Coffee Talk

Frank: “Inspect and remove the culls from the output.”
New Kid: “What’s a cull?”
Frank: “Hey Boss! New kid here wants ta know what a cull is!”
Boss: “List’n boy, it’s what you’re gonna be if you don’t learn fast what it is!”

“Legal” Does not Necessarily Mean “Good”
Before I explain the terms “cull,” “cullege,” and “tertium quid,” I must first make a quick point about legality. There are many schools that are operating legally, but they are terribly inferior and academically abhorrent. So, just because a school has (1) filled out the proper papers and paid for its city and state license to operate as a business and (2) has gotten its tax-exempt status from the IRS does not mean that it is a good school. Keep that in mind: legal does not imply good. There are many restaurants that I have eaten at that were legal, but that did not make them good. Likewise, many academically worthless schools are completely legal.

College, Kollege, and Cullege
A Walston Educational Investigator, Tony R., once told me that imitation crab meat is spelled with a “k”: i.e., krab. Then, he suggested that I identify a certain bogus school—that he had investigated—as a kollege. While I agreed with his assessment of the school and I liked the “k” idea, it does not translate well into the spoken language; after all, the two words college and kollege sound exactly the same.

Then, in an effort to help me come up with a new nomenclature for these substandard schools, my wife suggested “cull.” The dictionary definition of a cull is: Something picked out or removed from others, especially something rejected because of inferior quality. This is precisely correct. These “cull-eges” are “picked out” (removed) from the other schools and rejected because of their inferior quality. And, there is just enough of a difference in the sound of the two words college and cullege to make it work.

These culleges do not fit the definition of diploma mills, but they certainly are not on par with good schools. Distance Learning expert John Bear, Ph.D., has his own middle-of-the-road term for these culls. He refers to them as “less-than-wonderful schools.” Indeed.

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
Some might argue that diploma mills are the scourge of distance education. And, I would certainly agree that diploma mills are a ubiquitous and perennial problem. However, my most recent research in distance learning (DL) has led me to believe that culleges are even more insidious than diploma mills because anyone with an average IQ can easily discern a diploma mill and reject people who simply bought their degrees.

For the record, here is the definition of a diploma mill:
A diploma mill (also called a degree mill) is an organization (usually calling itself a school) that will sell a degree of any level to anyone (academically qualified or not) willing to pay the money, and all for extremely little or no academic work. Most often a diploma mill is not legitimately registered with the state in which it operates and is thereby operating illegally as well as unethically.

Here is the definition of a cullege:
A school (usually calling itself a seminary, college, or university) that often . . . (1) has some sort of unrecognized accreditation, and/or (2) uses David-and-Goliath and/or Sour-Grapes rhetoric, and (3) have faculty with questionable credentials (often from their own school, or other culleges), and (4) have academic requirements not on par with real schools, and (5) grant degrees or licenses for work that is less (most often much less) than would be required at a real school, and (6) use all sorts of affiliations to make themselves look better than they really are. Most often a cullege is legally registered with the state in which it operates, often also having a tax-exempt status from the IRS, and is thereby operating legally but doing so unethically and inadequately by serious academic standards.

Tertium Quid (The Third Option)
Between Diploma Mills and Good Schools

A tertium quid is something related in some way to two things but distinct from both. It is something intermediate between two things. We must understand that there are three “degree granting” organizations. Most people know of only two: Diploma Mills and Good Schools. But, there is a tertium quid: Culleges.

Diploma Mills — Culleges — Good Schools
illegal & bad — legal & bad — legal & good

Please do not confuse Diploma Mills with Culleges; both are bad, but they are distinct animals. Some have done a grave disservice to helping clean up the garbage schools out there by simply calling all culleges diploma mills. By sheer definition, this is a ridiculous charge. So much so that it has actually backfired. It has, for the most part, given culleges a more positive standing (not less) among the general public. Let me explain how: All that a cullege has to do to prove that it is not a diploma mill is show that it requires students to read a few books and write a few papers and voilà, it’s not a diploma mill. So, then they are off the hook. And, people who have overstated the diploma mill issue make it seem like there are only two types of educational organizations: Diploma Mills and Good Schools. However, since culleges can easily prove that they are not diploma mills (by requiring students to read a few books), unsuspecting, prospective students (parents, employers, churches, and more) think that they must be good schools. But, if we make the necessary tertium quid distinction, we can truly warn prospective students about both diploma mills and culleges, and we can clearly explain which is which and help them better understand what to avoid.

