American Accreditors Go Abroad

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by carlosb, Sep 23, 2005.

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  1. carlosb

    carlosb New Member

    American Accreditors Go Abroad

    Just read this fairly long article. Since many here at DI are looking at using a foreign degree for teaching in the US I thought they might be interested in this.

    The Chronicle of Higher Education

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    http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i05/05a03601.htm


    This list is at the end of the article.

     
  2. JamesK

    JamesK New Member

    I didn't realise the Open University was RA, although the first accreditation date (2005) certainly suggests they haven't been for long.

    It seems odd for them to be RA when they don't offer their programs to those outside Europe.
     
  3. agilham

    agilham New Member

    I knew the OU was in candidacy with Middle States, but I didn't realise that they'd achieved it. And for the full ten years to boot.

    According to the senate minutes dealing with the initial application for accreditation (March 2003) that are available on the OU web site
    Whilst the OU doesn't offer that many courses outside Europe at the moment, this does mean that the large number of Americans in the EEA who feel they need an RA degree so that they don't have to explain anything if and when they go home suddenly have access to the largest provider of distance learning in Europe. If the OU is still serious about pursuing articulation agreements, the prospects are immense.

    Angela
     
  4. JLV

    JLV Active Member

    ABET has been accrediting foreign engineering degrees for years (deeming them equivalent I should say). As Angela suggested this is a commercial move. Here no one would give a damn if a European university holds as well regional accreditation. Those universities are searching for American clientele.
     
  5. PaulC

    PaulC Member

    I have not seen the article, so maybe my comment is moot based on information in it that was not included above.

    I notice no mention of the universities outside of the US that are accredited by the DETC.
     
  6. bing

    bing New Member

    Interesting. I did not see any Australian schools on the list. I e-mailed with an Australian professor not long ago and he gave me the comment that most Australia schools don't really know anything about US RA or are concerned with it. Maybe George Brown can comment.
     
  7. carlosb

    carlosb New Member

    I did see the following in the article:

    The Chronicle of Higher Education

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    http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i05/05a03601.htm


    I wonder if some American schools will someday require foreign schools to be RA for tenure-track teaching purposes?
     
  8. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    I can't comment on the article because the magazine that printed it doesn't want people like me reading it.

    I don't think that the list is complete. I seem to recall more RA schools abroad than these.

    But the list is kind of interesting.

    In the Middle East there's a set of schools that make their living by offering an American-style education. RA would seem to be the logical conclusion for them.

    American University in Cairo
    American University of Beirut (Lebanon)
    American University of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates)

    Of these, the American Universities in Cairo and Beirut have been in existence for many years and are kind of prestigious in their own ways. (There's another school like this in Istanbul, isn't there?)

    There are several of these "American Universities" in Europe as well:

    American University of Paris
    Richmond, the American International University in London
    American College of Thessaloniki (Greece)
    American University in Bulgaria (Blagoevgrad)

    The example in Bulgaria is interesting. That's a country that's been hidden behind the Iron Curtain until recently, only has had a post-communist private education sector for a few years, and sadly has a bit of a reputation for corruption. It's awfully easy for people outside Bulgaria to dismiss a mysterious new school emerging there as just another IUFS, most likely a scam. Becoming RA effectively silences that concern, and much more effectively than some mysterious ministry approvals that are opaque outside Bulgaria itself. Achieving RA is a smart move for these guys.

    I don't know what's up with these three Europeans. I've never heard of them. The Hungarians might be doing the same thing I praised from the Bulgarians.

    Central European University (Budapest)
    John Cabot University (Rome)
    Deree College (Athens)

    I think that Open University becoming RA is just weird. They refuse to admit students living in the United States, so it can't be any desire to appeal to us. They aren't trying to be an "American University" like Richmond-The American University in London. They already have a world-wide reputation, so it isn't the Bulgarian thing. I'm only guessing, but I suspect that they want to market their programs in the Middle East and Asia, and many students in those areas seem to really admire American degrees.

    Open University (Milton Keynes, England) (public)

    Then there's a set of Swiss hotel schools. I guess that these are some of those cantonal versions of state-approved schools that decided to seek RA along with, or perhaps instead of, conventional Swiss recognition. Is it because they recruit international student bodies and RA has broader international recognition?

