Kennedy-Western University

Can anyone please comment on the validity of this school? A resume came across my desk with a Ph.D. from this school.

 

HA!! Is it accredited from a real source - NO. I contacted them and questioned their quality. They started to yell at me. They have moved the school several times due to changing laws (I think I remember that right) in how they could operate. You must ask yourself why they can not offer degrees in all states...RED FLAG.

 

Kennedy-Western University is an unaccredited school, but not a Diploma Mill School. The school was recently changed into Warren National University. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_National_University

The degre is illegal in certain states. The decission is your!!!

 

Ask for his dissertation.

 

Or simply ask why it isn't in the UMI database. Then turn on the music so you can fully appreciate the tap-dancing.

 

As entertaining as that would be, I submit that it would be more fun to actually lay eyes on it.

 

I concede the point, good sir.

If it actually exists, that is.

 

Using a Kennedy-Western degree in Texas is illegal and a Class B Misdemeanor. Check out http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/aar/privateinstitutions/notx.cfm

 

The was one time, Kennedy-Western University changed the name into Warren National University, and applied for DETC accreditation. What was happened?

 

They were the 'poster child' for so much that is wrong, at the Senator Susan Collins degree mill hearings in Washington a few years ago. They were featured in the newspaper and network evening news at that time; worth checking out.

While operated from California for 20+ years, they were never permitted to accept California residents . . . even when they used convenience addresses in Idaho, Hawaii, and eventually Wyoming, where they are now operating as Warren National University.

On the other hand, they claim, probably correctly, that many thousands of people are successfully using their degree. Oh, and many thousands of employers and other gatekeepers don't subscribe to this forum.

 

Randell: "They started to yell at me"

John: Did they really? As in very loud noises made into your ear? In all the years I've been immersed in this field, I've only been really yelled at only three times . . . one of them by K-W founder Paul Saltmann, who was not thrilled when I questioned the source of his own doctorate.* Perhaps yelling is the official corporate policy there.

_________
* Indiana Northern University, which was run from a dairy farm in Gas City, Indiana.

 

Kennedy-Western University was started under California's very lax laws regarding university start-ups back in the early 1980's. IIRC, they did enroll students from California for several years under that basis. However, when California began requiring all unaccredited schools to go through a slightly more rigorous approval process, many such schools left the state. K-WU did not, instead moving their state-level authorization several times (as each state adopted more rigorous standards), as John indicates. (Operating from Southern California, but without state approval, K-WU could not then enroll students from California--a serious black mark.)

TEKMAN: "Kennedy-Western University is an unaccredited school, but not a Diploma Mill School."

Me: This is in the eye of the beholder and depends on what one considers a diploma mill. Kennedy-Western has always offered some instruction and required some work for their degrees, but their need to "move" so many times--finding permissive and lax state standards each time--gives one some indication of their lack of quality.

Recently, Kennedy-Western changed their name to Warren National University and has given some indication of their intent to pursue regional accreditation. If successful, it would establish this new version of Kennedy-Western as a legitimate and recognized university. But there is a looooooooong way between expressing interest in accreditation and actually accomplishing it. These developments, of course, have nothing to do with the original question regarding the validity of K-WU and a Ph.D. it issued.

The K-WU Ph.D. has the same amount of academic legitimacy as one written by one's self. Can someone do worthy research without the trappings of a university? Sure, but that doesn't make someone a Ph.D. And adding the trappings of Kennedy-Western University doesn't improve that situation one iota. I would equate a Ph.D. from K-WU with one from Knightsbridge University. I would be interested in hearing from the OP regarding his take on a Ph.D. from that "school."

 

Thank you everyone. I think I get the idea about K-W.

 

First they were rude when I asked why they could not accept students from certain states. When I challenged their response and told them I did not believe each state had the “option” to accept an accredited degree (or whatever hog-wash they tried to feed me) they started to yell at me and ask me if I was serious about my education or was I calling to waste their time. They went on to say a serious school like K-W was just not for me…oh one more thing – when I told them that Capella would not accept their bachelors degree for entrance into a masters program, they told me that I should investigate Capella because something does not sound right and maybe they (Capella) are a degree mill!!!

 

I agree with Dan - I'd want to see the dissertation. I remember there was a person on a discussion board who was all gung ho about his Breyer State Doctorate. When asked about presenting a copy - the tap dance began.

Shawn

 

I personally consider KWU a diploma mill. A PhD from KWU I would consider more worthless than one of their other degrees. Perhaps that is just a personal hang up though since I consider almost all unaccredited doctorates to be bogus? KWU/WNU is unusual in the field of diploma mills because they do require some work to graduate. From the GAO investigation discussed, it appears that they require maybe a quarter or a third of the effort (at most) of a standard degree at least for their Master's which was the subject in the investigation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_National_University
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04771t.pdf

They have applied for regional accreditation but there's indications, like their advertising, that they have not fully tightened up their academic policies to more closely conform to standard. So I'm watching the results with interest.

 

FWIW - here is the link to the FAQs from WNU's website. Check out what WNU has to say concerning KWU degrees for admission if/when WNU becomes accredited:

http://www.wnuedu.com/PublicAccreditationNotice-faq.asp

Shawn

 

Fascinating FAQs. The attorneys must have worked hard. Highlights:

Q: If WNU becomes accredited, can unaccredited KWU/WNU degree holders get a new diploma reflecting WNU's newly accredited status?
A: No.

Q: If WNU becomes accredited, can unaccredited KWU/WNU degree holders be admitted to its accredited degree programs?
A: Not necessarily. Additional coursework may be required.

Q: If WNU becomes accredited, will my unaccredited KWU/WNU coursework transfer?
A: Not necessarily. A review of the unaccredited coursework will be required.

Q: Do these points suggest that my unaccredited KWU/WNU degree is crappy?
A: Of course not!

 

Ha! I especially like the last one. What kind of a legitimate school would even bother to post such FAQ's?

I can't imagine a regional accrediting agency accrediting an operation like this.

 

Actually, I think it shows that WNU is very serious about getting regional accreditation. They are required to make a "public accreditation notice", with a "call for third party comment" as part of the accreditation process -- and that's exactly what they've done.

Furthermore, they've recognized that the accreditation of an institution with a long history of unaccredited operation is likely to raise questions, among alumni, students, and interested third parties. And they've squarely addressed those questions, in a more or less clear and comprehensive manner.

The accreditation FAQs implicitly acknowledge that Kennedy-Western credits and degrees are substandard relative to those of accredited programs, since they explicitly state that WNU may not be able to accept KW credits or degrees after accreditation. The FAQs also explicitly acknowledge that KW degrees are legally worthless in some jurisdicitions, and are likely to stay that way even if WNU achieves accreditation.

It must have been painful to make such acknowledgements after years (decades?) of defending their unaccredited programs. But WNU appears to be biting the bullet. They wouldn't be doing this, unless they were committed to getting RA.