De-Evolution of an Unaccredited school

A Question....


Has there recently been a University, Unaccredited but legitimate, that de-evolved into a diploma mill, or visa versa (I know there has, but any recently).


Thanks

 

What about KW?

 

This would presuppose that KW was at some point in history legitimate. I think that some would argue that has never been the case.


Tom Nixon

 

Your original question was whether a legitimate school had de-evolved (is that a real word?) into a mill. In the case of Kennedy-Western (K-W), I don't think they've ever changed either their degree requirements or their business model, so I don't think you could say that K-W has "de-evolved".

One example I can think of is Columbia Pacific University. They were once a pioneer in DL, and many thought they would go on to get RA. Needless to say, they never did, and subsequently lost their California approval and they were basically shut down by the State of California for being that "M" word.

On the other side, I can think of 2 schools (Columbia Southern University & Andrew Jackson University) that were once very questionable (some called them degree mills), yet went on to gain legitimate accreditation (DETC).

 

Bruce has suggested Columbia Pacific.

I'll suggest Greenwich.

Actually, I'd question whether either of them ever turned into full-frontal degree mills. But both of them certainly devolved to the point where they were rather discredited and pretty much don't exist any longer.

More generally, part of the problem with many small non-accredited "universities" is that they are proprietorships. They have owners whose personalities are often indistinguishable from that of their school. Unlike more legitimate universities, these places never seem to develop an institutional identity of their own.

They are very vulnerable to bad management.

The officers of conventional universities serve an institution that transcends any single individual. But the proprietors of these odd little non-accredited schools are the institution.

 

Recent? These things seem to take some time, so I doubt recent examples are readily available. (It also depends on how one defines "recent.")

Clayton University is a terrific example, however.