basis for a mechanism to distribute commercial support derived from industry donated pooled funds.

These conditions are additive folks. All would have to be met in the eyes of ACCME for commercial support to be appropriate. If adopted every accredited provider would only be able to accept commercial support if all four conditions were present.

Ok. So the literature review commissioned by the ACCME suggests that no empiric data exits to support the contention that commercially supported CME is biased. It may be but there are no data to demonstrate that proposition. There is a 10% non-compliance rate. Why? Before new conditions are proposed shouldn’t we understand the causes of the non-compliance and try to address those? Simply piling on new rules and regulations seems to me to be a response driven by a “quality assurance” model not a “quality improvement” model. Perhaps ACCME does know the major causes of non-compliance and are not sharing the information. Their privilege I suppose.

I digressed. So what did I provide in response to the challenge issued by Dr. Kopelow?

Murray,

I appreciate that at least one person is reading “Conversations in CME”. You asked that I send you some resources from improvement science that I think might useful in efforts to improve the work of the ACCME. It would be presumptuous of me to take on a task that large. However, to the point I made in the Blog. There are tools on improvement science that can be used to look at systems and processes that are instructive of the performance of those systems and processes. The specific issue I was addressing was whether there is a need for additional conditions promulgated by the ACCME to “regulate” commercial support for CME. My underlying question was “Has ACCME looked at the issue of non-compliance with the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support ^SM to identify the major causes of non-compliance?”

I assume there are leaders at the ACCME who are familiar with the classic literature in Quality Improvement like that of Juran, Shewart, and Deming. Further I assume those same people are familiar with a the straightforward book on quality “The Improvement Guide: A Practical Guide to Enhancing Organizational Performance” by Langley et. al. Of course there is literature and resources available related to Six Sigma and LEAN that I find very helpful. You might find the websites www.qualityamerica.com, http://www.managementhelp.org/quality/quality.htm, and http://mot.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/mt322/library.htm#Module%202. I find the Vanderbilt “Quality Library very useful. There are some resources in the management help site related to Total Quality Management that I think provide thoughtful resources concerning the creation of an improvement culture as a management style.

One of the Seven Basic Quality Tools http://www.asq.org/learn-about-quality/seven-basic-quality-tools/overview/overview.html) is the Pareto Chart, a simple bar graph showing which factors are more significant than others. It is useful when:

• analyzing data about the frequency of problems or causes in a process.
• there are many problems or causes and you want to focus on the most significant.
• analyzing broad causes by looking at their specific components.
• communicating with others about your data

One way to look at the issue of non-compliance with the commercial support standards is with this useful tool. Based on the results of this analysis, decisions could be made about which factors to pursue as improvement opportunities. Other tools of quality like root cause analysis using a cause and effect diagram might also be useful as the improvement effort moves forward.

So this is what I meant when I said I thought there were tools in improvement science that could be useful to ACCME. These are tools that quality improvement efforts in the health care setting use all of the time. These are tools that CME providers need be conversant with if there are to be successful integrating some of their efforts onto quality improvement. These are the tools I encourage the ACCME to use in its efforts to continuously improve the accreditation system.

Floyd Pennington, PhD

President, CTL Associates, Inc.

My relationships with this badges normally isn’t one of the best sometimes I loose them and many times they are completely useless. Guess some organizers feel that there event appears more professional with this badges.

This time I’m sure it will be different, the badge is the thing you need to have, at least that how I see it today so like any relationship we have to take care of it and do all you can to have a good time together and get the most out of it. On the back side of it you can read that the badge belongs to the IOC the International Olympic Committee and can be withdrawn anytime…as usual.

Wondering what will happen if you loose it? That’s not the plan so in two weeks we jump together on the plan and fly to China.

Right now I’m packing again my bags…again, din’t just opend one yesterday from my last trip? Back from Poland photographing a mach race where masts come down and wich the day before I was climbing with a beautiful girl to do a few shots, here name in Kinga. She is one of the very few girls who stay calm and enjoy this feeling being on the mast with harness. Take a look yourselves what’s the outcome.

