Talk:Marshall Goldsmith School of Management

Ad copy - puffery for private school -- article should be removed since no verifiable sources added even though tagged in 2007
US News and World Report, a credible source, does not even rank Marshall Goldsmith, undercutting any claim it is a bona-fide top-tier school. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/sitemap#m

The fact that the owners chose to market the school by naming it organizational consultants and executive coach (Marshall Goldsmith) is no proof that it is anything but a nicely-named diploma mill that leaves students with unmarketable degrees and staggering under crushing student loans.

"Nonprofit" means profits are paid out to principals as salaries and bonuses, instead of dividends.

The passive voice -- "has been ranked" points to "Leadership Excellence Magazine 2010," which is an private eLearning institution, not necessarily accredited by anyone. Leadership Excellence seems to be a paid advertising / consultancy / eLearning outfit whose function is to give rankings to developments programs that apply for one. Sort of a ranking mill, which also partners with the very Goldsmith School of Management to which it allegedly gave a high ranking.

The unverifiable "Princeton" reference is not to Princeton University, but to "Princeton Review" a profit-based educational organization.

The hype is not even internally consistent: "In 2003, Marshall Goldsmith School of Management was ranked 3rd in the Best Business Schools Rankings of Finance (Princeton Review 2008)"

I think "recognized by the United States Department of Education" means it's one of the many where the students can and do indebt themselves for student loans that are government guaranteed.

WASC appears to be Western Association of Schools and Colleges. 1. has WASC ranked this school? And more importantly, 2. is WASC a bona fide organization whose accreditation is not tainted by interest? Or is it a certification mill for diploma mills? WASC is not public but private and apparently answerable to the member institutions it ranks. It is claimed to have secured US Department of Education (USDOE) certification for the purposes of student loans.

The WP article on Alliant like this article on has the primary sources tag, and since July 2007 it has not been removed:

Students' online ratings at http://reviews.collegetimes.us/california/alliant-international-university-san-diego/ have been scathing, e.g., students compared to cash cows, much more

One of the most favorable admits: "… Alliant is not the best university in San Diego…"

A less-distraught-than-many comment: "… I also have to agree with most submitted reviews. Stay away from Alliant! The biggest problem at Alliant is actually that you learn almost nothing. Most courses are only 8 weeks, and at the first and the last lecture are only useless presentations or talking about the syllabus. So you actually have only 6 lectures in every course! … one IMPORTANT thing: When you find positive reviews about Alliant on the internet you can be 90 % sure that they are fake, because they have been made by students within classes encouraged and graded by their professors! Alliant also pays students to make acquisition for them. Be very careful! "

About the finances:

"… most students dont realize that they will not attain their PhD until 5-6 years down the line AFTER paying and completing all their classes. The resulting emotional toll on the student is simply beyond words. Students are charged $3000 a semester for a dissertation extension and instructors are told to keep students in the institution as long as possible to raise funds. I really hope some authority shuts these people down for scamming students. … "

There is a complete disconnect between the best and worst reviews, with the worst (and majority) reviews accusing the school's marketing department of planting reviews.

However, some of the negative reviews are posted on more than one site.

Glass Ceiling site said that, as a place to work, the politics were high.