(Adhd) Avoiding Fake Degrees and Diploma Mills
No commentsBy Ben Needles
The Internet has created wonderful opportunities for countless students to take advantage of distance learning opportunities. Online colleges and universities offer excellent educations to working adults, the disabled, and those who need to study with flexible hours. These online classes also offer a substantial savings over the cost of attending a traditional bricks and mortar school, since there is no cost for room and board and lower expenses for staffing and transportation needs.
The down side is that there are also many diploma mills on the Internet. These are scams that pose as reputable schools but are selling worthless pieces of paper instead of offering real diplomas. They dont provide a real education. They simply take your money. If you want a genuine education, be sure you are enrolling at one of the many excellent online colleges that will give you a thorough education.
There are several things you should look for in determining whether an online program is legitimate. Unrealistic promises are a bad sign. No reputable college will promise that you can graduate with a degree in a matter of weeks. At the very least, a degree program should take 18 months to complete. A good program also wont promise that you can graduate no matter what. Remember, you should have to work for your degree. Paying a fee shouldnt be enough.
Look for accreditation, and then verify. Colleges and universities are accredited by various organizations. Check carefully to see who the accrediting agency is, and then confirm that it is legitimate. If an online school tells you that it is only a formality, or that they dont need accreditation because they are an online school, dont waste your time and money.
Six regional accrediting bodies that are reliable include the Middle State Association of Colleges and Schools, the New England Association of Schools and College, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Its well worth it to take the time to visit their websites.
Accreditation programs for U.S. schools should be located within the U.S. In recent years, some diploma mills have gotten around their lack of credentials by seeking accreditation in third world countries with low educational standards. If it doesnt make sense to you, theres a reason. A school in Montana with accreditation from a small island in the Caribbean isnt likely to offer you a solid education. As always, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Look for the schools contact information. A good school will offer you several ways to contact them. If a website doesnt offer a street address and phone number, they may be hiding something. A school that is open and honest will want to offer you every opportunity to talk to their admissions staff and faculty. If the only thing they have is an online form to fill out, you should definitely be suspicious.
Research the curriculum. When you look at the websites for online schools, check out the various programs that are offered. You should be able to look at some examples of the classes that are offered. Sample coursework will give you an idea of the variety of classes and how in-depth your education will be. If there is no mention on the website of required classes or the amount of work you will be expected to complete, there is a problem.
Learn about the faculty and staff. Online colleges and universities are generally quite proud of their instructors. They will have biographies, photos and contact information for at least some of their instructors on the schools website. If you cant find the names of any instructors, it might be because there arent any.
Compare the schools size-to-major ratio. There are many outstanding online schools that are relatively small, and these will generally offer a limited number of degrees that they specialize in. What you dont want to see is a small school that offers hundreds of diploma options. After all, its not possible to be teaching all of those classes if the school is very small. Its a tip-off that they may simply be selling you a piece of paper. If you take the proper precautions, you can find an excellent, reputable online college or university that will give you a solid education. In the end, it will award you with a diploma that youve truly earned and that you can be proud of.
About the Author (text)
Andy West is a writer for Knowledge Fest and School Marks. For information, visit http://www.knowledgefest.com/ or http://www.schoolmarks.net/.
The Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary
By Ki Gray
The Austin Zoo is home to over 100 different species of animals, and there are over 300 animals living at the zoo. The zoo is located west of Austin on Rawhide Trail, which can be found by turning off of Highway 290 West shortly after its intersection with Highway 71 West, onto Thomas Springs Road, which intersects with Rawhide Trail a few miles down the road
The Austin Zoo includes educational facilities and beautifully landscaped grounds and gardens, as well as habitats for bears, lions, and numerous exotic birds and reptiles. A petting zoo allows visitors to have close contact with harmless species of animals, and patrons can purchase feed at a nominal cost in order to interact more closely with the animals, which is a special treat for children visiting the zoo.
The primary purpose of the sanctuary is to provide rescue, rehabilitation and education to assist animals in the zoo. The zoo had over 200,000 visitors last year, and is a popular destination for families in the Austin area. Originally, the Austin Zoo was a goat ranch, but in 1990, it changed its name to Good Day Ranch, and at that time, the animals consisted mostly of deer, goats, donkeys, ponies, and pigs, with few exotic animals.