    Franklin College Switzerland (Sorengo, Switzerland)
    Lausanne Hotel School (Switzerland)
    Glion Institute of Higher Education (Switzerland) (for-profit)
    Hotel Management School, "Les Roches" (Valais, Switzerland) (for-profit)

    I seem to recall that there are several more regionally accredited Swiss hotel schools in addition to these. Switzerland must be the place to study in the hospitality industry, I don't know. (But I bet that George does.)

    There are the Western Hemisphere schools. One Canadian, the rest Latin American. My guess is that these have graduates that travel to the US repeatedly and may want to seek employment there. I would be interested in knowing if Athabasca welcomes applications from Americans like me. They might even be trying to attract business from American DL students, I don't know.

    Athabasca University (Canada) (public)
    University of the Americas (Puebla, Mexico)
    Central American Institute of Business Administration (Alajuela, Costa Rica)
    Technological Institute of Monterrey (Mexico)
    University of Monterrey (Mexico)
    University of the Americas (Mexico City)

    Finally there are two WASC schools that are there for historical reasons. Northern Marianas College is located in a US "commonwealth" similar to (but much smaller than ) Puerto Rico. Residents of Saipan are US citizens.

    Northern Marianas College (Saipan) (public)

    US International University in Nairobi used to be a branch campus of US International University in San Diego. The parent campus merged with the California Schools of Professional Psychology and renamed itself Alliant International University (I hate that name), and the Nairobi campus spun off, keeping its parent's name and acquiring its own RA accreditation.

    United States International University (Nairobi, Kenya)

    It's interesting to note what isn't on the list. As Bing notes, no Australians. But Australians already have a fine academic reputation of their own, so they don't really need RA. (Maybe the Open University can explain to the antipodeans why they should want it.)

    More strikingly, no Asians. If Asians have such an insatiable lust for American degrees that they happily enroll in state-approved schools and even degreemills, and if every DL program on earth considers Asia the happy hunting ground, you would think that Asians would positively love a local school with regional accreditation.

    But maybe not. A local school, RA or not, might not have that American cachet. (So we see immigrants coming to the US from Asia, immediately setting up state approved schools here, and marketing them back home. It's an "American university", even if no native-born American has ever had anything to do with the thing.)
     
  9. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    Couple minor things to add to Bill's very informative post:

    1) CEU in Budapest is a George Soros civil society project and well-regarded in Hungary.

    2) CNMI is the ONLY legit school in the Northern Mariana Islands. The l-t-w Adam Smith claimed a "charter" from the Commonwealth--a nonexistent category of document--while using a mail forwarding service in Saipan.

    3) Yes. In Istanbul is Robert College, also well-regarded in Turkey if not quite on the exalted level of AUB in Lebanon.

    Thanks, Bill. (I agree with your snide comment about the Chronic-hell; they don't want people like me reading it either!)

    J.
     
  10. dlkereluk

    dlkereluk New Member

    They welcome applications from anybody. There are some logistical and communication matters that must be considered as part of the application process, though.

    As for seeking more US students, indeed, that is included as part of their SUP 2002-2006. Other than the accreditation process, there is really very little information in publicly available University documents that points to how they propose to attract American students nor any information about what the "dollars and cents" part of it would entail (for both prospective US students, and the existing AU student community.)
     
  11. CalDog

    CalDog New Member

    International accreditation via Washington Accord

    ABET only accredits engineering programs in the US and Puerto Rico. However, ABET will evaluate foreign engineering credentials for "substantial equivalency" through its Engineering Credentials Evaluation International (ECEI) service.

    Note that ABET is a member of the Washington Accord, an international group of engineering accrediting agencies from North America (US, Canada), Europe (UK, Ireland), Asia (Hong Kong, Japan), Africa (South Africa), and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand). The member agencies have all agreed to recognize each other's undergraduate engineering degrees. So in effect, the Washington Accord represents international accreditation for such degrees.

    In the US, the Washington Accord only covers ABET/EAC undergraduate degrees. It does not cover graduate degrees, engineering technology degrees (even if accredited by ABET/TAC), or non-ABET engineering degrees (e.g. Kennedy-Western or Century).
     
  12. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    ...and Eastern Europe. They run a scolarship program for people outside of Hungary (something you would expect from Soros project). Good school indeed.
     
  13. lspahn

    lspahn New Member

    Does anyone know how Charles Sturt in Australia falls into this catagory? I am considering them for my MS (they take the CISSP), but I want something I can continue with beyond that. I mean its foolish to be 75% to a PhD and not consider it and just like everyone else id like to avoid wasting money and time...
    Thanks
     

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