Again, both diploma mills and culleges are bad, but they are not the same thing, despite some ostentatious rantings of a few loud, obnoxious, and misguided extremists who basically claim that any school that is unaccredited is a diploma mill.

More About Culleges
So, what about a cullege that appears to be a regular college? What about those culleges that are operating legally in their states? What about those culleges that actually require that a student read a book or two (or six or ten) and take and pass a few exams, or write a few short papers or book reports, or spend a week or two in residence? What about those culleges whose academic requirements are so low that they cannot be considered on par with a good college, but yet they do not simply sell degrees, so they are not diploma mills? Many people have degrees from various culleges, and since typically culleges operate legally, most people do not consider them bad schools (“After all,” they surmise, “they’re not diploma mills”). Nor are most people concerned when they meet someone with a degree from a cullege. Typically, people simply do not know any better. Let me give you a not too far-fetched imaginary conversation (much of which I’ve actually heard over the years):

Concerned Person: Did you simply buy your degree?

Cullege Degree Holder’s possible answer: Oh, no! I had to submit a portfolio of my 20 years of full-time ministry and it was evaluated by two professors with Ph.D.’s, and they determined that my many years of ministry were equal to or higher than a Doctor of Ministry, so they granted me the degree based on my many years in ministry. If you want to check on my degree, I can give you a copy of their catalog to look at or their URL so you can check out their web site. And, you can even call them and ask them if I have the degree from their school. You’ll see I do. And, they are fully accredited by a non-secular, private Christian accrediting agency.

Cullege Degree Holder’s possible alternative answer: Oh, no! I had to read 10 books and submit a 5- to 10-page book review of each book, and I had to write a doctoral dissertation (40 to 100 pages). If you want to check on my degree, I can give you a copy of their catalog to look at or their URL so you can check out their web site. And, you can even call them and ask them if I have the degree from their school. You’ll see I do. And, they are fully accredited by a non-secular, private Christian accrediting agency.

The Now Not-too-Concerned Person’s final response: Oh, OK. Well, then it can’t be a diploma mill since we know that diploma mills simply sell degrees for no work. So, your degree must be from a good school.

So, what if your pastor, accountant, barrista, or therapist has his/her doctoral degree from a cullege? How would you know? Most people know that if a guy simply bought his degree for a price with no work, then he is a fraud. But, if he has a degree from a cullege, most people would not even begin to understand the ramifications. Surprisingly, as I was working on this chapter, two colleagues—independently of each other—with doctoral degrees from accredited schools contacted me. They knew I was doing research for this book, and each of them had questions about a school he had come across. Each man told me that he had investigated a school (two different schools), and each of them said that he believed that the school he had reviewed was a good school. One man actually said of one school: “They use standard texts in their classes, so it can’t be a diploma mill.” In reality, both schools are culleges, and bad ones at that.

At first I was astounded that two solid scholars could so easily be fooled by such substandard schools. But, then it dawned on me: this is exactly the insidious nature of culleges; they can look good to the uninitiated, even if the uninitiated is a well-educated person.

Standard Texts and Research Materials
This is often one of the most deceptive aspects of culleges. Too often people get duped by culleges simply because they use good academic text books and/or academically sound research materials (CDs, audio, videos, etc.) from well known and good educational organizations. For example, The Institute of Theological Studies (see them listed in Chapter 14) is a fine and solid academic institution that makes available many courses in various Christian topics, e.g., Old and New Testament, Theology, Church History, Christian Education, Ministry and more. ITS offers courses through audio, CD, and MP3 formats, along with written Study/Learning Guides. All ITS courses are taught by serious scholars. And, anyone, individual persons, churches, schools, and even culleges can buy and use their courses. In fact, if a school or a cullege pays the necessary fees, it can become an Affiliate Member of ITS. What does that mean? It just means that they paid the necessary fees, but many culleges like to boast of their Affiliate Membership with ITS. But, just because a cullege uses these courses, it does not make it a good school. You see, ITS is neither an accreditor nor an endorsor. Being an Affiliate with ITS does not mean that ITS endorses the school, as some culleges deceptively try to imply. Not only that but just because a student is using standard texts, or solid, academically astute lectures supplied through ITS, this says nothing of what the student produces for his final product. Let me give you a couple of real-life illustrations to explain what I mean.

