Don't Get Scammed - Do Your Research

RALEIGH, N.C., Jan. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine my dismay when I recently viewed a comment on the MyComputerCareer Facebook page which read, "A worthless 'education.' Don't get scammed folks." I had to know who was behind this shocking and grossly misinformed assessment of our school, so I easily clicked into the author's Facebook profile. I was dismayed to discover that it came from a teacher at Duke University. This is a fellow educator; someone who stands in front of a classroom of eager students every day. He is getting his PHD in education. Yet, he took time in the middle of the night to discourage prospective students anxious to improve their lives through that very pursuit. What?!

After a moment of outrage, I reminded myself that this is coming from someone steeped in the conventional wisdom of a conventional education. He may feel threatened by an alternative that challenges the status quo and helps thousands of students start rewarding professional careers in a fraction of the time and a fraction of the cost of his beloved alma mater.

A brief reflection on just a few of the success stories among the hundreds I have personally known at MyComputerCareer restored my composure. I realize this professional college teacher, however well-schooled, is speaking from the only experience he has and lacks real education.

So, I echo his sentiment. "Don't get scammed!" Don't spend four years or longer getting an education if it doesn't suit your needs, costs enormous amounts of time and money, and may leave you little further ahead. A college education is great for some people and for some careers at the right point in time. But it's not for everyone. And it may not be for you.

Accreditation: A measure of Success

Alright, how do you know a school like MyComputerCareer is legit? One indicator is accreditation. Just like Duke University and other colleges, MyComputerCareer is accredited by an independent auditing body recognized by the US Department of Education. Specifically, we answer to the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET). They evaluate our programs and practices regularly against high performance standards that we must meet to retain their approval. For example, we're required to maintain a minimum 67% graduation rate and then successfully have 70% of our graduates placed in IT career positions. But our goals are even higher and it's not uncommon for MyComputerCareer to exceed these standards. We take them very seriously. A loss of accreditation could eliminate our students' ability to get vital financial aid like PELL grants, Stafford Loans, and GI Bill funding. Most traditional colleges and universities, by the way, are not held to comparable standards.  

But is it right for YOU?

Ultimately, only you can answer that. But let's talk about who our students are at MyComputerCareer. They can be anyone! You don't have to have a 4.0 GPA from high school or college to be successful. You don't need any previous I.T. experience. You may or may not be successful in another career. You can be right out of high-school or a great-grandparent. Yes, we have had students passionate about changing careers very late in life. You can have a full-time job or be unemployed. Many of our students have families and need to keep working while attending school. They also need flexible scheduling that allows them time to do just that. And our success stories cut across all race, gender, political and religious lines.

Student Success = Student Outcomes

But how do we measure student outcomes? That is an important question that you should always ask when looking at an educational institution. If our friend from Duke had done his homework, he would likely not have made the statement that he did!

For our purposes, I'm going to focus on the outcomes that matter the most. Program completion and job placement. This tells you that the students in question finished the program and got an IT job. We'll concentrate on the  Raleigh, North Carolina Campus because that's near Duke University.  Our Information Technology Systems Administrator (ITSA) program is the core program almost all students complete. We have a 30-week option and a 42-week option to accommodate the various scheduling needs of students. You will also see Resident and Hybrid programs. Resident is done ALL on campus and Hybrid is done both on-campus and online.

Keep in mind that these numbers represent hundreds of students and that 2016 results are locked in just a few months after the year ends. But we continue to place students in jobs, so the numbers here may not represent ALL graduates.

Raleigh Campus ITSA Student Outcomes

ITSA 30 Week Resident Program: Completion was 86.67% and placement was 95.00% for 2016

ITSA 42 Week Resident Program: Completion was 93.75% and placement was 74.07% for 2016

ITSA 30 Week Hybrid Program: Completion was 94.12% and placement was 79.63% for 2016

ITSA 42 Week Hybrid Program: Completion was 90.98% and placement was 78.79% for 2016

A "WORTHLESS" EDUCATION?

Our friend at Duke referred to our program as a "worthless education." I can't think of any education that I or my colleagues at MyComputerCareer would describe as worthless. But some are worth more than others. In the end, value is a function of cost vs. benefit. We're confident that if you compare those factors with ANY school of your choice--including Duke University--if your goal is employment as an IT professional, we think you'll agree that MyComputerCareer offers extraordinary value, indeed.

The people that I am blessed to work alongside are advocates for education. ALL education. Every day we do our absolute best to help each student reach his or her goals, create new dreams and find success however they define it.

Our students make a promise to themselves on the first day of class. I have read through promises that these students make to their kids, spouses, siblings, their parents or just to themselves. They almost always revolve around the dreams they have for their future and their families' future. We find no greater joy than in seeing those dreams come true. And it happens every day. Perhaps our friend would do well to speak to some of them about their "worthless" education.

Contact: Jenny Nichols, 1-765-714-7272

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SOURCE MyComputerCareer