Quote:The newly released DOD data shows that six of the top ten recipients of Tuition Assistance are for-profit schools: American Public Education, Inc., Bridgepoint Education, Inc., TUI Learning, LLC, Apollo Group, Inc., Columbia Southern University, and Grantham University. Those six companies, alone, collect 41 percent of all TA dollars. . . .

Analysis by the HELP Committee also showed that the schools receiving the largest sums of money have huge amounts of students dropping out of school.

Is this:

John Bear Wrote:Gus, your response to my latest email...

Postby John Bear on Mon Feb 20, 2012 1:16 am
...will help us decide which approach to take in our response to the O'Block lawsuit, so it will be very helpful to hear from you as soon as possible. Thank you. John on Sunday at 5 pm.

John Bear
Senior Member

In the UK a "reader" is a "teacher," ranked below a professor. Reader Hanley thinks to himself: "Maybe if I kiss enough ass they'll make me a real perfessor!"

Somebody should clue him in that in the US his obscure Nottingham Trent (nee Trent Polytechnic) ranks somewhere between Tijuana Tech and Jethro Bodine's Double Naught Spy School.

Does Hanley know his employer ranks 79 of 122 and fading in the Sunday Times University Guide, and tenth from the bottom in "teaching excellence"? He might want to spend a little more of that reading time setting his own house in order.

Quote:US for-profit universities 'unworthy of the name'
16 February 2012
By Paul Jump

The poor research record of US for-profit institutions makes them unworthy of the term "university", UK academics have claimed.

Quentin Hanley, reader in chemistry and forensic science at Nottingham Trent University, studied the research record of several US for-profit universities via Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge.

He found that since 1993 the University of Phoenix has produced fewer than 200 papers, which have garnered about 700 citations. The university is reported to have more than 300,000 undergraduates and over 60,000 postgraduates.

Dr Hanley said other major for-profits had similarly slight research records. He found fewer than 100 papers with just over 500 citations from Kaplan University, and just over 200 papers and some 1,000 citations from Argosy University.

"Their impact is on a par with a single medium academic at an approximately mid-ranked UK university," he said. "Calling an organisation with no meaningful scholarship a university is a bit like calling a muddy path through a forest a motorway."

Dr Hanley said he was prompted to undertake his study after the UK government said it would encourage private provision - including moves to open up the processes for gaining university title and degree-awarding powers.

BPP, whose parent company is Phoenix owner Apollo Group, became the first UK for-profit to gain university college status, in 2010.

Dr Hanley described US for-profits' research record as "just another indicator of failure, along with poor graduation rates, high cost, high loan defaults and repeated legal scrutiny".

A spokesman for the Apollo Group said that many teaching techniques pioneered by Phoenix, such as the use of e-books, were now considered best practice. A Kaplan spokeswoman said Kaplan's training activities in the UK had "a strong focus on teaching quality".

Howard Hotson, professor of early modern intellectual history at the University of Oxford, agreed with Dr Hanley that "essentially research-inactive institutions" should not be called universities.

He argued that the "dismal" research performance of for-profits was directly linked to their business model, which relies on driving down teaching costs. "Low teaching costs mean low levels of remuneration and poor working conditions. Few research-active staff are attracted by such poor conditions, and even fewer can remain research-active without the necessary time and facilities."

John Holmwood, professor of sociology at the University of Nottingham, noted that although some not-for-profit universities also produced little research, they fulfilled "research-like obligations", such as keeping local businesses abreast of scholarship, which for-profits did not.

Hey pal, try to keep that red mist and brain splatter off the Gold Standard, would ya?

RA Dickinson State U dean Doug LaPlante swallowed the business end of his rifle in a public park after it was discovered DSU was issuing degrees to hundreds of foreign students who hadn't earned them and couldn't even speak English.

Oh yeah, it must be the oil companies' fault. WTF?