Randy and Brad, and the Culleges They Attended
Years ago a man named Randy contacted me and asked if I knew of a certain seminary in Texas. I did know of it. It is a cullege, and I told him so. Randy argued with me and said that he was enrolled for their dual M.A./D.Min program. This cullege was allowing Randy to get credit for both his M.A. and D.Min. for reading the same books! So, for each class he took, he got double credits. I explained to him that real schools do not allow this. Then, Randy insisted that the text books and other academic resources (like ITS above) he was using through this seminary were in fact good, solid academic texts (and resources). He listed the various texts and resources and he was right: they were all excellent. “So, what’s the problem?” he asked. “How can you call this seminary a cullege, when they are using the same texts as accredited seminaries?” And, this was my answer: “Randy, even though you are reading good texts, how are you demonstrating the knowledge gained for your research?” Randy told me that he had to write term papers that he then submitted to the school, and he was graded on these papers. So, I asked him what kind of grades he was getting (remember, one class went to two degrees for double credits), and he said that he was getting straight A’s. Then, I said, “Why don’t you send me four or five of your term papers that have already been graded with your professor’s comments on them for me to review.” He said he would. True to his word, in about a week, I got a package from Randy, and in it were five term papers (the originals with the professor’s red-ink comments on them). Just as he said, he had gotten straight A’s on all of the papers, and the professor’s red-ink comments were all positive, not one correction in any of the papers.

However, the papers were some of the worst term papers I had ever read. They were devoid of any serious content. They were more on the level of someone’s rambling diary entries than an academic research paper. Not only were the papers devoid of any serious content, but the actual writing itself was simply dreadful. I told Randy that I would have given him an “F” on every paper. At first, he thought I was overreaching, but being a serious man of God, he really wanted to know why I thought his work was subpar and why the seminary was nothing more than a cullege. So, that began a series of in-depth conversations over the next few weeks, and I walked him through various errors throughout his papers. In time, Randy began to understand that his work was not just shoddy but actually rubbish.

In yet another case, a man named Brad called me to complain about what I had written in this book (in an earlier edition) about a cullege (in Florida) from which he received a Maser of Theology. Almost identical to Randy’s argument, he stated that he used standard texts; he named some of them and indeed they were good books that were written by good scholars. So, I explained to him that though this cullege used (at least in his case) good texts, that does not make it a good school, and the work that he did for the degree would also have to be academically astute. He went on to brag about his thesis that he wrote for the Th.M. So, I asked him to send me a copy. He did so. Not to be rude, but the thesis was simply a joke; however, no one was laughing. Not since Randy’s work had I seen such poor product. Yet, Brad graduated with straight A’s.

Interestingly, once Randy understood that his seminary was really a cullege, he dropped out and enrolled in a good, unaccredited school that not only used standard, academically acceptable texts and resources, but also demanded academically astute work from its students. He was not able to enroll for a dual degree program as with the Texas cullege, but Randy hung in there and over the years earned a real M.A., and M.S., and also a real Ph.D. Brad, on the other hand, in spite of the exposure of his worthless thesis continues to list his sleazy degree on his résumé.

So, please, do not tell me that a school is a good school just because it uses standard, well-accepted texts and academic resources. You must also measure the students’ works. Also, in most culleges, the faculty themselves are simply not qualified to assess and grade an academic term paper since they themselves often have their highest degrees from their own cullege or another cullege. It’s amazing to me how many faculty members of bad schools have their degrees from other bad schools. When you investigate schools for yourselves, look at the faculty and see from where they got their own degrees.

Many think that as long as there is a legal school—with a phone number, a web site, and a slick catalog—that issued the degree, then it must be good. There are literally hundreds of culleges that are legal, but their academics are so substandard that they cannot legitimately be equated with good schools. In fact, most of the schools listed in Chapter 14 of this book are culleges. Yet, they operate with impunity, and some of them issue thousands of degrees per year, making the directors of these inferior schools very rich.