By the way in this event Eric Monnin with his team got the second place, quite good considering that this was a Grade 1 match race.

But now let’s pack it’s time for the coppa del rey with the Farr 40 called Kajsa we have being training since months. February on the way home I met a guy on the plan back home from Nizza telling me that he just got a farr 40 and now it’s time to set up a team, by the way his name is Rolf.

Now the team is together with the usual learning curve also the storming, forming and norming process is full ongoing…let’s see if the last days of training right before the race will get us to the performing stage.

Now I leave you as I have to do my bags.

Jürg

My question is this “Where are the leaders in the field on this important issue? Why haven’t organizations like the Alliance for CME, the Society of Academic CME, the North American Association of Medical Education and Communications Companies, etc. put their stake in the sand on this critical issue”. They simply have not.

So in comes the ACCME, a regulating organization not an organization representing practitioners in the field, to establish the only alternative position to that of completely ending funding from commercial interests for all CME activities. The problem is that the ACCME proposed position on this issue is so restrictive it will likely have serious unintended consequences damaging the field for years to come.

I contacted the major membership organizations representing the field of CME and asked if they had a position on commercial support for CME. No! No! No! Not one of the groups that responded (and that was all but NAAMECC) have taken a formal position on this issue. Why not? Well it is too controversial. Well, we are responding to the ACCME “Call for Comment: but there are too many variations and variables in our part of the CME enterprise so a one size fits all model does not work. On and on. Responses bound by the limitations of organizational exigencies. Not the way policy should be driven but an unsavory reality of many organizations.

Should the CME profession tolerate ACCME (the regulator) taking the only leadership position in the field on this issue? Absolutely not! The CME stakeholder organizations must find a way to provide leadership on this issue. Regardless of the position taken a position must be taken. In the absence of this leadership from the profession the regulators will continue to dominate the field and lead it in directions it can control. That is not the leadership CME needs at this time.

Floyd Pennington

]]> http://meduc.wordpress.com/?p=18 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:56:39 +0000 Mike http://meduc.wordpress.com/?p=18 If you exercise due diligence (and do a quick Google search), you will quickly discover that there is some controversy about the validity of ICAATS accreditation. Unfortunately, many people are involved are arguing from a position of opinion rather than fact. There are some people who are vehemently against any education system that does not follow the western model, and they are under the mistaken belief that ALL western education models are identical.

The people who do argue from a position of fact are those from India. Unfortunately, they appear to be connected to ICAATS in some manner. The most vocal defenders of ICAATS accreditation are those working for a university that is accredited by ICAATS.

Until very recently, I was not connected to ICAATS and I had no real interest in defending their position. I am not working towards an ICAATS accredited M.Ed, and whilst that could put my compromise my beliefs this is not the case. I will now try to outline my position.

Who are ICAATS?

ICAATS are The International Council For Accrediting Alternate And Theological Studies. They are an accrediting agency set up to accredit theological courses since 1954, and do so as an NGO. They received recognition from the Indian government in 2003 and now hold a license to accredit courses.

ICAATS are an NGO. In India, most degree courses are completed in Government approved institutions, and accreditation comes from the ministry of education. These institutions only teach and practice the national religion, Hinduism. 80% of the population is Hindi.

In order to preserve the rights of minority religions, the Government established a system whereby "All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.” This is written into the Indian constitution, and was signed into law in 1950, just 3 years after they gained independence. It was never necessary to seek accreditation, yet ICAATS was set up to offer a system of checks to ensure some level of academic integrity. Many religious institutions in India are self-accredited and their degrees are considered valid within India.

