William Howard Taft University Accreditation

William Howard Taft University attempted to obtain regional accreditation but abandoned that effort a year or two ago. Their website now discloses a new effort for accreditation through a DOE-approved accrediting body, the name of which can't be disclosed at present because that is the accrediting body's policy. See their notice of filing at http://www.taftu.edu/gi26.htm and their accreditation FAQ: http://www.taftu.edu/gi27.htm.

Would you guess that this is DETC? That is my assumption since the FAQ suggests that accreditation could happen in 2002 (as opposed to "two seconds after the check clears" for less-than-wonderful accrediting bodies).

Bill Highsmith

 

You don't think such unethical practices take place at the "prestigious" Accrediting Commission International (ACI, Beebe, AK) do you? I guess ACI isn't the only less-than-wonderful thing to come out of Arkansas!

Russell

 

The scary thing is that, with the precedents set with AICS and a couple of other less-than-wonderfuls, DETC might actually consider accrediting these folks.

I suggest that anyone with any information about this less-than-wonderful program send an email to DETC... while they will never admit it, I have to assume that the very vocal and long lasting objection by many of the participants here over the accreditation of AICS has had some effect on DETC's processes in evaluating schools.

One would hope, anyway.

 

I didn't really have any preconception about their program other than the idea that if they had any hope at all of regional accreditation, then they at least must have had some regard for their own program.

Upon looking again, I noticed that they spun off the education school (http://www.boyer.edu/) and it is on its own accreditation track.

 

Isn't W.H. Taft the school that sued WAUC for basically being an accreditation mill? You gotta at least admire them for that.

Bruce

 

Taft did indeed sue WAUC, and their successful settlement, described in some detail in the 14th ed. of Bears' Guide, was extremely helpful in learning more about how WAUC operates.

Taft has also had quite decent pass rates on the California Bar in the last few years.

So -- for a California correspondence law degree: one of the 2 or 3 best options (along with Oak Brook and Concord). For other degrees: for people who are confident that a California-approved but unaccredited degree will meet their needs, current and predictable future, one of the better alternatives.

John Bear
[email protected]

 

It should be DETC. From Taft's site,
"However, recently an accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education and a member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), announced it was instituting a pilot program for institutions that offer first professional degree programs such as the Juris Doctor. Taft was invited to participate in this pilot program and an Application for Accreditation was filed on July 14, 2000." Pay attention to "pilot program".


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Jonathan Liu
http://www.geocities.com/liu_jonathan/distance.html

 

I concur. DETC is not approved by the U.S. Department of Education to accredited doctoral programs, but they have gone ahead and done so without the DoEd approval in the hope of becoming approved. A strange but interesting tactic which certainly raises questions about DETC.

P.S. Welcome to the forum, Jonathan - nice to see you here!

 

What DETC institutions offer doctoral degrees? I've not located any as yet.

 

Kaplan College offers a J.D.; the University of Leicester offers a number of Ph.D.'s; and the University of St. Augustine offers a Doctor of Health Sciences.


Peace,

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Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

 

Added to that list is the Internationa Management Centres. The Concord J.D. and the U. of Leicester degrees beyond the Centre for Labour Market Studies (which doesn't offer the Ph.D. that I know of) are outside DETC's accreditation. I'm not sure about St. Augustine's and IMC's doctorates, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Rich Douglas

 

There seems to be a subtle but important change in DETC policy. In response to a recent question to them about Azaliah College (South Africa), a residential college moving into the DL world, Mike Lambert responded:

As you know, we have an "all or none rule" so all distance activity of Azaliah must become accredited or none may be.

This seems to suggest that DETC can now accredited just the distance learning portion of a school that also has residential programs (including doctorates).

The Centre for Labour Market Studies (CLMS) of Leicester University definitely does research doctorates, but they involve some residency -- so I'd deduce that DETC's accreditation of CLMS is "just the distance learning portion."

John Bear (who did US marketing for
CLMS from 1994 through 1998, when
we sold our marketing business to
Pearson)

 

A lack of understanding of the process caused the same confused comment last year when Concord was accredited.

Far from being a "strange tactic", it is not only typical, but required under federal regulation, for all agencies to accredit beyond their scope first, then petition the Secretary later.

343 CFR 602.12 (a) (2) (b) states: "A recognized agency seeking an expansion of its scope of recognition must demonstrate that it has granted accreditation...covering the range of the specific...institutions and programs for which it seeks the expansion of scope."

The key phrase here is "has granted." The Secretary wants to evaluate what you have done, not what you plan to do.

This was all covered last year but I imagine, as is human nature, we assimilate only that which supports our inclination.

 

I think we should say "Concord Law School, The Kaplan Colleges, offers a J.D." to be exact. I still wonder whether Kaplan should rename Concord and some other parts of the college to make the name more consistent under a college structure.

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Jonathan Liu
http://www.geocities.com/liu_jonathan/distance.html

 

I was somewhat surprised to read Dr. Bear's positive recommendation for Concord. On the degree.net site, it was stated that Concord's FYLSX pass rates weren't particularly impressive. I do no not believe that they have been operating long enough to have a track record on the general bar.

Christopher Kent

 

cbkent writes, I was somewhat surprised to read Dr. Bear's positive recommendation for Concord. On the degree.net site, it was stated that Concord's FYLSX pass rates weren't particularly impressive.

I was disappointed in Concord's results because of high expectations because it is part of the Kaplan Company, famous for its bar exam prep courses. I would have expected more than 35% to pass the Baby Bar. (Taft had 25% that session, and Oak Brook had 51%). Concord said, a bit disingenuously I felt, that of the better-qualified students, nearly all passed. Gee, why did they let their less-prepared students take it anyway?

If Concord achieves the same pass rate on the final bar, then 35% of 35%, or 12% of those who start the program would successfully complete it. That's low. It will be very interesting to see if and how Concord improves in subsequent exams.

John Bear