State of California Is a Party to Fraud?

A couple of things have come together recently,

1. Dr. Rich Douglas's dissertation which seems to indicate what I believe to be is an unwarranted importance to the term "state approved" for academic intitutions.

2. The KCBS TV article on Pacific Western University (PWU).
http://cbs2.com/specialassign/local_story_127143143.html

Discussed earlier here, http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13686

Here's the problem as it appears to me. Based on Rich's research it seems that many people consider state approved to mean it is good and can be trusted. Not as good as accredited but still okay if not good. When that is coupled with the TV article that seems to prove beyond much doubt that PWU is a horrible "fraud". The question is

Is the state government of California party to fraud by allowing institutions like PWU claim that they are operating under state approval? I don't see anyway to come to a different conclusion!

 

105,000 people are students in degree programs at unaccredited California approved schools.

Maybe they are not as fringe as many believe.

Fraud would be a slightly bizarre conclusion.

 

More a problem with lack of enforcement. And there has been moves to eliminate what enforcement there currently is.

Untill there is a problem where some one is killed or seriously injured due to the use of fake credentials there will be little or no change.

Many see this as a victimless crime,

. And they don't care. I disagree, I think unaccredited schools are a problem and a menace.

Also the numbers inlvoved are relatively small. There are few enrolled in all the unaccredited programs than in CSU and UC system Bay Area schools (UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, CSU Hayward, San Jose State and San Francisco State).

 

Did you watch the KCBS newscast? "Fraud" was the description given by the CA congresswoman that viewed the candid camera piece inside PWU. If you have viewed it and still believe that fraud is a bizarre conclusion then I'd be interested in explaining what was bizarre about it.

Isn't this a situation that that one rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel? Isn't a situation where the real value of CA state approval has a significant portion of its value defined by the least common denominator?

 

Gee, When I read the title to this thread I thought you were talking about that last governors election. My mistake.

Jack

 

Yeah, if it had been about the gropenator I would have voted positively!

 

That total is about half of one single school's enrollment, the University of Phoenix. It represents a tiny proportion of the number of students enrolled in universities around the country.

Fringe? Certainly. It might not do, however, to lump all state-approved schools into one bucket, then empty the bucket. But such a Draconian measure would hardly dent legitimate education in California, and it would go a long way towards eliminating this misunderstood category of schools.

 

It seems to me that something like LA did might be an option where they gave the schools a couple years to get accredited or they get closed down. Of course another option would be to try and actually enforce the laws and close down the bad apples. In this current era of tight budgets, I don't see that as a likely possibility.

 

All in all, I think that California does an excellent job.

The state manages to strike a difficult balance between over and under enforcement. Few other jurisdictions anywhere on Earth can boast anything remotely like California's academic creativity.

The simple fact that Degreeinfo spends so much time talking about California schools is evidence of how fascinating they are. You pinheads can insult California, but you can't stop talking about us.

You know perfectly well that California doesn't grow large numbers of new and interesting schools simply by accident. It grows them because the conditions are right.

Here's some of what the "frauduent" CA-approved sector has been putting out: New WASC schools from the last ten years or so, new applicants, schools that have acquired other recognized accreditation and some interesting non-accredited schools to watch.

Don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. It's probably smarter to copy it.

1. American Film Institute Conservatory
http://www.AFI.com
Accredited 2002
(The USNews graduate issue calls this one of America's best film schools.)

2. City of Hope Graduate School of Biological Sciences
http://www.gradschool.coh.org
Accredited 2001
(They pioneered come of the basic genetic engineering techniques.)

3. Institute of Transpersonal Psychology
http://www.itp.edu
Accredited 1998
(A leader in transpersonal psychology.)

4. Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences
http://www.kgi.edu
Accredited 2004
(Part of the Claremont consortium.)

5. Laguna College of Art & Design
www.lagunacollege.edu
Accredited 1997

6. The National Hispanic University
http://www.nhu.edu
Accredited 2002

7. Pacifica Graduate Institute
http://www.pacifica.edu
Accredited 1997
(A leading Jungian psychology program.)

8. The Scripps Research Institute
http://www.scripps.edu
Accredited 1993
(Winner of two recent Nobel Prizes)

9. Southern California Institute of Architecture
http://www.sciarc.edu
Accredited 1995

10. Southern California University of Health Sciences
http://www.scuhs.edu
Accredited 1993

11. Western University of Health Sciences
http://www.westernu.edu
Accredited 1996
(Operates a significant vet school as well as a school of osteopathic medicine.)