An amusing thing to note is that the Indian system of accreditation for institutes of higher education, and that of allowing religious schools to self-accredit (or seek the accreditation of an NGO) is reflected almost identically in the US education model, yet the US model followed a decade later. US Education was unaccredited until the late 1960's. Nowadays, US educational institutes can seek accreditation from national or local organisations. As there is strict separation of state and religion, religious institutions in the US are either self accredited, or accredited by an NGO.

What is accreditation?

Accreditation is a third party verification of academic integrity. In the US, it is required to secure funding for students. In the UK, it is never required as the government grants a license to issue degrees to Universities and colleges whose quality they are satisfied with.

In the UK, the government license is required in order to secure funding for your college or university. In the US, national, state, or religious NGO accreditation is required. Essentially, accreditation is only sought so that that institutes can get funding. This funding is only available for domestic (or in the case of the US, state resident) students and so international students do not benefit from accreditation in any way. The UK Universities are not formally recognised in the US, and the UK will not formally recognise US education. That being said, both countries will recognise that the degrees granted by both countries are of a high quality and a US degree will be recognised by UK universities and UK employers, despite its unaccredited status in the UK. The opposite holds true in the US.

The Indian system is a mix of the UK and US system (though it came before the US system), yet people are unwilling to consider it genuine because, dare I say it, the standards are Indian! The Indian education system is first rate. Indian people are, for the most part, bi-lingual, and they are taking jobs every day from the UK and the US in a number of important sectors. These are not people who are receiving a substandard education!

Should an International School seek accreditation?

My honest opinion here? I do not think that an international school such as KEISIE requires accreditation. They are approved by the Korean government to grant degrees and so they are able to qualify their existence with that simple fact.

I know from speaking with Dr. Bottiger, and from my research into one-day opening a language school of my own, that the Korean Ministry of Education impose a very stringent series of checks to ensure the academic credentials of any licensed educational institution. When I provided feedback for the TEFL course that I conducted through KEI, I was told that the government actually verified the system of testing that was in place to ensure that standards for a simple TEFL certification were high, and this is despite there being any standard in place.

To date, KEISIE is the only licensed virtual school in Korea. The MOE actually invented a new series of balances (and by all accounts a new tax code) for them. They are government approved, and so they do not really need any other accreditation.

That said, most of their students will be from outside of Korea and I applaud their willingness to seek external accreditation. US accreditation gives comfort to people who are unable to take a global view of education. As most US accreditation agencies require some history before they grant accreditation, KEISIE will have to be in operation for a few years before they can realise this goal. Like many US schools, they will have to operate as an unaccredited institute before they can be considered valid.

Is an unaccredited degree a fake degree?

NO! Absolutely not! Many unaccredited colleges within the US are of a high standard. In California, people from selected unaccredited institutes are eligible to take the bar exam and practice law! This does not indicate a lack of validity when a degree is unaccredited. (Whilst relatively few people pass the bar exam when they come from an unaccredited institution, this is more a reflection on the quality of applicant who are likely to be unable to study at an accredited college. Most people studying will be from a poor economic background and so opt for the lower fees of an unaccredited college, and likely to be working as well as studying).

A fake degree, such as those you read about in the newspapers, is one that is a forgery or one where you "earn" your degree by signing a cheque. A degree that is earned through study and hard work is NOT a fake degree. As long as you are honest about where you earned the degree, your degree is not considered fake.

I personally believe that a program of educational study is as valid as you, the student, make it. If you receive good quality instruction and are willing to work towards your goals, you will come out of the program with a greater knowledge of your given subject. How much greater the knowledge is depends on the work you invest. Essentially, you are paying for an education, and that education should be your measure of satisfaction, NOT the accredited status.

With KEISIE, I will receive my M.Ed and I will be happy about both the education I received, and the price I paid. After discussions with friends who are studying distance MA's, MBA's and M.Ed's, I know that I am doing as much work as they are, and that I am receiving an education as valid as they are. In the end, that is all anybody should care about.

Do you know how these requirements affect you as a teacher ? Are they enriching or limiting for you ?
This is certainly a good question to ask when you're interviewed.