The president of one cullege sent me his school's curriculum for their Master of Theology degree. He did this because he was sure that after I saw the work required for their degree, I would no longer state in this book that his was a substandard school. So, in my honest attempt to be fair and open-minded, I reviewed their Master of Theology curriculum very carefully. Apparently this man didn't have a clue about honest academics because what he submitted to me was far more comparable to what would be expected of a student at the freshman level of an undergraduate program. In fact, when I juxtaposed their curriculum with a real Th.M. curriculum, it appeared that his entire Th.M. degree would be worth about 12 semester credits in a real master's program, and remember a real Th.M. is a 128-semester-credit program. So, people are getting (not earning) their Th.M. degrees from this cullege by doing less than 1/10th the work of a real Th.M. And, amazingly, this man honestly thought that his cullege was requiring the necessary amount of work for the degree. This is more than simply a con-man trying to get a few quick bucks from unsuspecting (and unlearned) students. This is a sad state of affairs. This cullege president honestly did not know any better, and he’s handing out Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees for subpar, defective, and shoddy work. How scary is that? What’s even more frightening is that his graduates are out there right now pastoring churches, counseling the bereaved, doing marriage counseling, teaching classes, and representing Christ in their communities, all with sham credentials.

How the Insidious Nature of Culleges is Played Out
In my hometown, a local chaplain has a doctoral degree, but it is from a cullege—not a diploma mill. So, when someone who does not know what you are now learning in this book checks on his degrees, a person at the school says, “Yes, Rev. So-and-so does have his Ph.D. from our school.” If the person asks, “Is your school accredited?” The person on the phone (or in an a letter) says, “Yes! our seminary is accredited by a non-secular, private Christian accrediting agency.” Wow . . . sounds pretty official doesn’t it? And, then the inquirer thinks that the chaplain has a real doctorate. But, the fact is that his doctorate was earned with relatively no work, less than 1/10th of a regular Ph.D. And, the school’s “accreditation” is a sham (see chapters 6, 7, and 8 for more information about accreditation). Sadly, this is the man to whom people are turning for counseling during the lowest and most difficult and vulnerable times in their lives. Yet his credentials and education are worthless (and so are his ethics by the way).

I was amused by a man (Steve) who came to my office in defense of one cullege that I had exposed. He began first with a good dose of “Judge not lest you be judged” and went from there to all sorts of ramblings about how his wife was completing her degree from the school. He spoke of the books that she had to read at this cullege, and of the exacting fill-in-the-blanks exams. And, she didn't just read those books; no sir, she had to actually write a one- to three-page book report on each book she read—one book for each class by the way. I began to realize that this man was utterly sincere. The problem was, as I soon discovered, that neither he nor his wife had ever taken a single class at a real college. So he had absolutely no idea what a typical academic class consisted of or looked like.

I tried to explain to him that the school was substandard (a cullege), and I gave him all the facts. Then, as if in a triumphant conclusion he snorted, “Well, that's just your opinion!” So I said, “Well, it is also my opinion that two plus two equal four.” He sat there stunned for a moment not knowing what to make of what I just said, so I went on: “Steve, my opinion that two plus two equal four is based on facts; likewise, my opinion about this school is based on facts. It’s not just some sort of subjective opinion, as in ‘I don’t like broccoli.’ It is an informed opinion based on facts.”

I once read that it is unwise to argue with a man that his stick is crooked; it is better to simply lay a straight stick beside his. So, I retrieved a standard syllabus and a student's term paper, and I asked him to review both items very carefully. He did so, and after a while, he asked if it were a joke. I assured him that it wasn't and that what he held in his hands was the generally accepted standards of a real college-level course. Then he said, “Well, if my wife had to do all of this, it would take her years to earn the degree!” Amazingly, he still didn't get it. I told him that taking years to earn the degree is standard. The sad thing—beyond the fact that this man didn't have a clue about real academics—was the fact that he was the senior pastor of a local church, and people looked up to him and his wife for leadership. From where does your pastor have his/her degree?

To Cullege or Not to Cullege? That is the Question
A man contacted me about a school from which he had graduated. After some discussion, he realized that the school he had his M.A. and D.Min. from was a cullege. The more we talked the more irate at the cullege he became. Finally, he told me that he was going to do the right thing and mail those degrees back to the cullege, and he would then seek out a real school to complete his education. In his letter he stated the academic requirements of this Louisiana Baptist cullege. This is what he told me: At the Master's level, he read four books and either wrote a report or took a small test. The average length of each book was 200 pages.

Now, you have to catch this: These four books were not for each class. These four books made up the entire M.A. program! He received five credits for each book and report (or test).

At a normal (real) school, a five-credit class at the master's level averages about 1,200+ pages of reading.