Lax recordkeeping and oversight??? "Hey, who let all those jabbering Chinamen in here when I wasn't looking? Woopsy! Darn all these complicated records. Surely you don't think I planned this?"

Why didn't Bernie Madoff use that one? "I wasn't stealing, it was just lax recordkeeping and oversight. Sorry you all lost your money. May I go now?"

Quote:Audit: ND university awarded unearned degrees
by DALE WETZEL
The Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. — Facing pressure to bring in more students as North Dakota's booming oil industry made it tougher to coax new high school graduates into college, Dickinson State University began looking overseas to boost its enrollment.

China, which sends more students to U.S. universities than any other nation, became one of the school's more reliable suppliers of young people.

But as an audit made public Friday revealed, lax recordkeeping and oversight resulted in hundreds of degrees being awarded to students who didn't finish their course work. Others enrolled who couldn't speak English or hadn't achieved the "C'' average normally required for admission.

The report depicts Dickinson State as a diploma mill for foreign students, most of whom were Chinese. Of 410 foreign students who have received four-year degrees since 2003 — most of them in the past four years — 400 did not fulfill all the graduation requirements, it said.

The report raises questions about whether public universities, strapped for cash at a time of sharply declining state support for higher education, are cutting corners to attract foreign students who typically pay full out-of-state tuition. It also comes amid an unprecedented boom in the number of Chinese students studying at U.S. universities.

Dickinson State could face penalties from the U.S. State Department for violations of the federal student visa program, as well as sanctions from the Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security and the Higher Learning Commission in Chicago, an accreditation agency, the report said.

William Goetz, chancellor of the North Dakota university system, and Dickinson State's new president, D.C. Coston, did not respond to emails and phone calls from The Associated Press. They held a news conference Friday in Dickinson to present the audit's findings.

"We will be telling (the affected students) that their records do not indicate they sufficiently completed the requirements," Coston said at the news conference. "Dickinson State stands ready to work with them individually to figure out what might be necessary for them to reach a point of completion."

Coston also held a meeting with students that was interrupted by a university lockdown after a professor was reported missing with a gun. Doug LaPlante, 59, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Friday afternoon near a Dickinson intersection, police said.

The audit did not mention LaPlante, but it said some affected students were business students. LaPlante was dean of Dickinson State's college of education, business and applied sciences.

The AP obtained the report through an open records request when it was distributed to members of the state Board of Higher Education before the news conference.

The audit examines the number of foreign students who took part since 2003 in a special program that allowed them to earn degrees both from Dickinson State and a university in their home country.

Only 10 of the 410 students who received degrees through the program completed all their course work and requirements, it said. About 95 percent of the students in the dual-degree program were Chinese, it said. The rest were Russian.

At least 15 foreign students were signed up for classes even though their grades were too low to qualify, the report said.

In determining foreign students' fluency in English, Dickinson State ignored two English proficiency tests that are considered good measures in favor of another that was not. Out of 27 Chinese students enrolled this spring, 21 "could not speak English at the required competency level, (and) thus were sent back home," the report said.

Many students did not have required documents such as English proficiency tests and bank statements, and some apparently fabricated course transcripts and Chinese university stamps that Dickinson State officials accepted.

"The student will change their transcript, stamp it official and submit it as an official transcript," the audit says. "The student can put any class or grade on their transcript they desire."

Founded as a teachers' training college, Dickinson State is nestled in rural southwestern North Dakota's oil-producing region, which has been undergoing an unprecedented boom as the state has vaulted into the top ranks of the nation's oil producers.

In the past five years, the school's fall enrollment has dropped from 2,670 students to almost 2,300, a consequence of what officials say are declining high school enrollments and the lure of high-paying oilfield jobs for young people.

Some of the shortfall was filled by students from China, which has been the leading exporter of college students to the United States, according to the Institute of International Education.

During the 2010-11 academic year, the latest for which figures are available, about 157,600 Chinese students were studying in the U.S., an increase of almost 24 percent from the previous year. The number of Chinese students in the United States has risen by at least 19.8 percent for each of the past four years.

