Another one bites the dust (about to anyways) - ITU

I don't think it was sad at all.

(1) "On October 17, 2019, WASC placed ITU on Show Cause due to lack of compliance with the five issues of leadership structure, staff intimidation, insufficient staff and faculty as a result of the furlough of all staffers, non-viable financial sustainability, and the questionable independence of the trustees.[13]"

(2) "after its near-bankruptcy in 2006, ITU began to promise international students the opportunity to work full-time jobs immediately upon arrival. It became popular in online Indian student forums as a good place to extend a student visa or get a job. In March 2011, enrollment increased to 1500 students, 94% of which were Indian. ITU has been criticized for attracting unknowing international students when its accreditation and credit transfer policy are questionable."[19]

(3) "On January 8, 2021, ITU entered into a settlement agreement with the United States to pay $1,170,000 under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, in order to settle allegations related to student visa fraud" (emphases all mine - J.)

Intimidation - sacked all staff - improper enrolment practices re: foreign students - finally visa fraud. What's SAD about closing this school? To me, putting it out of its misery is a cause for rejoicing.

 

My apologies - you didn't say "sadly" about ITU's closing. You said "sadly" about Silicon Valley U. I think this school was bad, too - but differently. Their ACICS accreditation was cancelled. They couldn't even keep ACICS happy - an accreditor which is itself currently under closure recommendation by USDoE. When Silicon Valley lost ACICS, the State Agency, BPPE ,then filed a fifteen-point complaint and the State of California subsequently ordered Silicon Valley U. closed. They clearly deserved it. I find nothing sad here. All justified. These are two schools that did bad things and were caught. Am I sad? No - I'm ecstatic! TWICE! I can hardly stand it!

National Hispanic U? Now I'm sad. The school was opened to fulfil a unique mission for Hispanic students, which it did very well for a while. I guess money troubles occurred and the only way to keep the school operating was the sale to Laureate. Laureate's ambition was to enrol thousands of online students. When the numbers didn't pan out, they closed the school. I'm pretty sure if they could have made a single extra dollar by selling everything as a going concern - they would have. Whatever works best, moneywise, wins. No sentiment in that market. None whatsoever.

 

Looks like you totally misread that one, Bryan. No. that wasn't a "taste." That first yanking of recognition was intended to be permanent - and was later reversed by Betsy DeVos, then Secretary of Education, as per the wishes of her boss, Donald Trump. It's all here on DI. You can look it up. Betsy DeVos is a very wealthy person - her family's net worth is said to be $5.4 Billion. I don't think such a person usually has much appreciation of the plight of those of average or less than average means, when it comes to education costs and debt - and what havoc entities like ACICS wreak when they allow predatory schools to keep their accreditation. As long as the money rolls in, ACICS is happy.

Somebody had to stop 'em, so now the hammer has fallen again - under Biden administration. Hopefully the evil beast (ACICS) will be SO hammered into the ground it will never rise again. There will be crying and pooping for a long time, crocodile tears and much litigation. A feeding frenzy for lawyers. I'm shutting my ears till it all goes away and ACICS stops that awful twitching on the ground. It's horrible to watch - but fully deserved.

You may have gathered - I don't think much of ACICS. Right.

 

Next to go - ACCSC? If that goes, pretty soon DEAC will have the field to itself. No, there's TRACS I guess.
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/10/29/department-defers-decision-profit-accreditor-renewal
Bad time to be a lousy accreditor. I like that! It gives lousy schools a bad time!

 

Good to see someone coming down on TRACS. I see them as the last resort for schools that must "accredit or die." The schools suddenly profess religion and are thus "saved." Fake religion is 'way worse than no religion. I'm personally familiar with no religion, and it's not so awfully bad.

I see TRACS as a business. Nothing else. The other accreditors are businesses too - but at least most of them have the perspicacity and chops to do due diligence on schools, and politely refuse a school, or bring down the hammer quickly, if a member school gets out of line.

Getting accredited should mean something. To me, it doesn't seem to in all instances, these days. Consolation: It's not a good climate for loosey-goosey accreditors. The selection of schools will be a somewhat safer process for people. They'll still need DI, of course.

 

The one REALLY GOOD thing I'll say about TRACS - they stepped up and put Morris Brown College back in business. That's fantastic. And I believe there's at least one other HBCU that's on their list - one that, like Morris Brown, endured years of shuttering after loss of accreditation.

That's a tremendous thing. I think HBCUs are precious. For what they did in the past and what they're going to do in the future. Any outfit that can help a neglected, moribund HBCU get back to operation is doing something right. Still, I think TRACS needs to do more things right.

 

It sounds like its old friend, Northwestern Polytechnic University, but the school changed to San Francisco Bay University. I think these schools were established to serve immigrant students, but nowadays, prestigious state- and brick-and-mortar colleges offer similar programs, leading to fewer students applying to these schools.
Another similar school is Fairfax University of America (FKA Virginia International University).

 

The remaining ACICS schools are under an 18-month USDoE life support system since Sept 2022. Details here: https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-terminates-federal-recognition-acics-enhances-federal-aid-program-participation-requirements-acics-accredited-colleges#:

I guess FXUA has a couple-three months yet. Hope it works out for them.