TUI For Sale!

Hi Everyone:

I just saw this article this morning in the Chronicle. This is disturbing as we (PhD students of TUI) held our breath as we received our WASC accreditation. Now this accreditation might have to be analyzed again depending on the buyer. This is concerning. Attached is a copy of the article if you didn’t see it.

 

I'm sure it will be fine.

The 21st Century is the "Information Age" and we are going to see a lot of changes in technology, educational delivery methodologies and methods of information transfer. This is just the begining of the Information Age and much more is to come over the next century.

 

TUI Concern

Me Again:

Thanks for the email. I think the difficult part is two fold. First, many learners felt comfortable with TUI because they had that B&M connection with Touro College in NYC. Secondly, financial aid was available because of the affiliation with Touro College in NYC too. As you know with NCU, federal financial aid is not offered and TUI was able to offer it because it went through Touro College. Being with a total online parent school or bought by a private equity firm this issue would be concerning to students

 

Their home page seems to be down.

www.tourou.edu

 

Re: Re: TUI For Sale!

One of my concerns about getting a degree that has no B&M element is that one day, the university would simply ***POOF*** disappear. You try to log on and ***POOF*** it's not there. It's gone. The page cannot be found. And since there is no established B&M element, you can't get official transcripts from an established location. I would hate to try and explain to people that I have a degree from a university that existed for 5 years, but ***POOF*** doesn't exist anymore, at least not on the internet -- and certainly not in a B&M element. But it was real!!! I swear!!! See: Here are the transcripts that they issued to me!!! But don't try to get more transcripts from them for verification because they don't exist anymore.

Yep, the "Information Age" is definately a new development with unforsceen surprises that remain to be seen as developments unfold before our very eyes.

 

Re: Re: Re: TUI For Sale!

Hi Me AGain,
I'm sorry about Touro University International.
However, I've also seen plenty of small B&M of colleges closing or being sold to other schools. Anyone remember Compton college?
http://www.degreediscussion.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1283

If you are going to attend a DL school, I think it pays to go to a one that has shown some longevity. Walden has been around for 30 plus years. Fielding, Nova and even CalCoast have also been around for 30 years or more.

 

What happens if your alma mater does just ***POOF!!!*** and go out of existence is this: you get your transcripts, etc., from your defunct alma mater's accrediting agency.

 

TUI Concern

Some dynamics have happened recently like the TUI email being down for awhile yesterday and now the TUI website is down. What is happening?

 

Why would your accreditation have to be re-analyzed?

 

TUI Concern

Ted:

This is the quote from the article to answer your question:

"Touro International could be attractive because it carries accreditation from the Western Association of Schools of Colleges, one of the six regional accreditors. It was accredited in February 2005. Touro College itself is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. But the executive director of the Western association's senior-college division noted on Tuesday that a change in Touro International's ownership would be a "substantial change" to the college's status that would require the agency to re-examine the institution before continuing the accreditation. "

Chronicle.com

 

So what's going on with TUI? Their site is still down... has it shut down operations?

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: TUI For Sale!

Touro College is not smalll.

 

The Student Service and Coursenet (online classroom) portions of their website are still up and working.

 

No One Panic!

Very Interesting.....

It will be interesting to see who purchases TUI. Will it be absorbed into another online institution similar to NTU did with Walden University, or will it remain its own organization, but possibly with a new name?

After all, the name Touro comes from the names of Judah and Isaac Touro, two colonial Jewish community leaders. Would a new owner keep the name if they were no loner affiliated with Touro College?

In any case, this is no reason to panic. The institution hasn't been sold yet, there is no indication that it will disappear, and there is no 100% certainty that the school's accreditation will be in jeopardy. Plus, the new owners could create more benefits. New programs could be offered, tuition could drop (this happened with NTU) and maybe the new owner could be affiliated with a B&M building.

I don't think that TUI will disappear, in my opinion; it may just become something different.

 

TUI Concern

BinkWile:

I understand your comment. As a NCU student, I would feel comfortable too. But the problem is that no communication has been established concerning issues like this. We (TUI Learners) find this information out from a periodical. TUI has unfortunately has a history of issues like this. Such incidents as a previous accreditation issue pertaining to the Ph.D. program (which then had to stop admitting Ph.D. students), major administration changes, accreditation change to WASC, weeding out of ABD Ph.D. students by offering another Master’s degree, and now having the online school up for sale while having the email system and homepage down. It is extremely frustrating and concerning when you are at an ABD phase after putting in much time, patience and $$$$ into an institution. The school repeatedly is reticent concerning operational issues and changes while being been less than stellar in there communications with students.

 

Re: TUI Concern

Touro's home page is now up and running again.

www.tourou.edu

 

Interesting, my take is that it will be bought by Apollo, Argosy, Devry or Laurate (Walden's owner). Welcome to the world of for profit education, you have a degree from a school that tomorrow might change name, shut down or lose accreditation.

The other issue is the name change, the new buyer might want to change the name to something else and graduates would need to explain change of name to employers or get new degree papers.

However, the most important issue is that the school was attractive given its relation to an established B&M school but it won't longer be the case.

 

Re: Re: TUI For Sale!

Do you work on the suicide hotline?

 

Re: Re: TUI For Sale!

But RFValve, Touro is not-for-profit.

 

Re: TUI Concern

I'm not downplaying your needs for concerns. If I was in your shoes, I would be furious and demanding answers from TUI. Hopefully, the new owners will be more receptive to student's needs, and be more honest about their status.