Value of UNISA degree

[alicat202]

Hi fellow Saffers!  

 

I would like to hear from people who successfully had their UNISA degree accepted / certified / converted, etc here is Aus. In other words, if you were able to use your UNISA degree to either get a job (without experience) or get credits at an Aussie uni, please could you share your story with me?

I would like to get an idea of the value of a UNISA degree over here from real people and real experiences versus speculation.

I can’t think that switching to an Aussie uni and paying their astronomical fees is that much more valuable than completing my UNISA degree, and then just having it certified here (whether that means doing a bridging course or whatever).

 

Thank you 

[Rhino1]

I have a Bachelors and Masters Degree with UNISA. Vetassess only used my bachelors degree as it was sufficient for my nominated profession (Environmental Manager). I received a positive assessment. Furthermore I managed to get a good job within six weeks of landing and I am still in the same role nearly two and a halve years later. Once you get the positive skills assessment, Visa  and professional registration (in some cases) employers are not too fussed where you got your degrees from. Just take your original degrees in so that they can see it and make copies for their files. There have been recent cases of people being prosecuted over false qualifications (medical) so I guess some professions may want to check the validity of your qualifications (medical, engineering, finance etc.)

 

Good luck.

[monsta]

Unfortunately, like anything in this world there is politics involved.

 

A degree is a degree. You can even get VETASSESS (or another assessing body) to confirm that its the equivalent of an Aussie degree. You will probably do that as part of your VISA process.  

 

But if you are only 80% of the way to your degree, an Aussie university will make you redo a lot of it.

 

You will be an international student... i.e. you will not be partially government funded. The more you study, the more fees they collect. Now, the government would ask questions if universities made the government sponsored students study unnecessary modules. But you won't have the government on your side and there is little downside for the university making you take on extra modules.

 

Education is Australia's 4 biggest contributor to GDP. It makes up over 5% of the foreign money earned by Australia. The universities get a large portion of their funds from "international students" 

 

 

Edited May 19, 2017 by monsta

[ottg]

It all depends on the position you would like to apply for (if that is the end goal)

Prerequisites for some professional positions do exist however, I have seen many without it but the ad will clearly say you need to be registerable with some professional body.

 

Perhaps the question rather is will a formal qualification be preferred if you have no experience?

Yes and no. As some positions don't need formal qualifications

However, some graduate positions need a formal qualification but no experience.

 

But if your end goal is pure academics then completing what you started is important.

If $ is a major factor (taking into account what Monsta said and the visa type i.e not PR), then obviously completing your degree at Unisa is the way to go.

Once done and your residency position changed you can do local post grad getting recognition for the completed degree.

 

[alicat202]

Hi guys,

 

Thanks so much for your responses. This is not for visa purposes, as I already am a permanent resident. More a decision for how to complete my half-done studies and make a career change.

[RYLC]

How long to go before you qualify for citizenship?  Also check what the international fees are that UNISA charge.  There are extra fees for being out of the country I think. How far are you into the Unisa degree?  Lots of questions to weigh the answer.

[monsta]

You would have to google this one... but there is a list that the Aussie government agencies use to tell if a degree is worth its mustard. 

 

I can't remember the name of it, but there is an official list. 

 

Perhaps someone here knows what its name is? or even better how to check Unisa's status on the list.

[Dill]

Hi Alicat202

 

I'm busy with my last module of a Unisa degree, which I started almost 5 years ago in Dubai. The international levy has always been around ZAR1000 extra per module, but has recently jumped to ZAR2400. This is still peanuts compared to an Australian course, but now that they've spotted this revenue stream, I reckon the international levy will go up and up.

I'm finishing the degree as I was over half way through, and agree with ottg that it's important to complete a course if the goal is purely academic.

Monsta's suggestion of completing the degree and doing post grad here makes loads of sense from a cost and time point of view, in the light of having to repeat most of your modules.

Unfortunately, I can't comment on how acceptable, convertible or valuable a Unisa degree will be in the future, but definitely do your research and find the list monsta refers to above. 

I'm sure you're aware that Unisa admin is not great - I seldom, if ever, get a response to emails, they have ignored requests to cancel modules (resulting in double payment) and have cancelled one without me requesting it (must have been in the system that ignored my first request!). 

They have also changed or introduced prerequisites half way through, whereby a module that had a name and number change (but was essentially the same), was no longer recognised, resulting in me not being able to do third level courses in that subject (fought them on this, long story).

The academic staff are hit and miss and the study material is not always up to date.

It seems they have enrolled far more students than they can cope with. In certain modules, students are assigned an online tutor (who you engage with via online forums and email), but it's often the case that not all students get a tutor, which is not really fair.

Not sure how recent your studies were and hope that your experience has been more positive. If you decide to go the Unisa route, please don't delay - get it done while still recognised and before international students start getting milked. Also remember that they enforce a time limit and if you can't finish off all your modules within the prescribed time, you will not be able to register.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Dill