Dickinson State's program typically required students to begin coursework at universities in their home countries, spend a year studying in North Dakota and then return to their home schools to finish their degrees.

The audit says Dickinson State did not get "completion transcripts" from most students' home universities but awarded them degrees anyway, meaning they received bachelor's degrees at Dickinson State for only a year's work.

Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, said some public universities are engaged in "disturbing" practices as they attempt to recruit international students. Financial pressure has prompted some to do business with shady overseas recruiters and team up with questionable institutions, Nassirian said.

"Then something like this happens and you realize that this is a slippery slope, that what might have started out as a good fit gradually gave way to a rubber stamping of people introduced to you by a partner you don't understand," he said.

The report says recruiters in China passed themselves off as Dickinson State employees, altering genuine school business cards to print their own with the title, "DSU China Center."

Students were promised they could earn their Dickinson State degree before finishing classes at their home university and the freedom to change their majors or classes as they pleased, which the audit says violated the terms of the dual-degree program.

Dickinson State had 127 agreements to work with international schools to grant degrees to their students. Only four had the detailed plans required to be recognized as valid. The report recommended canceling all the accords pending a fresh evaluation of each, and ending all agreements with outside recruiters.

Coston's predecessor, Richard McCallum, was fired by the Board of Higher Education last December for allegedly padding Dickinson State's enrollment totals in the fall of 2010 by counting students who signed up for brief seminars as full-time students.

The report on the foreign transfer program does not mention McCallum but said the number of questionable degrees granted to foreign students began to rise in the summer of 2008. McCallum was named the school's president in April 2008.

Quote:Published February 10, 2012, 04:20 PM
Doug LaPlante, a DSU dean, found dead Friday afternoon
A high-ranking and longtime Dickinson State University staff member has died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Dickinson Police Department said Friday that Doug LaPlante’s body was found in Fairway Park.
By: April Baumgarten and Dustin Monke, The Dickinson Press


Doug LaPlante

A high-ranking and longtime Dickinson State University staff member has died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The Dickinson Police Department said Friday that Doug LaPlante’s body was found in Fairway Park.

LaPlante, 59, was DSU’s dean of the college of education, business and applied sciences. He had been at the university since 1991.

“Doug was the first person at DSU I got to know when I came to North Dakota,” DSU President D.C. Coston said in a statement. “I found him to be person of deep care and unquestionable integrity. He had a deep and abiding commitment to Dickinson State and to our students.”

DPD was contacted at approximately 9:27 a.m. Friday after LaPlante had uncharacteristically missed a meeting.

Officers responded to LaPlante’s residence located in the 600 block of Ninth Avenue West, in close proximity to DSU’s campus.

An investigation revealed LaPlante had apparently left his residence on foot and had not taken his cellphone. It was also determined that a large-caliber rifle was missing from LaPlante’s residence.

A passerby saw LaPlante walking northeast toward Rocky Butte Park at about 8 a.m., according to a DPD release.

The release said that because LaPlante was believed to be distraught, precautions were taken to shelter DSU’s campus and other schools in the vicinity.

A campus evacuation was enacted briefly before being lifted after university officials confirmed the danger to students and faculty had passed.

LaPlante’s body was found by police at approximately 1:23 p.m.

Coston planned to meet with students at Beck Auditorium at 1 p.m. Friday about the audit report that said DSU had awarded hundreds of degrees to foreign students who didn’t earn them, signed up students who couldn’t speak English and enrolled a handful without qualifying grades.

However, that meeting was cut short by the incident.

Faculty, staff and non-residential students were asked to leave the campus immediately while on-campus students are asked to return to their dormitories.