Next, notice what he had to do with that information. He was to either write a book report (some call it a book review to make it sound more academic) or take a small test. At the master's level, real colleges ask the student to do an academic research paper that integrates the things learned in reading/research (from multiple sources, not just one book). The length of real, master’s-level academic papers can range from 5 to 30 pages, sometimes more. However, good schools, even if the number of pages are few, have standard academic writing requirements that the student must engage in (Chicago, MLA, Turabian, etc.). Sometimes, schools will also have essay or oral exams as well as the term papers. Simply taking a small test or writing a book report is what is required for a high school class.

But wait, it gets no better. At the doctoral level, he again received five credits for each book report (or test). For his D.Min. degree, this student read a total of six books averaging 200 pages each. And, for reading about 1,200 pages, he walked away with the honorable Doctor of Ministry title, and he now calls himself Doctor.

For those who might not know, the average (note, this is average) required reading for a doctoral-level, 5-credit class would be about 1,700+ pages. Also, an average doctoral term paper can be from 15 to 40 pages long. And, it must be an academically astute, integrated term paper of scholarly quality.

This cullege required less work for their entire degree program than most real schools do for one class. Remember the title of this subsection is, “To Cullege or Not to Cullege? That is the Question.” Well, this man answered that question. In spite of all he knew about the truth behind his degrees, and the fact that he told me that he was going to return the degrees, he instead “chose to cullege.” He ended up keeping the fraudulent M.A. and D.Min.

However, as sad as this is, it must be kept in mind that this Louisiana cullege was and is completely legal. The laws governing the legal operation of this school are the same as a sidewalk hot-dog vendor: Pay your local city business fees and you’re good to go.

So, as stated above, just because a school is legal does not mean that it is good. In fact, when I answer the question, “To Cullege or Not to Cullege,” my answer is thus: “No thanks to the Cullege; instead, I'll take the foot-long hot-dog with extra relish, and a large diet Coke.”

Some Final Thoughts and Clarifications

The Distinctions
Every reader should keep in mind the distinctions that separate (1) diploma mills, (2) culleges, and (3) good unaccredited schools.

We can clearly see these distinctions by looking at legal and ethical considerations.

1. Diploma mills operate illegally, and, hence, unethically. They operate unethically not only by virtue of the fact that they operate illegally, but they operate unethically based on Judeo-Christian ethics, or biblical moral principles; after all, simply selling degrees for a price is unethical.

2. Culleges typically operate legally, fulfilling and operating within the limits of local laws. But, like diploma mills, culleges operate unethically within the context of a Judeo-Christian ethic. They often misrepresent themselves on one or more fronts: (a) with false claims of accreditation, (b) misrepresentations of faculty credentials, (c) inflated claims of various affiliations, and (d) with substandard academic requirements. Simply put, they give out degrees based on substandard work. Degrees granted for substandard work (let alone misrepresentations of accreditation, affiliations, and faculty credentials) is obviously unethical when one recognizes that the fundamental basis of American government is rooted within a Judeo-Christian ethic. The standard academic requirements are set by American governmental institutions, in this case by accrediting associations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. All of this presupposes that there are good and bad accrediting associations, which themselves presuppose good and bad standards for recognizing good and bad schools.

3. Good unaccredited schools operate both legally and ethically. They not only fulfill legal obligations by being properly licensed or registered with all necessary governmental bodies, but they operate ethically by fully disclosing their lack of accreditation, refrain from misrepresenting their faculty or their credentials, do not utilize language of deceit or manipulation, and do maintain standard academic requirements and require academically solid work from their students. Thus, they function academically, honestly, and truthfully, the fundamental basis of Judeo-Christian ethics.

Diploma mills = illegal and unethical
Culleges = legal but unethical
Good unaccredited = legal and ethical

A Good Christian Leader Without a Degree
Please do not misunderstand me. It is certainly possible to be a good Christian leader without a degree. A person might gain insightful knowledge and information in a variety of ways. So, I am not equating a degree with leadership ability. I am not criticizing or judging the learning or dedication of those who do not possess college or seminary degrees. Rather, I am criticizing the mentality and ethical collapse that defends (and brags about) illegitimate degrees from culleges.

Send comments about this, or any, Coffee Talk to Rick Walston at:
CES - @ - ColumbiaSeminary.edu

(Please note that you will need to take out the spaces and hyphens before and after the @ sign . . . this is placed this way to avoid spam emails.)

Coffee Talk Articles are Provided by
Columbia Evangelical Seminary (CES)
To learn more about CES, click on Logo

Walston's Guide, 5th Edition

------------------------