Article to share: State Chases Down Unlicensed Colleges, Institutions http://www.ctnow.com/hc-fauxcolleges0220.artfeb20.story Sometimes, Schools Don't Make The Grade State Chases Down Unlicensed Colleges, Institutions By ROBERT A. FRAHM Courant Staff Writer February 20 2003 In her job at the state Department of Higher Education, Carolyn Benvenuti knows about most colleges in the state, but had never heard of the one advertised last summer on a billboard in Groton. "I'm driving by, and I see a big sign that says `Coastline Community College,'" said Benvenuti. After she reported the advertisement to her supervisors, the department added Coastline to a long and growing list of unauthorized colleges and occupational schools in Connecticut - ranging from the United Christian Bible College in Bridgeport to Almeda University, described by one department official as a "drop box at Mail Boxes Etc. in Cromwell." The department has sent letters to 167 unauthorized colleges and unlicensed occupational schools in the past year, ordering them to stop calling themselves colleges, offering degrees or advertising as higher education institutions. "We think this is a record," Higher Education Commissioner Valerie F. Lewis told the Board of Governors for Higher Education Wednesday. No one is sure why the numbers of unapproved schools are up, but Lewis said it may be attributable to heavy demand for skilled workers or the collapse of many dot-com businesses whose operators are "seeking other things to do." The board licenses public and private higher education institutions and their programs throughout the state but often finds schools operating without proper credentials - sometimes through tips or complaints from the public, inquiries from employers or even billboards on the side of buildings. The schools often cease operations, change their names or their advertisements or, in some cases, seek proper credentials after receiving notification from the department. "Sometimes we must play policeman on behalf of the state," Lewis said. The department reviews credentials of colleges and occupational schools to protect consumers against fraud, including organizations that churn out phony diplomas, said Jonas Zdanys, the department's chief academic officer. "If you have a professional degree issued by an institution that's fraudulent, what's the value of the degree?" he said. The issue "seems to be a national phenomenon," Zdanys said, citing a recent investigation by the U.S. Government Accounting Office, which tracked down resumes of people who had received degrees from diploma mills, including one called Degrees-R-Us, operated by a disbarred lawyer in Las Vegas, who ran the business out of his home. In Connecticut, some of the organizations cited had characterized themselves improperly or had not obtained authorization to offer degrees, according to a report by the higher education department. The department, for example, objected to the name of the International College of Cosmetology in Wethersfield, saying the organization could not call itself a college. The report said the institution changed its name, signs, business cards and advertising, now calling itself The International Institute of Cosmetology. As for Coastline Community College, which was advertised on a billboard near the U.S. Navy's submarine base in Groton, the woman operating the college planned to offer information regarding educational programs to potential students, usually military personnel, according to a letter from the woman's lawyer. The lawyer said her client was unaware she had violated state law and had stopped advertising or offering college courses in Connecticut. The department also cited Adam Smith University in Wilton for offering unauthorized degrees in online computer programs and worked with the secretary of state to prevent authentication of Adam Smith degrees for several students from China. The school removed all references to Connecticut from its website, the report said. After being contacted by the department, another group, Vision International University, withdrew its affiliation with three Connecticut organizations: Ministry of Fire in West Hartford, Community Tabernacle School of Ministry in Stamford and Ebeneezer Gospel Assembly Foundation Bible Institute in Bridgeport. The state's list of unauthorized schools also included one major U.S. university - the University of Florida, which failed to get licenses for an audiology program in Hartford and pharmacy programs in Hartford and New Haven, Zdanys said. He said the university is seeking licenses to operate in Connecticut. A spokesman for the University of Florida Health Science Center confirmed late Wednesday afternoon that the university refers to those programs on its website, but said he was not certain of the status of the programs. Copyright 2003, Hartford Courant http://ctnow.com <http://ctnow.com/>;
FYI: Related Issue SPECIAL NOTICE From NAME: National Association of Multicultural Education (NAME) is receiving numerous inquiries regarding certain online, internet or distance learning educational institutions which appear, on their websites, to claim accreditation through NAME. NAME neither accredits nor endorses any educational institution. Any claims to this effect are not valid. We have requested that those institutions remove the NAME logo and information from their websites. Please report any claims of endorsement or accreditation to [email protected]. According to NAME, the ones who have done this and blatantly ignore cease and dessist requests are: Almeda College and University - http://www.almedacollege.com/index.htm Americus University - http://www.americusuniversity.com/ KKA
Great post! BTW, Jonas Zdanys, the CT education panjandrum, is a distinguished translator of Lithuanian poetry and a poet in his own right as well.
It's an interesting article -- but it is not a good idea to post long copyrighted material without permission.
Re Copyright Hi, I would think "Fair Use" can be invoked in this instance, since this is an educational forum. KKA
Re: Re Copyright While "Fair Use" is difficult to define and apply, posting an entire work without permission on a public forum probably doesn't apply. I don't know how this is an "educational forum." It is a commercial forum about education. Even still, if you took an entire article and copied it for all your students in a class, you might still find yourself outside "fair use." But again, this ain't that.
