Hmm. There are lots of places that use the word "university" to explain they're an educational program, but that are neither accredited nor offer degrees. For example, there's a company here that does interior design called "Blinds To Go" and the place where they train their people is called "Blinds To Go University". I don't have a problem with this as such.
Twenty-five bucks isn't much (in the developed world, at least), so it's not that much of an investment to find out whether their courses are worthwhile or not. Although "they're awarding scholarships to a million people!" seems to me like a transparent trick to make you think you're getting a better deal. It's like those late light infomercials: "Act now and we'll double your order and make the first payment for you!"
For them to imply that their courses have anything to do with the job stimulus plan is ridiculous, though. And all the photos of the founder with famous people is a very suspect way to demonstrate credibility. Okay, so the founder had his picture taken with Bill Clinton. What does that have to do with whether NEF offers an effective set of courses? Even more mysterious is why there are tennis players on the board of advisors. Then there's the list a bunch of "partners" with well known company logos flashing across the screen but with no explanation whatsoever what the nature of those partnerships is. I mean, they say that they're partners with Dell and Microsoft. Did they just buy a couple of Dell PCs with Windows on them? Or is there something substantial?
So overall I think I have to file this one under "wait and see".
Also, how did you learn about this group? I ask because we've gone from zero inquiries ever about them, to yours being the second in the last week.
-=Steve=-
B.S., Info Sys, Charter Oak State College
M.A., Educational Tech Leadership, George Washington University
Doctor of Health Education, A.T. Still University, in progress