Liberian accreditation: some 'breakthrough' information

I have just spoken to a senior evaluator with a major credential evaluation service, about the claims of St. Regis, Adam Smith, Knightsbridge, etc., to be accredited, via the National Board of Education, by the Liberian Ministry of Education.

This person told me (I have not independently confirmed) that in Liberia, anything having to do with universities is done through the
Ministry of Higher Education, which is totally separate and distinct from the Ministry of Education.

The Ministry of Education, this person explained, deals only with kindergarten through high school level schools.

 

Isn't kindergarten the level of education offered by the institutions you mention, John?

 

Dr. Bear:

This Great News.

Also, I am pleased about Hawaii and stricter enforcement. What's going on in MO?

It is my belief, that the sooner these mills are driven out, the stronger legal, and yes, legitamate CA Appoved, and yes even WY Regulated Colleges can be.

 

breakthrough news

What exactly does this mean for St. Regis and their claims of accreditation?

Rafael

 

Liberia today. Ministry of Education workers haven't been paid for two years.

For more information on the current situation in Liberia, see this thread in Off-Topic Discussions.

 

When I did my "evaluation" a few months ago (as discussed in an earlier thread) they sent me an accreditation from the Ministry of Higher Education in .JPG. This accreditation is different than what is posted on SRU's website (I dont know why). So....it looks like your source was correct on that part, but was incorrect in that SRU DOES indeed have that. I would've attached the copy of the certification but the file size is too large.

Note: Don't flame, just merely stating facts and personal experience (as discussed in a previous thread) I can email the .JPG if anyone needs it, I didn't think I still had it but when I looked for it it indeed said "Higher" education.

 

Thanks for the chuckle

 

Bob Crisantes . . . I'd love to have a copy of that Liberian document. I will certainly share it with the credential evaluator who gave me this information. It will be intriguing to see what she will say after seeing it.

The fact remains that the only two legitimate schools that the St. Regis people offered as examples of those who accept their degree, the U of Connecticut and Vanguard U, both state clearly that they do not accept it.

John Bear
[email protected]

 

John, Sent...

 

The definition of degree mill is very "open". What do you call "WY regulated" colleges like KW others call "degree" mill. Take the example of this australian newspaper that calls your prestigious alma mateur "degree" mill, not even "unaccredited".


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/sectionindex2/0,5746,degreemills%5E%5ETEXT,00.html


What is the border line between "degree mill" and "unaccredited" ?

 

RFValve writes:

> What is the border line between "degree mill" and "unaccredited"?

It's libelous to call something a "diploma mill" unless you have proof. "Unaccredited" is a lot easier to prove.

 

debate moved

The debate about Kennedy-Western has been moved here.

 

Hasn't Liberia enough tsores without that?

 

In Russian Federation used to be 2 Ministries of education.
One was General Ministry of Education - handling preschool to
high school education.

The second was Ministry of Higher and Professional education - Post secondary, Vocational etc.

In 1996 they were combined in to ONE -
The Ministry of General and Professional Education.

The reason I mentioned this is because a NACES member eval agency was questioning why certificate of accreditation of MYFO
was issued by Ministry of General and Professional education and not the Ministry of Higher Education.

Today in Russia it's simple - Ministry of Education Russian Federation
Than the state comity on Higher education.

This issues can be confusing.

 

Subject: Re: Saint Regis University and Abraham Lincoln
Newsgroups: alt.education.distance
From: [email protected] (Mark Israel)
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: 19 May 2003 03:04:10 GMT

In article <[email protected]>, John Bear <[email protected]> wrote:

> Mark Israel wrote, in part:
>
>> On its Website, Saint Regis University mentions Abraham Lincoln
>> prominently. It says, "Abraham Lincoln became a lawyer by taking a
>> course by mail."
>
> That's interesting, only in that it is yet another lie they are putting out
> there. Lincoln never took a mail order course. In his time, and indeed through
> the 1940s, most people became lawyers by studying law books on their own, then
> taking the bar. You can still do this in California.

We haven't heard much from the Saint Regis people lately, but
they are reading this newsgroup. The Website now says:

"Education outside a traditional classroom has a long and honored
history. Abraham Lincoln, despite having little formal education
triumphed with determination. From his learning through independent
study, reading borrowed books and newspapers Lincoln applied for and
received his law license and went on to become 16th President... of
the United States."

It flashes by a bit fast to read so much text.

Under "Accreditation", it says: "St. Regis is FULLY ACCREDITED
by the Education Minister of Liberia AND the Higher Education
Commission of the Education Ministry of Liberia, which grants
recognition to post-secondary education institutions in Liberia
including University of Liberia and Cuttington University."

That capitalized "AND" indicates they're very much aware of us.

 

Mark: yeah, right. Notice that they don't mention the other legit tertiary institutions which have not been named on this board, just UL and CC. Off-topic, I guess, but here are Ruud Lubbers' comments on President Charles Ghankay Taylor:

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/weather/5865943.htm

 

Whether they've been "approved" by one ministry or two, a colleague-- familiar with Monrovia, or at least what's left of Monrovia-- took a ride and was unable to find any indication that Saint Regis has a physical presence in the city. The Liberian nationals he's asked-- academics who have legitimate credentials and associations with UL-- have, likewise, never heard of them.

I stand by my earlier prediction-- having gotten as much mileage and income out of Liberian "Flag of Convenience" ship registrations as they could, entreprenurial-minded folks in appropriate government posts have moved into the "Accreditation of Convenience" business.

 

Given the fact that St. Regis' apologists claim that the "university" is physically located in Liberia, the US State Department's recently-raised Travel Warning for Liberia might make interesting reading.

http://travel.state.gov/liberia_warning.html

Our St Regis administrators sure must be intrepid. If they go to these lengths to obtain "accreditation", all I can say is that those regional accreditors must be really tough customers.

 

Liberia is also in HUGE arrears to the International Postal Union, the body that makes international delivery of the mails possible. The result? Transit countries and common carriers refuse to carry Liberia-bound mail.

In conjunction with the power and telephone outages, it must make correspondence courses a REAL challenge.

 

Uncle Janko wrote:

> Notice that they don't mention the other legit tertiary
> institutions which have not been named on this board, just UL
> and CC.

What others?

"My information indicates that there are two national academic bodies in Liberia authorized to accredit educational institutions: the Ministry of Education and the Liberian National Commission for Unesco. There are only 2 institutions recognized by these bodies as legitimate: University of Liberia and Cuttington University College. I also have an e-mail from an educational advising assistant at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia that the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Univ. has the approval of the Ministry of Education to operate in Liberia."
-- http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=3EB1A178.18938E0B%40ursa.net