Breyer State attempting California licensing?

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by AuditGuy, Aug 11, 2010.

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  1. AuditGuy

    AuditGuy Member

    From the BSU website. I wasn't aware that California had finalized their process yet.

    "As of 8/1/2010 Breyer State University has applied for approval to operating with the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. In compliance with their standards many of our degree programs have undergone redesign. We have changed the time frame for each course to 15 weeks. The number of credit hours have been reduced. The number of courses required for each degree program have increased as well. We are also redesigning the course classrooms."
     
  2. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    If that is correct as it is only what they say on their web site and we are yet to see the official approval then its a good development. Any improvement to become approved is welcomed.

    Any one who knows the history of this school is skeptical.

    But if they are taking steps to be approved then its a good development, It then shouldn't take long time for them to get the official approval so potential students can then consider this school.

    Just an opinion
     
  3. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member

    Who would pay those prices? Animal psychology masters anyone?

    Animal Psychology Degree Program. Online courses offered through Breyer State University-Al
     
  4. BarSta

    BarSta New Member

    Hi everyone!

    Finally BSU took the approval to operating with the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education?

    Anyone??
     
  5. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    I wasn't either.

    It looks like the BPPE has the BPPVE's old school search page back up and running as well. But I haven't examined it closely to see what kind of changes have been made, beyond verifying that "Breyer State University" doesn't appear on it.

    The new California private post-secondary law requires the new BPPE to place a tremendous amount of information about each school on the agency website, but I don't see that yet.

    They are required by law to apply to the BPPE if they want to operate legally in California.

    I don't know who is running the new BPPE or how much knowledge the new people have of the wonderful world of degree-mills. They may be very good, or they may be tranferred government office workers who are totally new to this stuff and far less knowledgeable about it than many of our Degreeinfo readers. I just don't know.

    I do have a strong suspicion that "Breyer State University" is just playing for time and will never be approved.

    I mean, just look at their list of doctoral programs:

    Doctorate in Addictions Counseling Psychology
    Doctorate in Business Administration
    Doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy
    Doctorate in Counseling Psychology
    Doctorate in Criminal Justice
    Doctorate in Education
    Doctorate in Grief Counseling
    Doctorate in Health Care Administration
    Doctorate in International Business
    Doctorate in Justice and Ethical Studies
    Doctorate in Management
    Doctorate in Metaphysics & Spiritual Counseling
    Doctorate in Nursing Science
    Doctorate in Organizational Psychology
    Doctorate in Pastoral Counseling and Thanatology

    That's 15 doctoral programs. (In addition to similar numbers of progrms at the masters and bachelors levels.) Each one will have to be individually approved.

    For comparison, the new UCMerced, which has resources that "Breyer State University" can't even imagine, only offers eight doctoral programs at the moment. These are real doctoral programs though, which makes a difference.

    Here's an even bigger problem for "Breyer State University". They tell us that their physical address is:

    6080 Center Drive 6th Floor
    Los Angeles, CA 90045

    That turns out to be a branch of Regus Office Services, a mail-forwarding and phone-answering service. Most likely "Breyer State's" perpetrators aren't located anywhere near California. So the new BPPE is going to have to figure out how to define a "California university" and set some standards for minimum presence in the state. A mail-forwarder is unlkely to be satisfactory.

    This is going to be very interesting to watch.
     
  6. emmzee

    emmzee New Member

    +1 ... probably just a stalling tactic, when they are eventually denied, they can move elsewhere.
     
  7. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    I'm inclined to agree. If they do get approved, then the California approval process is a joke.
     
  8. Dave Wagner

    Dave Wagner Active Member

    Good 'ole BSU! I suspect they will get held up on CA approval with the number of doctorates they are offering. See California Education Code for the minimum requirements to confer doctoral degrees. By the way, what happened to the animal psychology doctorate...?!
     
  9. rickyjo

    rickyjo New Member

    So what is the history of this school?
     
  10. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    History in a nutshell...

    History of BSU?

    BSU commenced life on a Reservation in Idaho - although neither the owner nor his wife are Native Americans. The location was construed, by some, as chosen so BSU would be beyond the reach of the White Man's law. Initial "accreditation" was from the "Central States Consortium," an unrecognized (by CHEA or USDoE) outfit that turned out to be under the same ownership as Breyer State U. I believe the only other outfits "accredited" by the CCS were Canyon College (Caldwell, Idaho) and possibly a couple of short-lived overseas "Medical Schools" (!) that are now gone. Canyon College has had a host of legal troubles and is barred from conferring degrees on residents of its own State.

