How to start a Online University ?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by manjuap, Aug 5, 2003.

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  1. manjuap

    manjuap New Member

    What does it take to start a Un-accredited (to be RA)(not a MILL) Online University in terms of money,people etc? Just curious !:cool:
     
  2. roysavia

    roysavia New Member

    It takes a lot of resources to establish a school. Facilities, faculty, programs, a highly detailed prospectus for each course, strict requirements (bylaws and procedures), working capital and cash flow abilities to fund the operation not to mention a good marketing ploy to attract students.
    Diploma mills don`t have any of these requirements. They don`t require programs or academic requirements. Degrees are distributed as soon as the credit card clears the bank.

    It takes an enormous amount of energy and commitment to start up a school. Only a few make it to RA.
     
  3. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    The biggest trick has to be to offer a serious academic program while unaccredited and yet attract enough students to get accredited.

    1) Rent a broom closet in Wyoming.

    2) Hire a full time empoyee (minimum wage)

    3) Advertise for adjunct faculty. Hire them all on a per student basis. R/A doctorates only.

    4) Develop courses. A course consists of a 2 page assignment with 3 term papers and an assigned text.

    5) Obtain a Wyoming license.

    6) Copy the websites of schools you like.

    7) Print the fanciest 28 page catalog on the shiniest paper possible.

    8) Register multiple logins from different addresses at degreeinfo and start seriously discussing the benefits of the new school. Hire RJT to shill. Do not hire the Berne guys.

    9) Remember that promotion is much more important than the product.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 5, 2003
  4. roysavia

    roysavia New Member

    ........however should a civil war break out in Wyoming, your school immediately becomes GAAP accredited and does not require CHEA or RA......and you can use the title of "doctor" as soon as the check clears the bank.
     
  5. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    10) Start marketing in Asia.

    11) Initially do not be picky about transcripts and grant generous transfer credit.

    12) Do not do any degree mill stuff like life experience credit or claiming bogus accreditation.

    11) If all goes well work toward accreditation in about 3-5 years.
     
  6. manjuap

    manjuap New Member

    1. Is it possible to get a .edu before accreditation?
    2. Which one of the 6 RA's easy to deal with?
     
  7. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    1) No

    2) Only the North Central Assoc. has seen fit to accredit fully distance schools. Wyoming - bingo.

    Other states may also have easy licensing and be NCA but I am not sure.

    Maybe you can start on a shoestring but before accreditation there would be a whole lot of requirements to meet.
     
  8. David Boyd

    David Boyd New Member

    A shareholder of an RA accredited distance learning school told me recently the school burned approximately $1,200,000 in cash before they were accredited. Taking into account the cash reserves required by the accrediting body, I wouldn’t attempt to start such a school with less than $2,000,000.
     
  9. roysavia

    roysavia New Member

    If you want an example of a regionally accredited "cash cow" just look at UofP.
     
  10. David Boyd

    David Boyd New Member

    1. Yes, but it's not easy and will cost upwards of $25,000. (I know the official answer is "No" but it can be done without breaking any laws or rules.)

    2. NCA is the most experienced in distance learning of the regional bodies and, from my somewhat limited experience , the easiest to deal with. Their staff, along with the DETC staff, is excellent.
     
  11. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    .edu

    Forgot - buy one from a defunct degree mill.
     
  12. manjuap

    manjuap New Member

    Then will be stuck with that name.edu
     
  13. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    I am sure a school could change its name under grandfathering.

    I am not sure if you actually have to buy the defunct school or just a the name.
     
  14. gpmax

    gpmax New Member

    opening a university: ABC?

    Well, we're also a group of curious people, and we want to open an university, but the thing is that most "consultants" in this field "advice" for having their cut, or for a huge pile of dollars... and thats only if they see the $$$ in the middle. No one really seems interested in opening an (online) university for the purpose FREE EDUCATION (free as a free beer and free as in freedom, as we might say in IT).

    We're serious and we want to get through the whole story... so that's why I would like to ask you again, what should we do to have a real university (not a diploma mill)

    I guess that we could not only avoid the scams, honest help to honest people usually works for the best.

    So anyone that would like to help us to start this adventure, please... help us!

    ps: I could personally say that many so-called universities, with all the paperwork in the world, well... Coursera, Udacity and EdX seems (way more) more serious than them! :p
     
  15. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Wow. This thread is almost 10 years old! Dennis Ruhl?
     
  16. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Who is "we"?
     
  17. jam937

    jam937 New Member

    Start by getting ACE or NCCRS certified and offer some courses that way. Students could get college credit at RA schools. I think there is a huge market for these type of courses. I'm not sure what it takes in time and money to get ACE or NCCRS approved. Anyone know?
     
  18. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    The assumption is that the new school is focused on the American market. If that's not the case it's probably not worth it, but if so, I agree this is worth considering.

    Based on what? Sure, they get mentioned here on this forum a lot, but this is a tiny microcosm of the actual market for higher education.

    ACE knows. On this page about their process, they list an email address from which to get more information: [email protected]
     
  19. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I'm still stuck on the question that Steve asked, "Who is 'we'?"

    Whoever you are and who your friends are you are going to have to have a VERY polished proposal in order to get a legion of other professionals to join you FOR FREE in order to be able to even begin this process. But you're actually planning on offering this "service" to others for free and so this means that whoever signs on with you is agreeing to work for free FOREVER?

    So when your servers go down where will the money come from to fix/replace them. Where will the money for postage come from? You will need at least some office space. You will need people to answer the phones. When one of your professors becomes ill and can't finish the course, who will take her place. Even in Utopia people need to eat.

    I admire the attitude and hope that someone succeeds in such an endeavor someday (see Nations) but I have to agree with what another poster said, if you're coming to us with questions then it's probably a good indicator that you're out of your depth. If I were in your position and had your goal then probably the first thing I'd do is burn through a Project Management degree/cert. I know I'm coming across as negative but to me it seems more like a realistic assessment. No one is doing you any favors by blowing rainbows up your butt.
     
  20. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    When it comes to higher education, most people are focused on free as in costless, but there is an Open Educational Resources movement of people who are interested in free as in unencumbered, such as the OpenCourseWare Consortium of schools like MIT, Johns Hopkins, Rice, and many other schools that have released versions of their courses for somewhat free reuse, or like the much ballyhooed Khan Academy.

    That's true, but Coursera and Udacity have investor money and were founded by people well connected within academia and the media. EdX is basically a joint venture between MIT and Harvard. That sort of thing helps!

    -=Steve=-
     

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