how to tell if a school is really state approved?

I am interested in a metaphysics degree from Universal U. Their website says they are state approved as a religious educational institution. I emailed the Florida Dept of Education, but they haven't responded.

How can I ascertain that this school really is approved by Florida?

THANKS

 

I've never heard of Universal U.

But if their website says that they are "state approved as a religious educational institution", what they are really telling you is that they are operating under a state religious exemption. That means that whatever state educational regulations that exist in FL simply don't apply to them. In general, state approval of religious schools is virtually meaningless.

What happened was that the courts have ruled that the constitutional separation of church and state exends to religious groups teaching their doctrines and training their clergy. So the government is expressly forbidden from regulating these things. That in turn allows hundreds of doubtful seminaries and religious colleges to freely operate on the fringes.

Some states do require that their religious schools to conform to some non-academic requirements involving business practices and such. Maybe FL requires that religious exempt schools have refund policies or something.

Personally, I think that most of these non-accredited religious exempt schools are worthless, or virtually so. But there are a handful of real gems among them, and quite a few that might provide interesting and valuable education, even if the degrees that the schools grant are pretty much meaningless.

(I'm kind of toying with the idea of enrolling in one of them myself just for the education, without a degree objective.)

Bottom line, I think that the FL Dept. of Education is probably the best place to start, but I don't think that their eventual answer will give you very much information about Universal U's suitability for your needs. You will have to make up your own mind about that.

 

You can always check on the Floida Web Site for independent schools: http://www.firn.edu/doe/cie/institutions.htm

BTW, Universal U. is not listed.

 

I just took a look at Universal University's website:

http://www.universalu.com/

Several things make me nervous about this thing.

First, there's the emphasis on producing doctoral level healing and counseling practitioners. They offer Ph.D.s in pastoral and spiritual counseling and in holistic psychology. Their College of Natural Health Ministry offers a dual Ph.D./N.D. in holistic medicine and naturopathy. This stuff sounds potentially dangerous to me.

It's also kind of riding the legal edge for a school to suggest that naturopathy doctorates will fall under a religious exemption if they just add 'ministry' to the college's name.

Universal University claims to be accredited by the (American Association of Drugless Practitioners), which doesn't exactly inspire confidence in me.

U.U.'s (course descriptions) seem awfully light for a school that's busy producing doctors.

Here's their (natural health) courses. They offer a dual Ph.D./N.D. in this stuff.

They also offer a Ph.D. in world religions. (Here's) the course descriptions. While I've seen some lightweight accredited bachelors programs that look like this, it doesn't really resemble what a research scholar would need to know about any of these traditions.

Just as a comparison, (here's) the religion course descriptions from what I consider a solid state-approved (and in this case an RA-candidate) institution. I think that a graduate from here would be in a pretty good position to produce original scholarship, in Buddhism at least.

My bottom line on Universal University, based only on looking at its website, is that it is probably way too close to the edge.

That doesn't mean that its classes might not be valuable to somebody or that nobody should enroll. Even if it offered degrees in its own alternative religion and metaphysics subjects, I wouldn't really object (though I wouldn't be impressed either).

But when a place like this, lightweight as it is, purports to train professional physicians (albeit naturopathic) and counselors (albeit spiritual and pastoral) and then sets them loose treating people, I worry.

 

American College of Metaphysical Theology
www.americancollege.com

 

Re: Re: how to tell if a school is really state approved?

Avoid like the plague!

 

Try looking at this website.

Get a copy of Psychology Today. There is always an ad for a major distance learning school (I can't remember the name.)
that offered quite a good program and very in-depth courses.

Good luck!

 

Forgot to mention the Rosicrucians. You won't get a degree but you will definitely learn about metaphysics.

 

If we are now talking about metaphysicalish DL degree programs, and if anyone is willing to consider an expensive program, here's one that I kinda like.

University of Philosophical Research in Los Angeles.

http://www.uprs.edu/

This is a fairly new school, but it's an outgrowth of the (Philosophical Research Society) in LA, which has been around since 1934. The Society was originally founded by Manley Hall, an old-style LA esoterist.

The Philosophical Research Society's claim to fame is their (Philosophical Research Library), which contains some 30,000 items that are very hard to find elsewhere, including manuscripts. (They have Napoleon's old copy of an obscure work on fate and divination.) If you need to locate a grimoire fast, try UPR's library.

UPRS offers two DL masters degrees, one in (Consciousness Studies), the other in (Transformational Psychology).

A new school, they are CA-approved at the current time, and they are one of the current DETC applicants.

This school has some fairly prominent teachers, at least in alternative circles.

 

That's a great suggestion. The Rosicrucians have all kind of DL things I believe, and as far as I know they are free.

You know, I live in Silicon Valley and have been meaning to investigate these people for some time.

I certainly am very fond of their (Rosicrucian Museum) in San Jose, where I've spent considerable time. Their collection of Egyptian antiquities is actually pretty impressive, perhaps the best in California. And there's something kind of likeable about their museum, a low budget amaturishness. The exhibits often have these long typewritten now-yellowing and curling descriptions next to them. But if you stop and take the time to read them, they are really tremendously scholarly and enlightening. Whoever wrote those babies knew his or her stuff, and perhaps was a long departed Stanford professor or something. You can learn a lot in that peculiar place.

I also notice that the adjacent (Rosicrucian Planetarium), long run-down and seemingly permanently closed, is now refurbished and up and running again, currently featuring a sky show on the ancient Mithraic Mysteries that explains the fascinating and rather persuasive astrological interpretation of Mithraic symbolism advanced by Dr. David Ulansy of the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

 

http://www.cms.edu/
http://www.cms.edu/meta.html

My wife and I have attended and taken classes at this school/church. We have a friend that graduated with a BS and is pursuing an MS and become an ordained minister at CMS.

We have also been to their Jacksonville and St Augustine locations.

It is real and the people are great.

 

Details of Rosicrucian Distance Learning

This thread has gotten me interested in the Rosicrucians.

The AMORC version of the Rosicrucians have often been kind of dismissed because of the correspondence courses that they have offered for many decades in their peculiar alternative religious ideas. But if you look a it another way, these people are among the pioneers of DL. They were doing DL when it definitely wasn't popular.

Their DL program has a whole set of degrees, but these are levels of teaching (on the model of Masonic degrees) and don't purport to be academic degrees. The Rosicrucian program isn't accredited by anyone, but it doesn't need to be since it doesn't award academic credit.

My understanding is that the courses are free to those who join the Rosicrucian organization and pay the dues. They say that the whole program takes about five years to complete.

(Here's) a general discussion of their DL program.

And (here's) the material covered in the various degrees. It certainly seems to be an eclectic treatment of pretty much everything that one would imagine under the heading 'metaphysics'.

I don't know what to make of it, frankly. It does seem kind of flaky to me, but if the example of their Rosicrucian Museum carries over into their teachings, their higher degrees might be pretty sophisticated. I really have no idea.

But it certainly seems to be a viable option for those interested in 'metaphysics'.

 

Re: Re: how to tell if a school is really state approved?

 

Seems odd and possibly a point for concern that UU would present their bona fides in such a manner since most States don't Approve religious schools, typically being exempt from State evaluation processes.

 

always check the web to ensure accrediation

 

And in keeping with those heady dot bomb days, "if it's got a web site it must be good..."