    BSU subsequently moved to Alabama, where it was State-licensed. "Accreditation" was later claimed from two other unrecognized outfits. Some suspected that these two outfits were also owned by Breyer State or its principals. I don't recall seeing any proof of these assertions (but I'd sure welcome it! :) )

    BSU's Alabama license expired in 2008 and was not renewed. Alabama had previously told BSU that they had to cut out the self-designed degrees and make other changes or the license would not be renewed. BSU chose not to cooperate. By this time, the State had begun a major crackdown on unaccredited schools and BSU, among others, was on the move. First, the school re-located briefly in Idaho - not on the Reservation, this time. Then it moved to California, after the BPPVE sunset, during the period when there was no State approval process for unaccredited schools.

    I believe that the proprietor is a long-time resident of Ohio and pulls the strings from afar. He and one his chief administrators are also on the infamous list of purchasers of phony degrees from "St. Regis University." The top guns from this uh...school (St. Regis) were sentenced to jail a while back.

    That enough for now?

    Johann
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 18, 2010
  11. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I erred. The "overseas medical schools" in question were not "accredited" by Breyer State's accreditor. Breyer State U. itself claimed direct affiliation with them.

    Here's a link to that discussion.

    Montserrat medical school does joint venture with Breyer Sta - ValueMD Medical Schools Forum

    Here's another link to an article by Prof. George Gollin, (Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) detailing the links between BSU and the medical schools in question.

    http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/06/24/alabama

    Johann
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 18, 2010
  12. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    This could be damaging, eventually!

    Hi

    It kinda irks me - and might also irk others more significant than I - those who have some clout! This auto-linking (to web sites) of various well-known terms and names is MORE than a pain in the butt!

    Every time I mentioned the mill - S-A-I-N-T R-E-G-I-S U. - my posting sprouted a link to a very GOOD school - Regis U. The association with a MILL is one I'm sure Regis University would not like.

    There are plenty of mills with names very close to those of distinguished real schools. This auto-linking can create undesirable (to us) benefits to the MILLS, which will once again get undeserved benefit from the association.

    This association can also be potentially deleterious to the good image of the "real" school.

    At least the MILL didn't auto-link to TV host R-E-G-I-S Philbin. He has enough clout to put an immediate end to any org. contemplating an undesirable association with his name!

    Johann
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 18, 2010
  13. rickyjo

    rickyjo New Member

    Seems like getting state licensed means less than it should in some states.

    It reminds me of the very nebulous rules that essentially allow child incarceration/inhuman punishment based only on the parents judgment (for example: my child is gay or back-talks) in "private schools" operated by WWASP and others. All but a couple states have gotten the issue taken care of, but we still have a couple who haven't taken proper action.
     
  14. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    That's for sure.

    There have been quite a few states that have been criticized for too-lax licensing laws for unaccredited schools. One education official referred to a collection of these states as the "Seven Sorry Sisters."

    Usually, there came a "crackdown" of one kind or another, as in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Wyoming and Hawaii, to name some. Sometimes the "crackdown" terms were "no more licensing - get recognized accreditation or you're closed in this state." This is exactly what happened in Wyoming. Rutherford U., Preston U. and Kennedy Western/Warren National are some of the names that are gone from Wyoming now.

    Other states re-vamped the standards and continued to license unaccredited schools which conformed to them. Hawaii successfully got rid of outright mills when the licensing standards were re-set by the work of Jeffrey Brunton, an attorney in the State Consumer Affairs Dept. The new standards had to do mostly with honesty and fair dealing. Academic quality was not really addressed in detail, although there had to be a curriculum of courses and no "instant degrees." I believe no degrees in less than a year and no more than 50% experiential credit were among the new provisions there.

    California had one of the best State-licensing procedures, with reasonable standards. The body that governed it, the BPPVE, was dismantled according to "sunset" legislation a couple of years back. For a while there was no licensing at all and the new governing body hasn't had a chance to flex its muscles yet. I'm hoping when it gets up to speed, it will be at least the equal of its worthy predecessor.

    Last point: Some people get confused as to the meaning of "State-Licensed" and think it means "State-Approved" or worse, "State-Accredited." It doesn't! :)

    Johann
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 19, 2010
  15. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    Why is it called Breyer "State?" It's not affiliated with any state or governmental agency.
     
  16. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    To fool the unwary into thinking that it is.

    -=Steve=-
     
  17. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    IMO, it should be illegal to use the phrase "State University" unless the institution is affiliated with the government.
     
  18. CalDog

    CalDog New Member

    The term "State University" does seem to be popular with unaccredited schools. For example, the Oregon ODA lists 11 unaccredited "State Universities" (including Breyer State).

    On the other hand, the term is also used by "Mountain State University", a private non-profit school in West Virginia (the "Mountain State"). MSU has held full regional accreditation since 1981, although it only began using its current name in 2001. As far as I know, its name is not an issue for West Virginians.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 21, 2010
  19. Dave Wagner

    Dave Wagner Active Member

    The name of the school is problematic but the movement from state to state is downright troublesome...
     
  20. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    Breyer "Don't know which" State University
     

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