Liberals continue to destroy everything good and decent in this country. Government needs to shut down any loans for this BS!

WaPo reported it, but behind a paywall.

The Post reported how the University of Maine at Presque Isle allowed Christie Williams to get a B.A. in three months and a master's in four weeks. https://t.co/bVs6DpurB3 She declared it a "no-brainer." Yes, Christie, it is demonstrably and tragically a no-brainer degree...

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) April 20, 2026

I wonder if potential employers can find out if a candidate did this.

Likely.

It would be cool if an undergrad program started implementing oral defenses for online undergraduate degrees which could be taped and reviewed by potential employers.

Honestly, if you are smart enough to get through all the online material in a way that you learn enough to be able to talk about it on the fly in front of a board, there isn't really a problem with getting a degree in 11 months, IMO.

TRX said:

---

I wonder if potential employers can find out if a candidate did this.

---

Easy. Ask for an official transcript, which typically includes dates of enrollment.

TRX said:

---

I wonder if potential employers can find out if a candidate did this.

---

Yes, these types of programs render the University of Maine degrees into scratchy toilet paper.

Found her Linkedin profile. GPA 4.0 in both programs.

Quote:

---

It takes most college students at least four years to earn a bachelor's degree. Christie Williams finished in three months.

The North Carolina human resources executive spent two months racking up credits through web tutorials after work in 2024, then raced through 11 online classes at the University of Maine at Presque Isle in four weeks. Later that year, she went back to earn her master's - in just five weeks. The two degrees cost a total of just over $4,000.

Since then, she has coached a thousand other students on how to speed through the state college, shaving off years and thousands of dollars from the usual cost of a degree.

---

https://www.redlakenationnews.com/story/2026/04/20/news/students-are-speeding-through-their-online-degrees-in-weeks-alarming-educators/139670.html

A true diploma mill.

And an HR snake.

Simple to mitigate. Any resume that crosses my desk with a school I don't recognize gets circle filed.

Do not use archive today to access the article. That would be wrong.

Quote:

---

The University of Maine's Presque Isle campus has more than 3,000 students in its online YourPace program, according to the school. The school's president said the program is designed to help older, nontraditional students rapidly obtain an affordable degree they may need for a raise, promotion or new job students who don't need the traditional longer college experience on campus that many young adults crave.

"They literally just need a certificate" to help their careers, said Raymond Rice, president of the Presque Isle campus. He said the program is open only to students age 20 and older, in part to avoid competing with its traditional four-year program on campus.

Of the nearly 300 students who earned a bachelor's in the YourPace program in fall 2024, the vast majority finished in less than a year. More than 1 in 4 finished their entire degree course load in a single eight-week session, half the length of a traditional academic semester.

---

That is direct from the president of the university. I don't see how University of Maine at Presque Isle can legitimately keep its accreditation after this.

i did my MBA through A&M Corpus in 10 months while running a manufacturing business and maintained a 4.0 throughout. If I wasn't running a business full time I could have done it in 2 - 6 week sessions fairly easily.

While I could orally defend my degree competently to a board, I didn't really learn too much doing it as my 30 year career was much more strenuous preparation for an MBA.

Turns out, if you run all your papers through Grammarly to ensure there are no punctuation errors you get full credit for everything. TA's didn't check content of work, just that you spelled everything correctly and hyphenated the words properly. Seriously. I received 70% on my first paper because I had referred to the 1970's (instead of the 1970s) and I didn't hyphenate 2 words properly. I met with the professor and my score was changed to full credit.

YouBet said:

---

agsquirrel97 said:

---

i did my MBA through A&M Corpus in 10 months while running a manufacturing business and maintained a 4.0 throughout. If I wasn't running a business full time I could have done it in 2 - 6 week sessions fairly easily.

While I could orally defend my degree competently to a board, I didn't really learn too much doing it as my 30 year career was much more strenuous preparation for an MBA.

Turns out, if you run all your papers through Grammarly to ensure there are no punctuation errors you get full credit for everything. TA's didn't check content of work, just that you spelled everything correctly and hyphenated the words properly. Seriously. I received 70% on my first paper because I had referred to the 1970's (instead of the 1970s) and I didn't hyphenate 2 words properly. I met with the professor and my score was changed to full credit.

---

No offense, but this is why MBA's are no longer worth anything. They turned into profit centers for schools. The degree means nothing now unless you got one from a top 10-15 program but even then I question it's value unless you are trying to break in the doors of some elite company that requires a name brand MBA.

Self disclosure: I also have an MBA but did it 20+ years ago now.

---

MBAs or MBA's? lol

one safe place said:

---

YouBet said:

---

agsquirrel97 said:

---

i did my MBA through A&M Corpus in 10 months while running a manufacturing business and maintained a 4.0 throughout. If I wasn't running a business full time I could have done it in 2 - 6 week sessions fairly easily.

