Warnborough University(http://www.warnborough.edu)in England appears to claim that it offers accredited graduate degrees. However it doesn't have a "Royal Charter." My understanding is that without a Royal Charter a British University has no recognition (accreditation). However, the university has been incorporated in Ireland. WU officials have informed me that such charter is not necessary for a university that has been recognized in Ireland. Does anyone know anything about Warnborough? Is it another British diploma mill?
It is not recognized as a part of the Irish or British educational systems. Degrees earned from Warnborough almost certainly would not be accepted for academic or employment purposes, except by accident. "Diploma mill" is so very, very harsh. Rich Douglas, who would invite anyone who has information about the London School of Social Research to share.
While I didn't examine all of their pages, I did see a statement that they had appointed a committee to pursue government recognized accreditation. Where, they didn't say. But that certainly implies that they are not currently accredited by anyone that any government recognizes. As I understand it, universities in the UK may also be established by Parliamentary act. The "new universities" came about that way. But Warnborough appears to lack such an act. The question is, "recognized" as what? Warnborough is not recognized by the Irish Higher Education Authority as an Irish higher education institution. http://www.hea.ie/institute/index.htm This seems to me to be the same dodge that Earlscroft University uses. Simply register as a foreign corporation in Ireland (not subject to Irish educational regulations because they don't actually operate in Ireland), then operate in the UK as a branch of an otherwise nonexistent foreign university, arguing that foreign registration exempts them from the British higher education laws regulating British universities. Hence they manage to be both places and neither place simultaneously. I believe that Ireland has subsequently tightened their laws to make it impossible for "universities" to register in Ireland as foreign corporations. Earlscroft found it necessary to move its registration to the Seychelles a few weeks ago, so it will be interesting to see what happens with Warnborough. They used to call themselves "Warnborough College, Oxford", shamelessly trying to ride of the prestige of some other university already established in Oxford. I guess that they were contacted by that school's attorneys, because they reappeared in London as "Warnborough University".
Warnborough has, over the past couple of years, tried to affiliate itself with a couple of VET providers here in Australia with articulation into their MBA programs. When this was discovered, the State Accrediting agencies moved swiftly and forbade anybody promoting Warnborough degrees in Australia. In a nutshell, Warnborough degrees are not recognised in Australia. Cheers, George ------------------ Virtual Universities of Australasia & the World www.virtualuniversities.net [email protected]
The BBC (Radio 5) did a most unflattering half hour program on them last fall. In it, they played excerpts from a Warnborough promotional CD, which I call, in Bears' Guide, the single most misleading piece of school literature I've seen. ("Come to Oxford. Come to Warnborough College, and walk the hallowed paths where Bertrand Russell strolled..." Not an exact quote, but that kind of thing.) Incidentally, when Warnborough College was sued (successfully) by the Attorney General of the state of Washington, on behalf of several citizens who genuinely believed that they were going to a constituent college of Oxford University one of the lawyers appearing on behalf of Warnborough was John Walsh of Brannagh, owner of Greenwich University (Norfolk Island). I am pretty sure that Warnborough is owned by the Tempest-Mogg family of Melbourne, Australia (where Walsh lived and practiced law before moving to Norfolk).
Bertrand Russell? No thanks. Now CAZZIE Russell's footsteps, I'd follow. Rich Douglas, who still has a strong move to the basket, but flies considerably lower anymore.