12. William Jessup University (formerly San Jose Christian College)
http://www.jessup.edu
Accredited 2002

13. Intercultural Institute of California
http://www.iic.edu
Candidacy 2004
(Probably the world's only DL program in Korean studies.)

14. Life Pacific College
http://www.lifepacific.edu
Candidacy 2002

15. University of the West
http://www.hlu.edu
Candidacy 2002
(Shows promise of becoming an insitution of international significance in academic Buddhist studies.)

16. California Graduate Institute
http://www.cgi.edu
Talking to WASC
(Oldest and largest ofthe CA-approved psych schools.)

17. National Test Pilot School
http://www.ntps.edu
Talking to WASC
(The only school of its kind in the world.)

18. Soka University of America
http://www.soka.edu
Candidate with AALE and talking to WASC
(Well funded spin-off of Japan's Soka University.)

19. American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
http://www.actcm.org
Accredited ACAOM

20. American Graduate University
http://www.agu.edu
Accredited DETC

21. Art Institute of California
http://www.taac.edu
Accredited ACCSCT

22. Art Institutes International at San Francisco
http://www.aisf.artinstitutes.edu
Accredited ACICS

23. Art Institute of Los Angeles
http://www.aila.artinstitutes.edu
Accredited by ACCSCT and ACICS

24. California National University for Advanced Studies
http://www.cnuas.edu
Accredited DETC

25. Columbia College Hollywood
http://www.columbiacollege.edu
Accredited ACCSCT

26. Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine
http://emperors.edu
Accredited by ACAOM

27. Institute of Computer Technology
http://www.ictcollege.edu
Accredited ACCSCT

28. International Technological University
http://www.itu.edu
Accredited ACICS

29. Logos Evangelical Seminary
http://www.les.edu
Accredited ATS

30. Mt. Sierra College
http://www.mtsierra.edu
Accredited ACCSCT

31. Musician's Institute
http://www.mi.edu
Accredited NASM
(Very prominent Hollywood school of contemporary musicianship.)

32. Northrop Rice Aviation Inst. of Technology
http://www.nrait.edu
Accredited ACCSCT

33. Northwestern Polytechnic Institute
http://www.npu.edu
Accredited ACICS

34. Pacific States University
http//www.psuca.edu
Accredited ACICS

35. Palmer College of Chiropractic - West
http://www.palmer.edu/PCCW/PCWmain.htm
Accredited CCE

36. William Howard Taft University
http://www.taft.edu
Accredited DETC
(Taft operates one of the big-three CA DL law programs.)

37. Abraham Lincoln University
http://www.alu.edu
Applicant DETC

38. California Coast University
http://www.calcoast.edu
Applicant DETC

39. University of Philosophical Research
http://www.uprs.edu
Applicant DETC
(Kind of unusual.)

40. Expression College of Digital Arts
http://www.expression.edu
(High powered computer art school rapidly making a name for itself.)

41. Campion College
(Was USF's St. Ignatius Institute. Website seems to no longer exist. The school may have died.)

42. Oakbrook College of Law
http://www.obcl.edu
(Another successful CA DL law school.)

43. Northwestern California University
http://www.nwculaw.edu
(The third of the CA "big three" DL law schools.)

44. Institute of Buddhist Studies
http://www.shin-ibs.edu
(An affiliate of the Graduate Theological Union consortium.)

45. Dharma Realm Buddhist University
http://www.drba.org/drbu/
(Trying to convert traditional monastic training into a university curriculum.)

46. Ryokan College
http://www.ryokan.edu/index2.html
(A leading CA-approved psych school.)

47. San Francisco Law School
http://www.sfls.edu
(Oldest law night school in the western US.)

48. Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality
http://www.iashs.edu
(They go where no one else dares.)

 

Bill, your posts are very frequently the highlight of my visits to DegreeInfo. This post is no exemption, thanks.

