Actual size of lots of unaccredited schools (some clues, anyway)

I recently had the opportunity to spend a little time with one of the smaller on-line resume services, which lets one search several million unedited resumes that job-seekers have posted. I used the opportunity to search for the use, on resumes, of about 80 schools that do not have generally accepted accreditation. I found some real surprises there -- some in the direction of schools we spend a lot of time fretting about here that had very few mentions, and others with a lower profile and a large number of people putting the degree on their resume.

The number of resumes searched represents about 4% or 5% of the American work force. Does this mean that the actual numbers of degree-holders would be twenty to twenty-five times this? Or less, because these people are more likely to be unemployed? Or more because these people are less likely to put their alma maters on their resume, or to use on-line (thus much more public) services? I cannot know. Probably a fine thesis or dissertation topic.

Of course I also cannot know how closely these numbers correlate with the current size of the schools, but it seems safe to suggest there is a positive correlation. After the non-GAAP schools, I give the numbers for a few RA ones with distance programs. And, as some sort of possible benchmark, there were 1,028 with Harvard and 779 with Stanford.

Finally, there are clearly some numbers that would have been much higher when the schools in question were active (e.g., LaSalle, Columbia State, San Moritz).

Thoughts and comments will be most welcome.

Number of resumes listing each school
Non-GAAP Schools

Almeda 1,139
Kennedy-Western 970
LaSalle 428
Trinity College and University 388
California Coast 356
Lacrosse 280
Harrington 267
Barrington 259
Hamilton 227
Canyon 216
Preston 182
Pacific Western 163
Columbus 147
Northfield 147
Wexford 142
Columbia State 111
Century 78
Suffield 69
Columbia Pacific 68
St. Regis 67
Chadwick 61
Lexington 61
Greenwich 60
Kensington 59
Brentwick 55
Shaftewbury 55
Parkwood 49
Shelbourne 41
Thornewood 41
Ravenhurst 36
San Moritz 36
Berne 35
Glencullen 30
Rushmore 30
Strassford 29
Palmers Green 27
Kingsfield 22
SCUPS 20
Breyer State 16
Ravenscroft 13
Landford 12
Robert Kennedy 11
Knightsbridge 8
Ratchford 7
Wiltshire 7
Universal Life 7
Dorchester 6
Warnborough 6
Ashwood 5
Bedford 5
Carrington 5
Western States 5
American Global 4
Fairfax 4
Lafayette 4
American Coastline 3
Devonshire 3
Stanton 2
Washington International 2
Carlingford 1
Novus 1
Robertstown 1
Columbia Commonwealth 0
Parkhurst 0

GAAP schools
Excelsior/Regents/USNY 3,008
Nova Southeastern 1,734
Edison 1,175
Capella 549
Charter Oak 267
Walden 108
Touro University 42
UNISA 35
Jones International 13
Northcentral 6

 

And the winner is Almeda. A sleeper.

Raising the profile like our St Regis friends is probably counter-productive.

 

FTC 1:03-CV-OOO21-RMC skews the distribution

Since a number of "schools" were closed by the FTC last spring (see the list at http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/oregon_north_dakota/index_or.html#FTC ) their graduates may be less likely to continue to list their degrees.

Of course, that would be a sign of intelligence so there's no telling.

G

 

Very interesting data, thank you.

One possible wrinkle in the analysis is that it seems common for someone sporting one bogus degree to claim other bogus degrees in addition. Depending how the searches were done, this might skew the overall conclusions if multiple bogus degrees proved to be significant within the population of bogus degree holders. For example trying to estimate the percent resumes listing these type of degrees.

 

Atlantic International University is missing from the list of non-GAAP schools. I was once a student of this institution before learning about regional accreditation and GAAP.
I earned a doctorate from this institution. However I would never place this degree on my resume or use the title of "doctor".

The funny thing about this experience with AIU is that I managed to get my employer to pay for 70% of the tuition.

 

It seems very common for employers to pay for degrees that they wouldn't actually accept for a new hire. I know that it happens in my company because the tuition reimbursement program only requires the immediate manager's approval. I believe that this is a common situation which the degree mills love to take advantage of in their advertising.

 

Excelsior claims more than 100,000 graduates and has 3,008 people listed.

California Coast has cumulatively had 30,000 students and a guess maybe 15,000 graduates.

These numbers would be something around 3 % of total graduates in the last 30?? years.

This would place the number of Almeda "graduates" in the 40,000 range. If they charge $1,000 per degree, this is $40,000,000. This is scary.

Pardon the bonehead math.

 

Thanks for doing this John, it's fascinating. I get the feeling that lots of valuable information could be extracted from these online resumes.

OK, here's some thoughts and comments.

Yeah, who woulda thought of Almeda?

I think that Degreeinfo responds both to those questionable schools that people try to promote here and to schools with unusual gimmicks, usually schemes to pass as accreditation-equivalent (St. Regis et. al.)

I don't know either. I'd speculate that questionable degrees are overrepresented on resume services because their holders probably are having greater difficulty finding jobs. I'm less sure whether the questionable degree is the cause of that difficulty or the effect.

I wonder what meaning enrollment figures have for degree mills. Perhaps these numbers correlate better with a McDonald's-style total number of degrees sold.

I'd speculate that these schools would be underrepresented both because their graduates would probably be more likely to be employed and because they would probably be less likely to use online resume services. Stanford graduates are probably more likely than Almeda graduates to be hired through inside contacts and recommendations.

 

Their annual revenues are probably in the $50 - 60K. I wouldn't be surprised to see Almeda in the million-dollar category (if all revenues have been taken into account since their inception).

 

That a totally fraudulent, non-university that has bounced through four states (NJ, CT, FL, MS) and that started life with a grandiose, but false, claim to affiliation with National University, and has bogus accreditation through Trinity C&U's AOAEx agency could do that is remarkable.

At least they should have sufficient cash and experience to locate a new mailbox in another lenient state should Mississippi crack down.

 

That's where injunctive relief comes in. A fine means little but being SHUT DOWN is another matter altogether.

I wonder whether these folks pay their taxes??

 

Since we're on the subject of cash cows, does any one know which non-GAAP university or diploma mill made the most money?
(Other than Columbia State University)

If these bogus institutions are raking in this kind of cash, why should they care if the local state government sues them? They probably pay their fines and legal expenses out of petty cash.

 

Allen Ezell (ex-FBI) is estimating that the Romanian operation has taken in more than $400 million over 7 or 8 years.

 

Another point to note is that some of the people who posted their resumes are actually employed. Why would they post their resume on monster.com if they are really employed? The answer is simple. They are looking for more money, better job satisfaction, more prestigious position, etc.

Ike Okonkwo, Ph.D.

(whose resume is on monster.com despite being gainfully employed)

 

!!!

Regards,

Michael Lloyd
Mill Creek, Washington USA

 

The Columbian drug cartels are probably jealous!!