International University of Professional Studies

Anyone have some thoughts on the current quality/status/etc. of this outfit? Back in January 1999, Dr. Bear made some cautiously complimentary comments about the programs (on alt.education.distance), but nothing has come up since then. We have a local alumna, who seems to have had her PhD from IUPS at "tolerated" by the local state university (which hired her as an "adjunct faculty" member in psychology)--her accredited MA doubtlessly carried some weight. She states that the founder, Irv Katz, indicated to her that they were working on accreditation.

What I'm looking for is a DL program in the area of Buddhist Studies. Accreditation for the purpose of acceptance into academia (teaching, etc.) is not terribly important to me; however, accreditation for the purpose of ensuring a quality program would be.

Does anyone have some information or advice?

Matt

 

Jeffrey Brunton, the state consumer attorney in Hawaii who has been doing wonderful things in suing the many dreadful schools there, reported on this forum a few weeks ago that he was closing his file on IUPS because they are making a few changes which will bring them in compliance with Hawaii's school laws. I take it as a good sign that IUPS hired Doug Capogrossi (PhD from Cornell) as its president, after he rather abruptly left the presidency of Greenwich. Capogrossi seems to be sincere in his efforts, and well understands the accreditation scene. I think they have no hope of regional (the Western Association is especially difficult on nontraditional models) but DETC might listen to them if they dropped their doctoral programs.

Much depends on which level of degree you're seeking. I would not recommend an unaccredited school for an Associate's or Bachelor's, and rarely for a Master's. There are situations where an unaccredited doctorate could be something to consider, especially if it would not be used for academic purposes. But remember that there are places (such as the state of Oregon) where even casual use of an unaccredited degree subjects the user to both fine and imprisonment.

 

Thanks for the update, Dr. Bear! Is anybody out there offering something akin to "Buddhist Studies" via DL (MA-level or higher)?

Matt

 

Hi Matt -
The only place of which I'm aware that offers programs such as you've described is the California Institute of Integral Studies. They offer both Masters and Doctoral programs in areas such as "East/West Psychology," "Philosophy and Religion," "Social/Cultural Anthropology" and if you can't tweak one of those options to fit your needs they also offer an "Individualized Studies" option. It's a real RA school and if your wallet is fat enough it could be a good fit for you.
Jack

 

Absolutely! A few options:

Bukkyo University: Offers an MA in Buddhist studies by correspondence to Japanese residents; a variety of concentrations are available (Zen, Mahayana, and others). If you fire up a Japanese convenience address, they might be willing to let you have a go at it--and instruction is available in English.

Dharma Realms Buddhist Academy: Unaccredited, but legitimate, school offering master's programs in Buddhist studies and Buddhist translation studies.

Atlantic University: DETC-accredited school offering an MA in transpersonal studies that can, if memory serves, be tailored to Buddhist studies.

And then there's this, a complete international directory of Buddhist studies programs. I happen to know for a fact that several of the Australian schools mentioned have negotiated wholly nonresidential or low-residency doctorates in the past.

Best of luck to you! My own Ph.D. dissertation is likely to involve a heavy Buddhist studies component, so I've been researching this myself, trying to figure out what someone with an MA in Buddhist studies would ordinarily be expected to know (besides Pali and/or Tibetan, but I'm working on that).


Cheers,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press)
co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)

 

Yeah, what about the guy who was traveling through Oregon via the Interstate, and was pulled over by a state trooper. Thinking it was his drivers license, he accidently pulled out his wallet sized laminated Trinity C&U Ph.D. diploma---$5000 fine and 3 months hard labor.

Russell

 

Thanks for the info, Jack and Tom.

I had already contacted both Bukkyo and Dharma Realm. The former flatly stated that they will not deal with someone outside Japan, and will terminate a course if they discover that a student is (even with a Japanese "convenience" address). The latter is only three hours from me, but alas offers classes only during the weekdays (not an option for a working stiff). Atlantic does have a "sacred literature" concentration, which looks interesting at first glance--however, I keep remembering all those "Edgar Cayce Predicts" National Enquirer covers from the '60s and '70s...am I over-reacting here?

Anyway, your thoughts are appreciated! And Tom, regarding our previous "side" discussion, I received yet another message--this one rather threatening--from someone at Lampeter (they used what's termed an "anonymous" server, but made reference to the university)...turned the whole batch over to our federal law enforcement folks at that point (who doubtlessly are way too overloaded to get around to these minor items). Oh well....

Matt

 

The 100% distance MA in Humanities at Cal State U Dominguez Hills can be done with an emphasis (major) in philosophy (among other fields). When my wife did it, she was able to focus nine of her ten courses + her thesis on the area of her (then) interest, Kierkegaard and existentalism. Presumably the same could be done in Buddhist studies.

And there are those places, Union Institute prime among them, where the very short residency doctorate can be designed around almost any topic of interest.

John Bear

PS: FWIW, Marina says that if she were planning to do her PhD today, it would probably be in Buddhist studies with Alan Wallace at UC Santa Barbara. Residential only, however.

 

Soka University of America is a non-RA school that may offer DL degrees in Buddist studies. Check out thread started August 14, 2001.

 

The good news is that they offer both RA masters and Ph.D. programs specifically in Buddhist studies. Not only that, but I have met some of their faculty and they are good.

http://www.ciis.edu/graddegree/acsc.html

The bad news is that these programs are only offered on-campus in San Francisco, and aren't included among CIIS' limited DL offerings.

But more good news (for me at least) is that I live within commuting distance of these guys, and they are probably my #1 choice for further study at this point. (Although I would probably choose their Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness option.)

 

I am also curious about this school's program, particularly in Transpersonal Psychology. To answer a question below relating to Buddhist studies and psychology, I discovered San Diego University of Integral Studies has a doctorate in Transpersonal Psychology with an emphasis in Tibetan Buddhist Psychology. Meridian University also looked promising in this regard.

Coby

 

Who necromanced this eleven year old thread and why?

 

IUPS is unaccredited. Per the IUPS wesite, PhD tuition is $8575. Within this tuition range, a legitimately accredited PhD can be earned via some South African schools.

 

Zombie threads . . . arise from the dead you zombie threads . . . There are other, legitimate, options for transpersonal psychology degrees. If you repeat the correct incantations you may be sent mytical interweb links.

 

Thanks for tolerating my faux grumpiness.

 

During the 11 years of this thread's hibernation, IUPS was sued by the State of Hawaii, stipulated to final judgment and paid the penalty in full. Here's the complaint http://hawaii.gov/dcca/ocp/udgi/lawsuits/int_ups/intl_u_prof_studies_c.pdf and the final judgment: http://hawaii.gov/dcca/ocp/udgi/lawsuits/int_ups/intl_u_prof_studies_sj.pdf

Having complied, they're allowed to operate under Hawaii's newer rules for unaccreds - rules which have nothing to do with course content or academic standards. "Standards? We don't need no stinkin' standards!" :jester: As you are likely aware, this is State permission, not State approval.

End of story? Please?

Johann

 

Hopefully!