in interdisciplinary studies, seems to have stolen much of the procedure and policies (albeit much simplified) from the Union Institute, minus about $3,500 per quarter in tuition... and minus any decent accreditation. The school is predominantly a health and fitness training school centered on new age, alternative health. But the individual interdisciplinary PhD seems to be there only to make them some $$. If you read their literature, you and the mentor PhD (you find him/her) do all the work, and the mentor can even be paid by OPI for doing so. They offer no courses, you have to team up with your mentor to make a plan of study, a transcript, and a Project Demonstrating Excellence (dissertation), an obvious steal from UIU. All their programs have a fixed tuition, accept the PhD, which is $350 a month, with almost no services provided by the school. The school is CA approved, but this program seems an obvious grab for easy cash. An e-mail reply from them told me any subject could be explored in their PhD, not just health. It seems too polished to be new, maybe they had another name in the past... Is it just soft CA DL academics, a real scam, or real innovation? see: www.opi.edu
The only small reddish flag I see, in a brief look, is that the president's Ph.D. is from his own school.
In my younger days as the transportation officer for a reserve army unit, I needed a military drivers license. I asked the squadron leader to grade my exam. He told me to grade it and he signed it off. I passed the first time.
I think the hardest part of this program would be finding a PhD non-attached to this school willing to "sponsor" you. I suppose the school may have a list of of willing docs. There are only three or four professors listed on the school website.
all criticism aside, there probably is a market for more (affordable) Distance learning PhD/DA/D Litt programs in Interdisciplinary or even multudisciplinary studies... I like the looks of Union, but I keep kicking around the numbers... sixty grand in four years... And I still need to buy books...
