Accelerated Degree Program - Watch Out!

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by iquagmire, Jul 5, 2001.

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  1. iquagmire

    iquagmire Member

    Here's a good one. It's not a school, but you get a college degree of your choice through "peer evaluation".
    http://www.advancedu.org/

    "Unlike a school, Academic Peer Evaluation & Endorsement is a process, conducted by only a few specialized organizations. No course work or attendance is required.

    Through this process, your skills and experiences can be evaluated by successful, qualified experts in "your field", for their conclusions of comparisons to required levels of education found in traditional college curriculums"
     
  2. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    http://www.advancedu.org

    This appears to be the rather amateurish creation of a couple living outside of Spokane Washington, Steve and Dixie Randock.

    Steve works in his family's manufactured home business (scroll to the bottom):
    http://www.mfdhousing.com/yellow_pages/get.php3?type=WHOLESALE.

    Dixie is a real estate broker who has been selling distance education courses in real estate for some time. For a photo of her, see:
    http://www.aplusnow.com/welcome1.htm

    I think that Dixie is probably the force behind creating this fake "school" and its attendant phony credential verification service.

    WHOIS information for advancedu.org:

    Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.  

    Organization: Advanced Education Institute Trust
    address: Forward Mail to 14525 Newport HY  Mead, WA   99021     US   

    Admin contact: Randock, Steve
    email: [email protected]
    phone: 509 4681750
    fax: 509 4671522

    The advancedu.org site sends you to a phony credential verifier at:

    Domain Name: TRANSCRIPTRECORDS.COM
    Administrative Contact: Document Retrieval, AEIT
    [email protected]
    Washington, D.C. 20003-4303 US
    202 478 0699

    Billing Contact:
    Randock, Dixie
    [email protected]
    Mead, wa 99021 US
    5094682728

    Record last updated on 4-Jul-2001.
    Record expires on 24-Jan-2003.
    Record Created on 24-Jan-2001
     
  3. bgossett

    bgossett New Member

    This little racket has been discussed before, but I can't locate the thread. I have saved this link to a letter received by a gentleman in Israel written by a Fr Stephen Frendock: http://www.wander.co.il/index12.html Steve Randock, Stephen Frendock - hmmm.

    ------------------
    Bill Gossett
     
  4. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    We had pretty good luck busting some internet school a year or so back... the guy had built a site claiming to have a football team and alumni dating back 20 years... but the address of the school was a Mailboxes Etc.
    When I emailed and asked him about this, along with pointing out that I had his home address and full name, the site mysteriously morphed overnight into a sporting goods site or some such. Wish I could remember the name of the school or the URL.

    In any case, these folks might be shut down just as easily.
     
  5. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    Ah! Just remembered. It was
    http://uncas.net

    but I don't remember the name of the school.

    Now a completely blank page.
     
  6. That was the "University of Northern California Arts and Sciences" -- it disappeared quite suddenly and completely.

    Checking the domain registration info, I noticed that the administrative and technical contact was "MoonProperty.net" (with uncas.net and uncas.org email addresses).

    Today I see that www.uncas.org and www.MoonProperty.net are both "Earth's leading lunar real estate property."

    From one scam to another, apparently.

    ------------------
    Kristin Evenson Hirst
    DistanceLearn.About.com
     
  7. BG14's annotation for the "Advanced Education Institute" notes that Washington's state education laws evidently have a loophole; they regulate instruction and offering of higher education but not the awarding of degrees. The Advanced Education Institute "drove its bus through the loophole, arising on the Internet in 1999 to offer bachelor's master's, and doctorates in any field ... with the diplomas coming from a wide range of school names (all nonexistent)"

    The "Transcript Records Center" gives two choices:

    *I am requesting any/all academic and/or other transcript/records for an individual
    *I am searching a database of Astronomical Coordinates and Registered Names [this seems like an odd combo]

    If you choose to request academic/other transcripts/records, you then can choose from a list of institutions in a drop-down menu or enter another name.

    Here are the choices (* for names cited in BG 14):
    A.A.L.P. Technologies
    Academic Benchmark Counsel
    AEIT (Advanced Education Institute Trust)Avalon Production
    Allied Escrow Insurers
    AMAtech Management Corp
    Ameribrokers, LLC
    Anderson Quality Management
    Audentes University
    Audentes Graduate Institute [BG lists Audenties Technical Academy]
    Bell State College
    Bell State Graduate Institute
    Branford Arts Academy
    Calproduction Technologies
    Cathedra Institute *
    Chalise Postgraduate University
    Concordia [BG lists Concorda University and Concorda Graduate Institute]
    DataPro Industries
    Davison University
    Davison Graduate Institute
    Eddington Art Institution
    EDDW, Distance Education
    EducatorsGroup, Inc
    Eucharist Archiodioces
    Eucharist Graduate Institute
    Fromiegh Bay Co.
    Hanson School of Music
    Healthcare Datatrend Services
    Holmes Graduate Institute
    Holmes University *
    Holy Acclaim Graduate Institute *
    Holy Acclaim University *
    Insinq, LLC
    Janson, Keithing & Dunn, LLP
    Micronom Technical Academy
    Montessori PTSA [a degree from a Montessori Parent-Teacher-Students Association?]
    MySkyBroker
    New Academy of the Arts
    New Capital Graduate Institute
    New Capital University
    New University of the Arts
    Primus Postgraduate College *
    Public Adjustment Administration [for chiropractors, no doubt]
    Quincy Pike Association
    Saint Concordia University
    Saint Lourdes Graduate Institute
    Saint Lourdes University
    Sound Media Technology
    Stellar Engineering, Inc.
    Tecana International University
    TeschTechnical Academy
    Tekcar, Inc.
    Valorem Academy *
    Washington Broker Alliance


    ------------------
    Kristin Evenson Hirst
    DistanceLearn.About.com
     

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