"College of absentees" article on Western States University for Professional Studies"

Someone I know dug up an old article, "College of Absentees Makes Probers Study" on "Western States University for Professional Studies." The clipping isn't dated, but I assume it was printed in Missouri several years ago. I'll include the text at the end of this message, since it's relatively lengthy.

Anyway, that set me to looking up the school online. (What Bear has to say about it is also not very inspiring.)

Here are some old articles that seem to recount a decade-old Western States time bomb:
http://www.opengovtcoppell.com/file/news/pre-1990/89503gaz.htm

and
http://www.opengovtcoppell.com/file/opinion/morton/7424_wsu.htm

Here's a resume for a someone who is in Canada who is from Hong Kong and has a Western States degree:
http://pmonline.com/jobs/resumes/augustinetang.htm

Here's a resume for Mr. Spiderman of "The Waterproofing and Restoration Team":
http://www.spidermans.com/about_spiderman.html

Here's a 1999 article, "Correspondence School Under Investigation," by Missouri's News Tribune. It discusses "allegedly bogus college degrees claimed by about 15 firefighters." If you have trouble getting it to load, the cached version at google works ok at least.
http://www.newstribune.com/stories/031399/sta_0313990027.html

And here is a page listing the school as an option for study for firefighters:
http://www.firecareers.com/templates/show_schools.cfm?state_id=41

The American Society for Safety Engineers discusses the "firefighting" education given. ("The tip-off was when one firefighter reported earning his masters degree seven days after receiving his bachelors.")
http://www.asse.org/sansi3.htm

Here is the school's Web site:
http://www.westernstates.edu/

Finally, here's that article I was given:

"College of Absentees Makes Probers Study

"By Larry Lee
"Special to The Tribune

"DONIPHAN, Mo. College without classes could be the motto of Western States University for Professional Studies.

"For only $2,643 a student can walk away from Western States with a doctorate without ever attending a class or taking an exam. The school offers a combination master's and doctorate for $3,618. A triple crown (simultaneous bachelor's, masters and doctorate) will set you back $4,313.

"Western states operates without certification despite a Missouri law that went into effect in 1984 regulating for-profit schools. The General Assembly passed the proprietary school law in 1983 to keep bogus trade and technical schools out of Missouri. The bill also was aimed at ridding the state of colleges that sell worthless degrees by mail.

"Under the law, profit-making schools were supposed to be barred from selling courses or soliciting students unless the state Coordinating Board for Higher Education had certified the operation.

"Rep. Joe Driskill (D., Doniphan) said the state is investigating Western States to determine the value, if any, of its degrees. But until the state board makes a determination, Western States continues to operate legally.

"The school on the outskirts of this southeast Missouri town of nearly 2,000 residents, offers no courses, just degrees. The school grants college credit for expertise in a particular field or for certain 'life experiences.'

"According to the college catalog, credit is awarded for tutoring, volunteer work, planning a budget and being a volunteer fireman. An earlier version listed gourmet cooking, leading a platoon, organizing a garage sale and stocking and maintaining an aquarium as worthy of college credit.

"Glenn Hudson, a founder and former president of Western States, once wrote in an ad that 'aquarium' 'does not mean a fishbowl, it means a fully functional aquarium. This is an important phase of environmental work if you are seeking a degree in that field.'

"Hudson and his wife, Zdena Zajickova of Czechoslovakia, who now serves as the school's president, created Western Staes in 1981 in a Yuma, Ariz., secretarial service's office.

In 1984, Arizona enacted a law regulating schools such as Western States. Hudson and his wife left Arizona, he said, after doctors told him the 'polluted' Arizona air would aggravate his lung cancer.

By November, 1984, Hudson and Zajickova arrived in Missouri, their university in tow. They said they discovered Doniphan while thumbing through a United Farm catalog.

Ripley County, where Western States sits, ranks dead last in Missouri in per capita income--$4,950. Sixty-three percent of the adults over 24 never were graduated from high school.

Doniphan's postmaster calls Wesern States his biggest customer, but Hudson denies the school is a diploma mill.

The school catalog lists 38 creditable life experiences. Hudson tells potential students: 'There are probably many more you have already accomplished and can think of.'

"Hudson insists Western States fills a need by 'providing expeienced individuals with a degree commensurate with their knowledge, experience and achievements. It accomplishes this at an accelerated pace with minimal expense.'

"The school grants degrees in real estate, business administration and management, safety and fire science, building and construction science, and public health.

"Degree candidates submit portfolios listing their life experiences. Credit is awarded by matching those experiences with course descriptions in hundreds of U.S. college and university catalogs.

"Wesern States has awarded a total of 250 degrees. The college catalog lists membership in a professional organization and at least five years of work experience as requirements for a degree.

"Hudson says that Western States has been accredited by the International Accrediting Association for Schools, Colleges and Theological Seminaries in Holden, Mo. But state officials say the agency is a one-man operation and is not recognized by either the U.S. Department of Education or the Council on Postsecondary Education."

 

The founder of Western States has three totally fake degrees, purchased from British degree mills.

And the "university" has the same fine useless accreditation as Century University, Wisconsin International University, and more than 100 others.

 

The founder of Western States has three totally fake degrees, purchased from British degree mills.

And the "university" has the same fine useless accreditation as Century University, Wisconsin International University, and more than 100 others.

 

Was WSUPS in any way affiliated with or related to the WASC and ABA accredited Western State University College of Law? www.wsulaw.edu

------------------
Sam C
www.uci.edu
UCI 2002
[email protected]
Confusion is just the path to insight and knowledge

 

No.

Rich Douglas