Quote:
Three Institutions Gain Accreditation

The following institutions were accredited:

Apollos University
17011 Beach Boulevard, Suite 900
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
www.apollosuniversity.com
Phone: 714-841-6252 or 615-594-1896
Dr. Paul Eidson, President and CEO
Founded 2005. Offers Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Organizational Management and Doctor of Business Administration

Shiloh University
100 Shiloh Drive
Kalona, Iowa 52247
www.shilohuniversity.org
Phone: 319-656-2447
Mr. Christopher Reeves, President [Look, up in the sky!]
Founded 2006. Offers Bachelor of Arts in Biblical and Pastoral Studies, Master of Arts in Biblical and Pastoral Studies and Master of Divinity

University of Fairfax
2070 Chain Bridge Road
Suite G-100
Vienna, VA 22182
www.ufairfax.net
Phone: 703-790-3200
Mr. David Oxenhandler, President/CEO
Founded 2002. Offers Master of Science in Enterprise Management, Master of Science in Information Security Management, Doctorate in Information Assurance (DIA), Doctorate of Science in Information Assurance (DSc) and certificate programs in security and information systems.

. . .

Show Cause Issued
The following institutions we re issued a Show Cause:

Perelandra College
8697-C La Mesa Boulevard
La Mesa, CA 91941

Yorktown University, Inc .
4340 East Kentucky Avenue, Suite 457
Denver, CO 80246

Unaccredited schools existed at all levels, from barely legal to pretty good. Were any of them Harvard? Hardly. But they were good enough for many purposes. It was up to us as adults to make the good choices. If we didn't, well, we took the risks. As one infamous expert told us, if it was legal- required work- had a decent reputation, it was acceptable.

So you looked through the Bear guide. Listened to the man's advice, sent off for the catalogs, and made your choice.

Here is the way it was back then. People picked good and bad schools according to their needs and wants. I have no problem with discussions about how good the choices were between the schools. I have a big problem with the idea that all such choices were bad or worse, mills. You can't have a discussion if you start from the point that says they were mills or useless. The degrees were of value to many people, myself included. That the former supporters of such schools now run from their previous statements doesn't make the choices any different.

Some of these schools were legitimate attempts to provide adults with college degrees. Others were mills or just a little better than that. They were not all the same nor were they all useless. They deserve to be treated each to its own works.

Some were good, some were average, and some were BAD. Just like apple pies. Not all are tasty.

"TEKMAN," who claims a PhD from Capella, posted this in response to Jack Tranny's original post about a projected abundance of future RN jobs:

TEKMAN Wrote:I recently attempted suicide; when I was in the Hospital. I did not see many RN, which was totally different than what you had said. I thought health care field is high in demand after information technology .


PhD, Info Technology, Capella University (Inactive)
MP, Technology Management, Georgetown University
MS, Telecommunications, Southern Methodist University
BS, Computer Science, Troy University

rook901 Wrote:I'm not sure what your suicide attempt has to do with the nursing shortage. Or what it has to do with anything, for that matter.

Randell1234 Wrote:What's up with this? You okay?

No indication if this is operated by the now thoroughly debauched and discredited Lloyd Clayton or any of his past or present minions.

No degrees, just "advanved" [sic] certificates and continuing ed. Their Six Sigma courses are being offered through Acuity Institute in Colorado.

Also unknown is if it is still operating out of Silver City, NM, where it was getting rave reviews.

Quote:Welcome to the Chadwick Institute!

Advanced Education & Training To Enhance Your Career

Thank you for visiting our new Internet site. Chadwick University is now The Chadwick Institute. Our mission is to bring you the most advanced and affordable education and training programs available. We are developing and partnering to offer advanved certificate programs and continuing education in business, marketing, e-commerce, Project management, Six Sigma and much more. For a full description of the transition from Chadwick University to the Chadwick Institute, please visit our About Us page. While we continue to support Chadwick University alumni through our excellent support programs, we move forward with new programs and a new focus as the re-tooled Chadwick Institute!

