Speaking of Oxbridge, has anyone heard of Oxbridge University in Minnesota? I didn't find it in Bears' 14th Edition. www.oxbridgeuniv.edu
Hmm... looks very suspiciously like a degree mill to me. Excuse the stupid question, I'm not a local, but isn't that the White House in the picture?
This is very interesting. I live in the Twin Cities and I have never heard of this school...it's actually in a suburb, White Bear Lake, MN. The picture is the MN state capital. Their website gives no mention of accreditation and their faculty list is mostly foreigners. Not an indictment in itself, because half of the faculty came from local schools (which would seem normal). They don't look like a mill to me. What mill has residency requirements?
I'm thinking mill. Oxbridge claims to be a private, nonprofit university that has existed for a few years. Oxbridge is not listed as a registered institution with the Minnesota Higher Education Services Office as of February 22, 2001. According to MHESO, "The program requires all private institutions operating in Minnesota which are non-profit or which grant degrees or which use the terms “academy,” “college,” “institute” or “university” in their names to register with the HESO. The law also applies to out-of-state public post-secondary institutions operating in Minnesota and to for-profit institutions which provide continuing education in Minnesota which is intended to allow individuals to maintain an occupational license." Also, the geographic distribution of the students (more than half hail from Africa, Asia, South America, or Europe) seems highly suspicious for an institution that seems to be virtually unknown within Minnesota. -Mark
Also, Oxbridge is not listed on the North Central Association's list of accredited schools. If it's a degree mill, it's got an awfully good website design. Scott
Since you live in the area, why not drive over to the physical address of Oxbridge and let the forum know what you find. It would indeed be amazing if you found the Minnesota State Capital. Russell
This appears to be an odd duck. When you call the number at the bottom of the page, a gentleman answers by saying "Hello". He was surprised by my call and asked how I got the web address. I said I was interested in a doctoral program. He said it required a three week residency done on the campus of the University of Minnesota and that it would take between two and three years to complete a program. He said if there were enough students in my area, the residency could be done locally. He was very surprised at my call and asked several times if I looked at the web site telling me my questions could be answered there. I asked if I could get a PhD in Education and he said they don’t offer that. I was waiting for something like, "But if that is what you want, maybe we could work it out", but that didn’t come. I'd like to see someone stop by the "administrative offices" and provide an offsite report.
I would expect a web site for advanced education to be fairly clean. The grammar on the Oxbridge site leaves something to be desired, and one place even refers to Oxdridge rather than Oxbridge. Picky, picky Bill
One problem is the "To be named" for administration. Either it's a truly lousy place to work or worse. To Be Named: 1. VP - Academic Affairs 2. VP - Administration 3. Director of Finance 4. Director of Information Technology 5. Director of Human Resources 6. Director of Financial Aid That's 6 senior positions out of 11 that need to be filled. Even for a school that's only been around three years that's probably excessive. Tom Nixon
To me, it looks like a one-person operation, created fictitiously by someone with a writing fetish. It reminds me of Rushmore University, without the advertising in the back of PC Magazine. Rich Douglas
I just might do that tommorow night! The state capital is in St. Paul and this school is supposedly in White Bear Lake, which is 6-8 miles north of there. They didn't respond to my e-mail inquiry about accreditation.
I just did a check and they are properly listed in the phone book. This is definately an interesting one. I'll let you know what I find at the "administrative offices."