I would guess that the number of "new and interesting schools" coming out of CA is due much more to the size of the CA population and the vitality and creativity of the CA residences rather than a system and set of laws that lets degree mills like PWU and KWU flourish within her borders. I would hope that we could dispose of the bad while still encouraging the good.

 

So trying to reitterate the question.

PWU is a degree mill operating under the auspice of CA state approval. My reading of Rich's dissertation indicates that state approval is very misunderstood and held in much higher regard than it really deserves. This indication is reinforced with many examples of people that have come to this forum especially when the person is trying to justify a degree mill. Is this not an example where the state of California finds itself contributing to the success of PWU and thereby being a party to the fraud that is PWU?

A correllary conclusion is that state approval doesn't have much real positive meaning if PWU can get it and keep it for all these years. (This assumes of course that they haven't just gone down hill recently but that they've always been in the gutters at the bottom of the hill.)

 

For the record, Jackie Goldberg is not a member of Congress. She is in the state assembly and probably couldn’t define fraud if a legal dictionary fell off the shelf and hit her on the head. She is largely considered a joke by the Republicans and an embarrassment by most Democratics in the assembly.

With Sheila Hawkins now running the BPPVE degree unit I look for stronger enforcement in the future.

Keep in mind that California has closed schools and forced more to relocate outside California.

 

I think there are only two state regulators on this forum so I will offer a couple of bureaucrat's-eye-view thoughts about the situation in California.

First, enforcement is always hard when you can't really find out what is happening, and without adequate staff you can't. Also, the regulatory structure in California has changed a couple of times in recent years, which always affects efficiency.

Finally, the California BPPVE has historically been a highly politicized agency at the upper levels - above Sheila's level - and the professional staff were not always allowed to move in the direction that their judgment takes them. I understand that the agency head job is now open (or was recently), so perhaps there will be a different approach.

 

Send in your resume' Alan. The position would be a good challenge for you.

 

and go from a super hero fighting degree mills to being the head of an organization that is party to fraud?

 

Not to worry. I doubt he would be considered a superhero and/or a viable candidate as the education administrator of the 6th largest ecomomic power on Earth since he declared all California State Approved degrees illegal (unless all 254 schools individually submit to him for his evaluation...for a fee) AHAHAHAHA. Continuing to repeat the "party to fraud" blather only contributes to the demagoguery.

 

Three out of the four unaccredited California applicant schools we have had were successful - not a bad record. I expect a fourth will be approved this week if their materials are as good as I expect.

Since the review fee is only $250, I doubt it is keeping the applicant schools away.

 

Are you familar with PWU? Did you view the TV journalist interview with PWU? Do you believe that PWU degrees are grossly substandard? Do you agree that PWU is a degree mill? If they are grossly substandard then doesn't that mean that they are running a fraudulent school? Since the state of California has put PWU into their approved category then isn't California a party to this fraud?

What part of the the above do you disagree with?

Also perhaps you don't understand how the ODA works? It was the Oregon legislature that passed a law stating that unaccredited degrees are illegal for use in Oregon unless the ODA rules them valid. Mr. Contreras didn't make the law. Perhaps you aren't concerned with the facts though?

 

There are places in every big city where drugs are dealt and where whores walk the streets. That doesn't necessarily mean that the police are parties to drug dealing and prostitution.

I disagree with your implied suggestion that the BPPVE consciously shelters and promotes degree mills.

In my opinion, it's more likely that they resemble those police officers. They do what they can, given the resources they have available.

I'm not sure what PWU told the TV station or exactly what the context of the remarks was. But I am pretty certain that the school doesn't say damaging things when they are talking to Sacramento. I expect that they presented at least the appearance of an approvable school. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been approved.

Now, how far PWU's real-life practices deviate from state standards may not be obvious without undercover investigative capabilities that the BPPVE probably lacks.

 

Would you condemn the Air Force for rapes at the Academy or throw out the educational system that supports the Military Academy because of a highly publicized cheating scandal? No, I think you're stretching your point in your attempt to condemn an established system on the basis of a possible violator.

The ODA has some latitude in the manner it conducts it's business with regard to school approvals. It has chosen to pursue some of it's policies in a very inefficient and prejudicial manner, IMO.