While I could orally defend my degree competently to a board, I didn't really learn too much doing it as my 30 year career was much more strenuous preparation for an MBA.

Turns out, if you run all your papers through Grammarly to ensure there are no punctuation errors you get full credit for everything. TA's didn't check content of work, just that you spelled everything correctly and hyphenated the words properly. Seriously. I received 70% on my first paper because I had referred to the 1970's (instead of the 1970s) and I didn't hyphenate 2 words properly. I met with the professor and my score was changed to full credit.

---

No offense, but this is why MBA's are no longer worth anything. They turned into profit centers for schools. The degree means nothing now unless you got one from a top 10-15 program but even then I question it's value unless you are trying to break in the doors of some elite company that requires a name brand MBA.

Self disclosure: I also have an MBA but did it 20+ years ago now.

---

MBAs or MBA's? lol

---

It's not an English degree.

YouBet said:

---

agsquirrel97 said:

---

i did my MBA through A&M Corpus in 10 months while running a manufacturing business and maintained a 4.0 throughout. If I wasn't running a business full time I could have done it in 2 - 6 week sessions fairly easily.

While I could orally defend my degree competently to a board, I didn't really learn too much doing it as my 30 year career was much more strenuous preparation for an MBA.

Turns out, if you run all your papers through Grammarly to ensure there are no punctuation errors you get full credit for everything. TA's didn't check content of work, just that you spelled everything correctly and hyphenated the words properly. Seriously. I received 70% on my first paper because I had referred to the 1970's (instead of the 1970s) and I didn't hyphenate 2 words properly. I met with the professor and my score was changed to full credit.

---

No offense, but this is why MBA's are no longer worth anything. They turned into profit centers for schools. The degree means nothing now unless you got one from a top 10-15 program but even then I question it's value unless you are trying to break in the doors of some elite company that requires a name brand MBA.

Self disclosure: I also have an MBA but did it 20+ years ago now.

---

I wouldn't say it means nothing.

I wanted to 'give back' and teach a course or two at a local college. I was told, 'your experience and knowledge would greatly benefit the students, but we require a Masters to teach here' (every person there was a career academic, with zero real-world work experience, outside of Academia).

25+ years in this role, running a business, but my experience counted for nothing...without that piece of paper.

Might not mean anything with regards to actually educating a person further; but just having that box checked opens some doors that would be otherwise closed.

AgGrad99 said:

---

YouBet said:

---

agsquirrel97 said:

---

i did my MBA through A&M Corpus in 10 months while running a manufacturing business and maintained a 4.0 throughout. If I wasn't running a business full time I could have done it in 2 - 6 week sessions fairly easily.

While I could orally defend my degree competently to a board, I didn't really learn too much doing it as my 30 year career was much more strenuous preparation for an MBA.

Turns out, if you run all your papers through Grammarly to ensure there are no punctuation errors you get full credit for everything. TA's didn't check content of work, just that you spelled everything correctly and hyphenated the words properly. Seriously. I received 70% on my first paper because I had referred to the 1970's (instead of the 1970s) and I didn't hyphenate 2 words properly. I met with the professor and my score was changed to full credit.

---

No offense, but this is why MBA's are no longer worth anything. They turned into profit centers for schools. The degree means nothing now unless you got one from a top 10-15 program but even then I question it's value unless you are trying to break in the doors of some elite company that requires a name brand MBA.

Self disclosure: I also have an MBA but did it 20+ years ago now.

---

I wouldn't say it means nothing.

I wanted to 'give back' and teach a course or two at a local college. I was told, 'your experience and knowledge would greatly benefit the students, but we require a Masters to teach here' (every person there was a career academic, with zero real-world work experience, outside of Academia).

25+ years in this role, running a business, but my experience counted for nothing...without that piece of paper.

Might not mean anything with regards to actually educating a person further; but just having that box checked opens some doors that would be otherwise closed.

---

I have a bachelors degree in business. Of all of the business profs I had, by far the best was this guy who was a small business owner that taught one night a week in his spare time. I don't believe he had a masters, but he was better than all of the other business profs who were nothing but academics. It's sad they held that against you because their students missed out on some real world business knowledge.

Logos Stick said:

---

Liberals continue to destroy everything good and decent in this country. Government needs to shut down any loans for this BS!

WaPo reported it, but behind a paywall.

The Post reported how the University of Maine at Presque Isle allowed Christie Williams to get a B.A. in three months and a master's in four weeks. https://t.co/bVs6DpurB3 She declared it a "no-brainer." Yes, Christie, it is demonstrably and tragically a no-brainer degree...

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) April 20, 2026

---

Turley was my professor at GW Law School for Con Law I my first semester

and that was 30 years ago!

dude looks like he is drinking from the fountain of youth

Quote:

---

I have a bachelors degree in business. Of all of the business profs I had, by far the best was this guy who was a small business owner that taught one night a week in his spare time. I don't believe he had a masters, but he was better than all of the other business profs who were nothing but academics. It's sad they held that against you because their students missed out on some real world business knowledge.

