Non-traditional education; a low-cost way of earning a recognized degree

Apr 18, 2017 Letters

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Dear Editor,
There was a time when earning a university degree or professional certification required attending a class-room type environment taught by brilliant-looking professors. In their quest for higher education, students diligently paid rapt attention, learnt what was taught, undertook their assignments, and were awarded their credentials at ceremonies filled with great pomp and pride.
With today’s rising cost of a university education and professional certification along with family commitments and the lack of available time, pursuing higher education by traditional means is no longer accurate. New ways of learning have to be found to maximize the students’ own potential and use of immediate surroundings. Consequently, alternative or non-traditional methods of learning evolved that grant those same degrees and certifications through studying by correspondence, equivalency examinations or credit for work or life experience.
Non-traditional learning has played a pivotal part in the history of further education. The system under which any person, possessing stipulated preliminary qualifications, might register as an external student of a university or professional body and, in due course, enter for an examination of a standard exactly parallel with that taken by internal students, was surely one of the notable educational inventions ever since its genesis in the nineteenth century. It has also provided the possibility of earning a degree or designation for many thousands of people who had no opportunity of entering a university.
The average cost of earning an undergraduate degree at a typical university is beyond the reach of many, while post-graduate work averages out even more. With non-traditional studying, there is little or no costs associated with transportation, accommodation, and incidentals. With a syllabus from the institution as a guide, study materials can be acquired from the administering bodies, borrowed, or sourced through the internet. Social media including YouTube have even made the availability of such materials far easier to disseminate and share. Moreover, many people who are already in the work force would like to earn a degree or obtain a professional certification on their own but, due to a range of factors, are unable to do so.
Let s face reality. We were brought up in a world where obtaining a university education was primarily through a regimented order of attending institutions of higher learning, sitting in class rooms day after day and year after year. This mind-set has clouded experimenting with new approaches to learning to fulfill our ambition for higher education. For example, if we can sit with a text book and figure out that since 2y = 8, then by simple division and reasoning, y must be equal to 4. Therefore, why do we have to go to a classroom kind of environment for someone to teach us this problem and solution? The best teacher one can have is oneself.
Not many people are aware of the fact that you can earn a recognized professional certification and fully accredited university degree from undergraduate to doctoral studies entirely through the mail and internet from some prestigious universities and professional institutions around the world. Of recent, even doctorates based on publications can now be obtained through external studies from some accredited universities. This was indeed impossible a few years ago: Now it can be done!
Some older, prestigious and accredited institutions like the University of London, University of South Africa and Heriot Watt University have awarded some of their degrees to those students who elect to study on their own. In fact, some famous world figures and other well-known personalities have earned their degrees by this method. As to professional certifications in business and non-business disciplines, there are over one thousand bodies administering well in excess of 2000 designations in 145 countries where recognized designations can be obtained entirely through self-study. Based on your inclination and skill-set, whether you are pursuing accounting, actuarial science, banking, forensic investigation, hospitality management, human resources professional, procurement, supply chain management, etc., all it takes is discipline and a willingness to learn – in the comfort of your own home.
Studying on an external basis is rigorous, intellectually demanding and represents a real test of character and ability on the student’s part. There is no difference between the standard of internal and external examinations which means that the external student, opting to go the non-traditional route, has by far, the most difficult task. This in itself requires considerable discipline and motivation. Whether that degree or certification is needed for advancement in business, life and self-satisfaction, it can be obtained if one is determined and prepared to work hard without, in most cases, ever visiting a campus or attending traditional classes.
With over-packed classrooms and rising costs, traditional universities are seriously looking at the alternative or non-traditional way of learning to reach out to students. These institutions are simply implementing non-traditional education to stay afloat. This vacuum in education provided a niche that has been recognized by unscrupulous individuals who want to make a quick buck from the unsuspecting and gullible. Undoubtedly, this led to the rise and indeed, proliferation of degree mills and bogus institutions which claim to be accredited by unheard of and highly questionable accrediting agencies.
A degree or certification from any of these dubious and shady institutions is like holding a time bomb, waiting to be exploded in one’s face. It can only bring shame and disgrace to its holder who may even end up being jailed for misrepresentation and outright fraud. And forever a reputation is damaged. More and more employers are simply not taking credentials at face value anymore but are probing their source and legitimacy.
I advise those secondary school students about to finish school and others who are serious in obtaining a degree or professional certification from recognized institutions of higher learning to do some research through the internet or consult highly acclaimed reference materials. A good start would be to visit the website of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, (www.acu.ac.uk) and contact the relevant university; obtain such authoritative references as Bear’s Guide to Non-Traditional Education, and Directory of Global Professional Accounting and Business Certifications. Both are available from the National Library or the UG Reference Library or can be purchased second-hand from abebooks.com. Prospective students should be limited only by their imaginations in their quest for higher education.
Lal Balkaran, MBA, FCPA, FCGA, FCMA, CGMA
Audit Consultant

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