The zoo is open every day from 10:00am to 6:00pm, except Thanksgiving and Christmas, and admission is $7.00 for adults and $4.00 for children, with discounts for seniors, students and military personnel, so the zoo is quite affordable for the whole family. Yearly passes for unlimited visits are also available for individuals as well as families, and proceeds go to providing more homes for the many animals that are turned away since the zoo is regularly inundated with requests to rescue various kinds of animals, both domesticated and wild.
Among the animals at the zoo are big cats such as lions, panthers, tigers, and jaguars, along with Old World and New World Monkeys, as they are classified, and amphibians such as toads, frogs, salamanders and the like. There is also a reptile habitat that includes snakes iguanas, geckos, and tortoises, and various exotic birds, which include lovely peacocks strolling around on the grounds. There is also a sanctuary for unwanted and unusual livestock, many of which have been rescued from those who no longer want them, such as llamas, pot-bellied pigs and miniature donkeys, as well as longhorn cattle.
The Austin Zoo supports a pre-school television program called “Sprout Please!” which provides educational content for young children, and the zoo is also helping promote an appearance by animal expert Jack Hanna, who will appear at the Paramount Theater in downtown Austin in early October to speak about his experiences with wildlife. Another yearly event at the zoo is called Boo at the Zoo, which is held during the week of Halloween for children, along with their parents, to visit the zoo in their costumes and have a safe opportunity to see the animals and ride a “haunted train”.
The zoo is kept in the dark during these nights of fun and parents are encouraged to bring flashlights for peering into the cages and habitats, although some overhead lighting will be provide. Picnics are welcomed during the Halloween event, and the activities promise fun for all.
The Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary is an Austin treasure, and worth the short drive out to the hill country, so keep the zoo in mind this Halloween, or any day of the week!
Escapeso Realty provides a graphical search of the Austin MLS along with up to date information on the Austin real estate market. Their site also provides a free mortgage calculator.
Swing Trading Strategy - Stock Option Education Calls - Options Investing 727
By optionstradingdomain
An option is said to be At the Money (ATM) when the last traded price is the same as the strike price of the option. So becoming a successful options trader is no mean easy task. An option has a few key components which govern the rules around exercising the option. Moreover, the means for realizing the potential for financial success in option trading may be difficult to create or identify. They are experienced and provide you basic tips through which you may form a rough base. Traders buy Calls when they think the price of the asset is going to go up. They have their own ticker symbol and can be bought or sold at any time. Since the companies allow specific times to exercise the stocks, the prices are likely to go up and hence the holder can make a profit. And the basics about how to trade stock options are not tough to learn. They are experienced and provide you basic tips through which you may form a rough base. Options, like futures, allow individuals and firms to hedge against the risk of wide fluctuations in prices; they also allow speculators to gamble for large profits with limited liability. You need to control your emotions and exercise good money management to succeed in trading options to begin. They are experienced and provide you basic tips through which you may form a rough base. Learn more about how to buy stock and earn your fair share too!. To secure better returns, it is inevitable to be aware of various stock trading options that tend you to diversify your investments and allow a layman to hold better rapport of the market. In order to raise funds in future, a trader needs to be aware of the major differences between stocks and trading stock options. One of the biggest advantages to online options trading is that you can get real-time updated statistics on the options market just like the stock market. So becoming a successful options trader is no mean easy task. So if the price of a stock option is $2.00 and you want to buy 4 contracts you will pay $800.00 (2*4*100) and you will have the right to purchase 400 shares of the stock. Everything is right at the place to ensure easy going, but still there are words of caution that need to be kept in mind. "Mar" stands for March, so this option will expire on the third Friday of March 2006, which is next week. For a broker, Forex option trading occurs over the counter (OTC), thus, the traders can choose the price and the date that the option is going to be valid and then they receive the quote that indicates the premium that must be paid to obtain that particular option. Options take more attention and can amplify the movement of a stock in your favor or out of your favor quickly. In contrast, spreads with different expiration months are referred to as horizontal (or time) spreads. The value of Put options work the opposite way, they increase as the underlying asset decreases. Selling naked options, or selling options without holding the underlying security, is more risky and should only be attempted by experienced traders. A broker in Forex option trading has more flexibility in American traditional options because they are bought and sold before expiration. Online options trading provides so many benefits over traditional trading and it is not difficult to get started since many online options trading websites provides faqs and how to manuals to get you started. Though time is the most important factor in trading stock options, the closer the options are to expiration, traders are well advised to buy more time before expiration than needed. Careful consideration and sound money management techniques are a must for successful option trading.
Learn more about Swing Trading Strategy Stock Option Education Calls Option Investment
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 at 7:20 pm and is filed under education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
