Is this also a degree mill ? American Century University Its written "American Century University is licensed by the Higher Education Department of the State of New Mexico located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A."
This institution was known as Century University, although licensed by the state is not accredited by any agency recognized by the US Dept of Education.
But an institution which is approved by State, has any credibility ? Is it worth to have a degree of them or its just like a paper from degree mill ?
Well, this is a red flag - The A.C.I. Accrediting Commission has not requested a listing nor is it recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. This concerns me - Student can apply for Bachelor/Master/Doctoral triple degree program. For further information consult the Catalog. Lastly, look at the picture of Dr. Smrcka. That should scare anyone!
The state of New Mexico has made clear that (1) they have been grandfathered in as a state-approved school, but (2) they would not have qualified for new approval. They have long been one of very few secular schools accredited by the dreadful ACI.
Wow! That is scary! You'd think in this day and age they could afford a digital camera and take a new picture. It looks like his picture was cropped out of another...
Well, if they have been grandfathered by State of Mexico, it still means that they are an approved university. The question remains about their degree vailidity, whether its legal / illegal ?
Since the school is apparently operating legally, it means that it's unlikely that the Justice Department or state Attorney General will attempt to close them based on criminal misconduct. That doesn't mean that a student or graduate can't sometimes find themselves in trouble for using the degree. State laws vary on this issue. There are some good unaccredited schools. (But fewer than in past decades since many recognized accrediting bodies will now examine distance education schools.) You might consider buying a copy of Bear's Guide.
Grandfathering does not really mean much. The State of New Mexico could change its law at any time - most likely giving Century a period to either gain recognised accreditation or else shut down. This scenario recently happened in Wyoming.
They claim to have school buildings with regular onsite classes: http://acuniversity.edu/index.php?page=Locations What's up with the weird faculty pictures? http://acuniversity.edu/index.php?page=aa The school is not "fake" but substandard. The main problem is the price, it is too much money. With what they charge it would be better for a student to go to Weston Distance Learning or Penn Foster, both of which are accredited. For a college like this I would not pay more than $125 per course, but that is not the price.
