Ups for another post! Instant/life experience degrees. Legality challenged.

So sorry peeps, I've been caught up with plenty of matters over the past few weeks. However, I'll not forget my readers. :) to those who're reading from my blog now, I can't thank you enough for your support! Do enjoy your stay and do click on my advert located on the top part of the page.

Fine, back to serious stuff. With regards to my recent review of instantdegrees.com, I'd like to present an intriguing article & some knowledge I've brought together through extensive researches.

Take a look at this:

http://uspolitics.einnews.com/pr_news/56671947/florida-first-amendment-legal-victory-for-canterbury-university-smashes-accreditation-myths

So basically, this guy had a life experience degree issued by Instant Degrees/the University itself, and was taken to court by his employer. Jerry Tramel was accused of fraud & misconduct by faking his credentials. Apparently, this case went on for two years, and on August 26 2009, within a mere thirty minutes, he was dismissed of all charges, and was even informed that he would foresee a significant compensation for all the persecutions he and his family had been through.

The question is, why? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

1.) The university is real. It does exist and is legally incorporated.

2.) Does not hold recognized accreditation (law states that accreditation is voluntary, not compulsory)

3.) Jerry did not, by all means, misrepresent his degree. Because all this while, he never said that degree was accredited. And because the university involved is not native, it cannot be bound to the law of accreditation in US, because US doesn't even accredit foreign institutions! This includes those reputable entities in other countries.

4.) Practically, his career did not require a degree. Even without it, he should have been able to fulfil his duty, and I suppose he did well, and this was ascertained with the fact that he managed to maintain his position of a period of two years. He was hired in 2005, and subsequently dismissed in 2007 after the company had found out that his degree wasn't accredited. The irony exists, if Jerry didn't perform well, he should have been fired long before the incident, regardless of academic qualifications. I mean, even if you do hold a respectable qualification, perhaps from Harvard or Yale, and yet you lack common sense and practical skills for your job position, do you think your employer will go “Oh, because you graduated from a prestigious university, you’re exceptional! It’s fine if you don’t do your job well. You’re a Harvard graduate!”, and go on using you for two years with blunders occurring every now and then? The answer is apparent.

Just a food for thought, from my perspective, the employer clearly demonstrates that he was trying to take advantage of this situation thoroughly, acquiring a hefty sum from Jerry. Look, if he succeeds, he'd benefit much to the extreme.

"Not only I've got a competent fellow providing free labour for my company over the past two years, now, I can even extort him legally! Sad to say that I've lost a talented employee, but who cares? I can always hire another, better still. I'll hire those with unaccredited degrees and do the same thing. Only profit, no loss!"

Photo of Mr. Jerry Tramel:

And this is the Mr. Jerry Tramel we're talking about today. I personally respect his determination and wits (or the lawyer's). But that doesn't mean that I am a supporter of life experience degrees in all prospects, of course. As I mentioned, I'm a neutral person. I look at things with both beneficial and critical perspectives. For Mr. Tramel's case, he had the skills and criteria, but probably he wanted to increase his chances in getting the job, he inserted a legal (but unaccredited) credential. He did nothing wrong because he had put in his best effort after gaining the opportunity.
But for those who are using life experience degree for skipping education and trying to rip-off or harm others, whether deliberately or not, will not be let off the hook. For example, purchasing a medical degree: import cheap and unverified medication, then reselling them at a higher pricing, and using that the degree to convince buyers. This is unacceptable and, you’ll certainly be prosecuted.