Chadwick University was founded more than two decades ago and has been a leader in distance education for many years. The University was licensed by the State of Alabama Department of Education and offered undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide variety of majors. For more information, visit our About Us page and see the Accreditation page for even more details (and printable accreditation documents).

Since changing to The Chadwick Institute, we are now focused on mid-career professionals - offering programs to help you advance your professional skills. Programs now qualify for continuing education units (CEU's) and include Certificate programs so you can demonstrate your expertise in a wide variety of key areas.

We still support Chadwick University transcript requests, and a host of alumni programs. If you are seeking a transcript, please visit our transcript page and complete our request form.

If you need to reach us, visit our contact page or send an email to help@chadwick.edu

To begin your journey, check out our course offerings - and get started on your way to a better life through advanced education.

On July 11, 2011, WASC issued Trident University International (TUI) an order to Show Cause why their accreditation should not be terminated as of March 30, 2012.

Come the day of reckoning, will WASC terminate Trident's accreditation, allow them to continue their accreditation, or kick the can down the road?

Australian unis have been at the forefront of legit alternative medicine programs. Now the entrenched conventional medicine cartel wants to shrink the playing field. Can the Gollin-esque fairy tales of unlicensed doctors killing innocent children be far behind?

Quote:Scientists urge unis to axe alternative medicine courses
KELLY BURKE
26 Jan, 2012 03:00 AM

MORE than 400 doctors, medical researchers and scientists have formed a powerful lobby group to pressure universities to close down alternative medicine degrees.

Almost one in three Australian universities now offer courses in some form of alternative therapy or complementary medicine, including traditional Chinese herbal medicine, chiropractics, homeopathy, naturopathy, reflexology and aromatherapy.

But the new group, Friends of Science in Medicine, wrote to vice-chancellors this week, warning that by giving "undeserved credibility to what in many cases would be better described as quackery" and by "failing to champion evidence-based science and medicine", the universities are trashing their reputation as bastions of scientific rigour.

The group, which names world-renowned biologist Sir Gustav Nossal and the creator of the cervical cancer vaccine Professor Ian Frazer among its members, is also campaigning for private health insurance providers to stop providing rebates for alternative medical treatments.

A co-founder of the group, Emeritus Professor John Dwyer, of the University of NSW, who is also a government adviser on consumer health fraud, said it was distressing that 19 universities were now offering "degrees in pseudo science".

"It's deplorable, but we didn't realise how much concern there was out there for universities' reputations until we tapped into it," Professor Dwyer said. "We're saying enough is enough. Taxpayers' money should not be wasted on funding [these courses] … nor should government health insurance rebates be wasted on this nonsense."

Professor Dwyer said it was particularly galling that such courses were growing in popularity while, at the same time, the federal government was looking at ways to get the Therapeutic Goods Administration to enforce tougher proof-of-efficacy criteria for complementary medicines, following the release of a highly critical review by the Australian National Audit Office last September.

Of particular concern to the group is the increase in chiropractic courses, following the recent announcement of a new chiropractic science degree by Central Queensland University. More than 30 scientists, doctors and community advocates wrote to the vice-chancellor and health science deans at the university voicing their concern, which laid the foundations for Friends of Science in Medicine.

The groundswell of protest from medical professionals comes after a decision in Britain that means from this year it will no longer be possible to receive a degree from a publicly-funded university in areas of alternative medicine, including homeopathy and naturopathy.

German and British medical insurance providers are also in the process of removing alternative therapies from the list of treatments they will cover.

Australia's vice-chancellors will meet in March and Professor Dwyer said his group was aiming to get a commitment from them to endorse health courses only with evidence-based science.

The spokesman for Universities Australia said tertiary institutions were self-accrediting. "[They have] the autonomy … to ensure the quality and relevance of the courses they offer," he said.

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, a government body set up to regulate higher education, refused to comment.

Most health funds pay rebates for alternative therapies under top cover polices. Private Healthcare Australia did not return the Herald's calls.