DETC to DEAC: The Forgotten Schools

This is somehow a surprise? This has been discussed a lot in these threads. John Bear even challenged the then-director of DETC about it. Mike Lambert replied with, "Let's not go there, John." Lambert was a hypocrite and a jerk, and not just for that.

I would offer him a defense on this one if I was generous. That is, at the time, the Centre for Labour Market Studies was quite an independent operation, lying outside the traditional organization of the university. (Their programs led to Leicester degrees, however.) But, because DETC didn't do programmatic accreditation, they were technically accrediting all of Leicester, which was an absurd notion. (They repeated that mistake with a few other foreign schools, too.)

And unreal. DETC only dealt with the CLMS. In fact, CLMS came to me to ask if they should renew their accreditation with DETC. I told them it was pointless and to drop it. They did. (NB: I spent about 90 days trying to build a practice around enrolling US students into the CLMS. That was an expensive miss.)

 

The most popular diploma course for paroled burglars was said to be locksmithing...

 

Do I remember aright, by the way, that the sole bachelor's degree awarded by Lasalle was a California Bar qualifying LL.B.?

 

No. They offered a bachelor's degree, but the law "diploma" was a separate thing. (They offered an LLB way back in its history, however.)

In the 1970s and '80s, doing a law school in California was as easy as doing a university. The state had three categories of schools (and still does): ABA-accredited, Cal Bar-accredited, and everyone else. Some of the biggest 94310(c) diploma mills operating legally in California at the time offered law degrees. They even had 3-year non-qualifying "executive" JD degrees and 4-year Bar-qualifying JD degrees.

Of course, all students at unaccredited schools were subject to passing the First-Year Law Students' Examination ("Baby Bar") after a year of study. The vast majority of them ended their pursuit of a law license right there. Students couldn't proceed with their studies if they didn't pass the Baby Bar (multiple attempts permitted). But the schools made money, you can be assured of that.

Registering with the state bar as a law school allowed the school's students to enter this pipeline. But that was not the same as the state bar approving or accredited such a school, and registration was pretty wide open. There was a whole lot of scamming going on back then.

LaSalle was, reportedly, huge. But it's not very clear how many of their law diploma students ever got past the Baby Bar, much less the actual bar exam. The pass rates imply that such a route will be a failure for as many as 99% of students who try it. And as huge as LaSalle was, it disappeared practically over night.

 

(Seriously) I believe it was replaced by computer programming, a long time ago. Maybe it's Cybersecurity now. I dunno. Computers sure are a handy way of theft, anyhow.

 

Some have taken jabs at the University of the People for its name sounding like a communist party school. Well, before them there was...

Peoples College
Specialized Associate in Travel and Tourism
Specialized Associate in Personal Computer Programming
Specialized Associate in Electronics Technology PC Servicing and Industrial Control
Specialized Associate in Electronics Technology PC Servicing and Communications

233 Academy Drive, P.O. Box 421768, Kissimmee, Florida 34742-1768 (Phone: 407-847-4444; Fax: 407-847-8793). A division of Southeastern Academy, Inc. Founded 1985. Specialized Associate Degrees in Travel and Tourism Management, Personal Computer Programming, Electronics Technology with PC Servicing and Industrial Controls or Communications Specializations; non-degree programs in communication electronics with microprocessor technology, computer servicing and electronics technology, industrial electronics and microprocessor technology, personal computer programming, business computing; avocational program in powerboat handling and seamanship.

First accredited by DETC in 1985. First appeared in the webspace for the DETC, Feb 1. 1997. Later became the "Peoples College of Independent Studies" but may have changed its name back to "Peoples College" at some point before closing. No website was made available by the DETC directory. The only web presence of any kind mentioned was in the Oct. 12 1997 version of the directory where this email address was listed: [email protected]

Southern College, The Southeastern Academy of Travel, and People's College were all connected. TSAT and People's College operated from the same physical address noted above.

 

American College of Prehospital Medicine
Associate of Science in Emergency Medical Services
Associate of Science in Hazardous Materials Technology
Bachelor of Science in Emergency Medical Services

7552 Navarre Parkway, Suite 1, Navarre, FL 32566-7312 (Phone: 1-800-735-2276; International Voice: 001-850-939-0840; Fax: 1-800-350-3870; International Fax: 001-850-939-7713; Web Site: http://www.acpm.edu). Founded in 1991, accredited in 1995. They also offered a Certificate Course in Emergency Medical Technology, and a Certificate Course in Effective Supervision.

They were up for a re-accreditation review in 2000. They made it. Unfortunately, the school didn't survive to the next review. They were effectively done May 20, 2004 when they stopped accepting new students.

In March of 2004, there was a little bit posted about the founder Dr. Richard Clinchy and the school's purpose:

https://www.cigota.rs/en/node/2883

 

For some weird physiological reason I read that first as "American College of Prehistoric Medicine". Anesthesia was rough in those days...

 

I'm just going to point out that there was a prestigious Scottish(?) university, whose name escapes me at the moment, with a Master's degree that evaluated as an Associate degree. So I'm not sure what your point is here. Evaluators mess up. Sometimes badly.

 

That was my message in sharing the anecdote. But I guess it's my fault instead.

 

It was the Heriot-Watt MBA. It was a very long time ago and did not involve a foreign credential evaluation service. Instead, John Bear--who represented what became the largest MBA program in the world at that time--sent curricular materials to 10 admissions officials at US schools, asking them if they considered it equal to a typical MBA. Nine said it was, one made the associate's degree comment. John related that--just as I did regarding WES--to illustrate how stupid someone can be about this stuff, not that the assessment had any credibility. Again, like I was doing. But you can count on some chucklehead with a chip on his shoulder to twist anything to say what he wants to say, even if he turns what you posted into a lie.

 

It worked, though. If patients needed to be 'put under,' then there was a club for that.

 

But in the Northern part of North America the service was free…

 

But in the Southern part, most of the population griped that it wasn't - since it was "paid for by taxes" - the dreaded "socialism." Life expectancy was lower, there. It still is.

 

Hey, anesthesia ROCKS!