---

Yeah...is what it is. I somewhat expected that to be their answer going into it.

But like you, my best/favorite professors were some businessmen who wanted to give back, and would teach a course or two. They were a big reason I wanted to teach as well.

No chance all of the papers turned in are AI generated?

Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

---

AgGrad99 said:

---

YouBet said:

---

agsquirrel97 said:

---

i did my MBA through A&M Corpus in 10 months while running a manufacturing business and maintained a 4.0 throughout. If I wasn't running a business full time I could have done it in 2 - 6 week sessions fairly easily.

While I could orally defend my degree competently to a board, I didn't really learn too much doing it as my 30 year career was much more strenuous preparation for an MBA.

Turns out, if you run all your papers through Grammarly to ensure there are no punctuation errors you get full credit for everything. TA's didn't check content of work, just that you spelled everything correctly and hyphenated the words properly. Seriously. I received 70% on my first paper because I had referred to the 1970's (instead of the 1970s) and I didn't hyphenate 2 words properly. I met with the professor and my score was changed to full credit.

---

No offense, but this is why MBA's are no longer worth anything. They turned into profit centers for schools. The degree means nothing now unless you got one from a top 10-15 program but even then I question it's value unless you are trying to break in the doors of some elite company that requires a name brand MBA.

Self disclosure: I also have an MBA but did it 20+ years ago now.

---

I wouldn't say it means nothing.

I wanted to 'give back' and teach a course or two at a local college. I was told, 'your experience and knowledge would greatly benefit the students, but we require a Masters to teach here' (every person there was a career academic, with zero real-world work experience, outside of Academia).

25+ years in this role, running a business, but my experience counted for nothing...without that piece of paper.

Might not mean anything with regards to actually educating a person further; but just having that box checked opens some doors that would be otherwise closed.

---

I have a bachelors degree in business. Of all of the business profs I had, by far the best was this guy who was a small business owner that taught one night a week in his spare time. I don't believe he had a masters, but he was better than all of the other business profs who were nothing but academics. It's sad they held that against you because their students missed out on some real world business knowledge.

---

We can turn this into a 10-page thread with our stories about how near worthless the classes were taught by academia (professional students) with zero real world experience compared to the knowledge and communication ability of professors that came from the real world. I learned so much from the professor with two undergrad degrees, a masters, phd, and a law degree… NOT! Most of these academias couldn't manage a Taco Bell much less and business in their field.

A college degree in a month? Sounds like money grab

It's an almost inevitable development when a huge number of jobs require a degree, not for specific knowledge, but as a gatekeeping block to check.

How many people never use their degree, or work in careers unrelated to their major? It's not much of a step to go from "your major doesn't matter" to "your degree doesn't matter".

Online degree programs, regardless of the level of degree, can be extremely valuable when the program is run professionally and by legitimate academic standards. Sadly, the overall reputation of receiving a degree "online" is extremely sullied by the degree mills of the world such as the school in the article.

Having said that I believe that with each passing generation the negative stereotype of the online degree will lessen. While brick and mortar schools clearly aren't going away the number of people receiving advanced degrees in online will continue to grow. I'd imagine within most of our lifetimes the online degree will be looked at no differently than a traditional in person educational experience.

Not everyone treats an online class the same as in person classes. My daughter, who has a 4 years Texas A & M degree in Ag Economics with a 3.5 GPA, applied to Baylor, Scott and White the Heart Hospital for their Echocardiography program. She was not selected and they said online couses were deemed less than in person. She did not have the required Biology and Anatomy credits due to her major and they would not have counted even if she did. They were required completed in the last 5 years. She took the classes online and got 4.0 GPA because she was 100% nursing her baby. She is still planning to pursue that job.

Good for her, honestly. So much waste at every level of public school and academia. Sounds like she managed to navigate the system to earn her degrees most efficiently.

A degree =/= "educated" or "smart".

Oddly enough, I was reviewing resumes late last week for a position I am trying to fill and one of them had a BS from Maine @ Presque and I had to look up the school. The candidate had zero experience (or education) relevant to the type of person I need to hire, but the google results for the "university" made me LOL.

Does aTm offer it? Pretty sure it's this rotund lady's field of study.

Libs out here doing lib things. @CSTXPolice you ain’t got her yet? Purpwoman on @tiktok_us @libsoftiktok pic.twitter.com/3lMGzWIEli

— Corey Thompson (@Roughneck2real) April 20, 2026

My Dad got his 3rd masters from Illinois in 1 year in 1978. He already had an Aeronautical masters and an MBA from Penn (Mcwhorter) he even did a thesis in that time, and asked them if he could skip all the prerequisite classes. But he is a hell of a lot smarter than all of you.

I always wanted to be a marine biologist.