Ashford University receives WASC accrediation

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Shawn Ambrose, Jul 11, 2013.

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  1. icecom3

    icecom3 New Member

    So amusing to see bitter people taking cheap shots at AU. "bribes" "illiterate students" lol come on. Nonsense!
     
  2. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    My complaint wasn't that these barbs were nonsense--they probably were. My beef was they were unsubstantiated, and the accuser failed to follow up even one iota.
     
  3. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    Greed was how this whole thing started, first on the part of school recruiters of for profit schools in general, then when senator Harkin, Steve Eisman and some of his hedge fund cronies figured out a way to make millions off of us poor mutual fund participants by short selling for profit stock they owned by devaluing the stock through political influence, and cashing in. Leaving other investors (namely 401Ks and mutual funds) holding the bag. The rich got richer, the poor got poorer, and Ashford maintained but with a few lumps and bruises.

    I'm sure that somewhere in this whole bloody mess someone somewhere got a palm greased. Perhaps even through an LA law firm that had a sudden and accute interest in the financial well being of an Iowa senator. Just sayin' ;)
     
  4. CalDog

    CalDog New Member

    More legal issues for Ashford/Bridgepoint

    Have you ever called a company for support, and heard that "this call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes" ?

    Turns out that Bridgepoint Education (the owners of Ashford University and University of the Rockies) makes digital recordings of such calls. In fact, they have some 400,000 of them, with people in California alone.

    Apparently the California attorney general would like to listen to them. But Bridgepoint doesn't think this is a good idea.

     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 25, 2013
  5. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    If they were investigating Ashford specifically for cause, then they should say so and the subpoena should be for that purpose.

    But "a wider investigation into complaints going back several years that for-profit schools misrepresented themselves in high-pressure sales calls to prospective students" is just a fancy way to say that this is a political witch hunt, and I hope Ashford resists successfully.
     
  6. CalDog

    CalDog New Member

    The contents of the subpoena don't seem to be available online currently. So the exact justification for the subpoena is unclear.

    But there is a possible independent source of evidence on Bridgepoint's sales tactics, so it isn't necessarily a "witch hunt". It's no secret that former Ashford "academic advisors" have gone online with unflattering portrayals of Ashford's practices (like this one or this one).

    Now obviously an online posting, by itself, has only limited credibility (especially in the case of a possibly disgruntled ex-employee). But if the AG found ex-Ashford employees who were willing to repeat those claims on the record, then there might be reasonable grounds for a subpoena. And in that case, recorded phone conversations between Ashford advisors and students would certainly be relevant evidence.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 26, 2013
  7. icecom3

    icecom3 New Member

    Out of all the private schools I get calls and email spam from, AU is not one of them. Not saying they don't market their school...because of course they do. Whether you like it or not, education has gone the direction of making money. Even state colleges are cashing in these days. As far as corruption, well it would not surprise me if there were dirty people at AU, but there is in just about every organization.

    What matters to me, and probably most AU students, is whether or not they are providing a quality education. I guess one can argue that they are not, but I believe that their RECENT accreditation says something. Many private schools are still riding on their original accreditations from when they were a brick-and-mortar college. The same can no longer be said for AU, they applied, they got it, they earned it. And no, there is no dirty money involved with that whatsoever. They probably have a lot of resources and human capital to negotiate obstacles. Good for them! That is human resources 101. Some people just cannot accept this idea. Also, large businesses always get targeted for all sorts of shenanigans. Some of it is bogus, some of it is not. But one thing is for sure, being investigated or accused...only means they are being investigated or accused. Much of the higher corporate politics only matters if you take interest in it. Clearly some of you do, hope you are not losing any sleep over it.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 26, 2013
  8. Michael

    Michael Member

    One irrefutable fact that remains is this: Three fourths of my last class roster dropped the course by the third week, and they needed to drop because they were nowhere close to having college-level skills. And of the remaining students, about one-half of them needed to drop because they didn't have those skills, either.
     
  9. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    icecom3,

    To be 100% honest and fair, you have to acknowledge the reality that Ashford has had a history of more than just "accusation" of problems, but actual documented problems with their educational quality and overall administrative operations including securities fraud. That's no longer up for debate as that was factually reported and documented, so the case is closed on that. It happened, you just have to accept that history.

    That said, I'm all about seeing a school improve itself, and since they were granted accreditation that at least suggests many of the deficiencies the school has had have been addressed. But another part of this reality is that true improvement is something that has to be seen over a good length of time, not just in the short term. So in that regard, it's not fair to make the declaration that the school is awful at this point in time, and it's equally unfair to make the declaration that all is well with the school.

    At the end of the day, it's not about bitter ex-students and ex-employees, nor is it about happy ex-students and ex-employees. It's about what happened, what's been addressed, and how it will translate to the quality Ashford produces going forward.

    Let's give it time and see what Ashford does. It's all we can do, because whatever experience anyone had with the school is their experience and no amount of arguing about it is going to change those experiences or make the people who had them think differently about their experiences.
     
  10. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    That actually bodes well for the quality/rigor of the coursework. I wonder how many of that last "one-half" you mention that had no skills graduated? I know from my MBA experience the drop rate was astounding. They'll let anyone in to try their hand, but in not compromising on the rigor of the work, people "screen" themselves out of the program by flunking. Again, that whole "open university" thing which I support.

    To Steve's point, trying to gain access to over 400,000 recordings without a specific cause or objective for the subpoena is a witch hunt. There is no way I'd expect any business to comply with such a request. Just like even though I have nothing to hide, there is no way I'd allow the police to search my house without a warrant (or a GD good and specific reason complete with exigent circumstance).
     
  11. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    At the risk of being off topic, many judges don't even read the warrants they sign, even to authorize no-knock raids. It doesn't matter much what you'd allow or not when they storm in unannounced in the middle of the night and hold you and your family at gunpoint. :sad:
     
  12. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    Truth...but assuming everyone lives, my kids go to college free after that. I'll lawyer up like a gangsta! ;)
     

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