It's the "world's biggest distance learning university" and I'd never heard of it!!

Comes now San Francisco International University,
http://sfiu-edu.com

The website claims over 250,000 degrees awarded. The address in San Francisco is apparently an answering service. The fax number is in Los Angeles. The website is registered to Darla Beal in Pennsylvania. They are most definitely not accredited or California-approved.

Same inquirer asks about San Francisco University, emphatically not University of San Francisco, and I can find no trace of that.

I plan to go to the San Francisco address later this week, but, as always, would love to have help from people more skilled in internet researching than I.

 

It looks to be as illegal as my... never mind.

I'm a old San Franciscan and have never heard of this wonder. If all the quarter million graduates are San Franciscans, then that's 1/3 of the city. Why didn't any of them tell me???

I did a Google search (naturally) and got six hits. (250,000 graduates? Six hits??) Besides the SFIU site, there was something about spyware, a web hosting service and what looked like a defunct porn site caled Wildwives. (Typical University of California footprint.)

If it's there, it's buried among thousands of hits about this or that legitimate San Francisco university.

I did find this, but I have no idea if it's what you are referring to:

http://www.sanfranciscouniversity.com/

It seems to be some kind of a career counselor doing business under the 'San Francisco University' trademark.

Seems cool enough, except that his 'about' page says that 'San Francisco University' is a consortium of 150 universities specializing in distance learning. It's an exceedingly mixed bag, ranging from excellent schools to abject degree mills.

http://www.sanfranciscouniversity.com/dtpages/aboutus.html

 

It looks like his list of universities comes from Yahoo: http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Distance_Learning/Colleges_and_Universities/?o=a

 

And at about $12,000 per degree, that's...................WOW!

 

John,

Here is some information surrounding the building, office and occupants that share/d the same suite:

Suite 308 is approximately 4,538 sq ft with 5 offices and cost $2,400 per month.

Here is a picture of the building.

http://www.hanshansson.com/listing_detail.php?listing_id=80

Hawaii Chamber of Commerce of Northern California
1375 Sutter Street, Suite 308
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 845-5196
President - Eric Tao

AGI Capital Group Incorporated
1375 Sutter St Ste 308
San Francisco, CA 94109-5466
(415) 775-7005

Conestoga Services Corp
1375 Sutter St. Ste 308
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 673-0516

Sweet and Baker Insurance Brokers Inc.
1375 Sutter St. Ste 308
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415)885-5300

Under the disclaimer, the site states:

"San Francisco International University is not accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Secretary of Education. Students who wish to transfer credits to an accredited institution or seek a position that requires an accredited degree should be aware that in most cases our degree will not be accepted. This fact should be considered when deciding on our educational programs."

Looks like another winner. Let us know what you find out during your visit.

Tom

 

Just FYI, there was a University of San Francisco in Florida for about a year. They closed up and their students were transferred to their mother school, Universidad de San Francisco in Quito, Equador.

 

Gee! I wonder if the real University of San Francisco knew about this outfit.

 

Re: It's the "world's biggest distance learning university" and I'd never heard of it

Just don't try going in without any back-up.

 

San Francisco traffic was hopeless this morning and I didn't have time to visit the umcampus of SFIU. I will try again next week.

(It's been quite a while since the concept 'umcampus' was introduced. It derived from an article about how some young people are introducing their lover to their parents as "This is my, um, friend. Suggested that "umfriend" was becoming a noun. Similarly "umcampus.")

 

Um, the mail is delivering my umdiploma, which I just um-earned. I ...

Wow, this um thing is mmmm-good.