Graduate LaSalle University, Mandeville, Louisiana

Assuming the individual really knew the diploma was worthless, dissonance theory provides some explanation for the pursuit of substandard degrees... Some people may work hard to complete a degree, even though the requirements are obviously less than they are fulfilling. The reason is that the extra effort is one way to reduce the dissonance of earning a worthless degree; the degree could subjectively seem more valuable. One could also try to argue that generally people don't really think that the degree is worthless. Still, one could find a group of people who think the degree is not worthless and stop thinking about people who do think it is worthless.

 

I think your explanation makes a lot of sense. It is still sad but it makes sense. For example, there's one fellow that used to spend a lot of effort supporting Kennedy-Western. He claimed to have taken over ten classes for his KWU engineering Bachelor's degree. I don't think KWU ever really required anyone to take over seven classes for any degree. They didn't even seem to bother creating more than seven or eight classes in any degree program. At first I assumed that he was simply lying about taking so many classes. I eventually decided that he was just too honest of a fellow to do anything like that. Your explanation makes wonderful sense in his case. It is still sad for him because he seems to not even try to defend KWU/WNU anymore since they failed getting accreditation and closed down.

 

LaSalle Degree

I am one of those victims. I was never notified by any government agency. The school notified me they were closing due to not being able to continue operations due to the government forcing them to close. They never told me they were being shut down due to the reason we all know now. They sent me notarized copies and 5 copies of my transcript in sealed envelopes. I never thought much about it until recently a potential employee told me my degree was fake. I could not believe it and began to research. I found that it was a big problem, that now I have to fix. Therefore, I'm moving forward but could use some assistance for this forum. If you have any old La Salle University catalogs that provide the summary of the course for the period of 1995 – 1999, I would like to obtain them . There is a legitimate university that may be willing to allow some of the course taken towards a new degree. However I need the catalogs for them to access. If they will allow any course I’ll let this forum know which school they are and will return the catalogs to the person who provide them. Maybe all is not lost.

 

Dear l7187

If you earned your LaSalle degree(s) after June or July of 1997, the strategy you suggest may have merit, since they were undeniably operating legally (albeit without accreditation) from then on. Before that: extremely unlikely, since, despite having catalogues that described coursework, the FBI provided ample evidence that degrees were being given for no work at all.

I've got 3 or 4 fat folders of LaSalle stuff in storage, much of it related to the time they sued me for millions** because they didn't like what I was writing about them, but it's possible there are later catalogues. I'll check, as time permits.
______________
**Not long after, Kirk/McPherson pleaded guilty to doing just what I said he was doing, and was sent to federal prison.

 

LaSalle University Degree

I graduate in March of 1999 which is in the period of time that the school was operating legally. According to one University that I’m working with they were accredited during that period and they will accept some of the credits from my degree toward a new degree if I can product copies of my work, testing and catalog page for that course. I have everything accept for a copy of the catalog page. Therefore if I could obtain copies of any catalogs, I could find the description of the course and submit my course work for evaluation. This is an expensive process but will save years off obtaining a new accredited degree from a well established University. If you would be so kind as to help me out I would really appreciate it.

 

LaSalle University Degree

Dear John Bear

I graduate in March of 1999 which is in the period of time that the school was operating legally. According to one University that I’m working with they were accredited during that period and they will accept some of the credits from my degree toward a new degree if I can product copies of my work, testing and catalog page for that course. I have everything accept for a copy of the catalog page. Therefore if I could obtain copies of any catalogs from 1995 – 1999, I could find the description of the course and submit my course work for evaluation. This is an expensive process but will save years off obtaining a new accredited degree from a well established University. If you would be so kind as to help me out I would really appreciate it.

 

Later the same day

Dear 17187

I have now found the following:

LaSalle University Procedures Manual for 1997 (48 pages)
Degree Requirements letter for a BA in Business, 1997 (only one I have)
Quarterly News for March 1997, which describes the new board in detail
Initial inquiry response brochure (undated), 8 pages

It should all fit in a large priority mail envelope. If this might help, and you send me your name and address and $4.95 in stamps (i.e. one Priority Mail stamp), I'll send it to you, with the understanding you will make copies and promptly return it to me. I will not mention your name here or anywhere else.

It occurred to me that you might also want to check various versions of the LaSalle website (www.distance.edu) using the Wayback Machine at www.archive.org. If it is available, there may be useful information to be found.

John Bear, 853 Shevlin Drive, El Cerrito CA 94530, [email protected]

 

Wow!

This board has some extremely helpful, knowledgeable people willing to go out of their way for strangers. I'm impressed.

 

Hey, I have never heard of LaSalle, but I do live in Mandeville, Louisiana. I am really sorry for your news about your degree there, so if there is anything I can do, please let me know.

 

For what it's worth, LaSalle was never accredited, so the information the school you were talking to gave you was wrong.

If I were you, I would try to ask discreetly if the school ever transfers credits from unaccredited schools; it would be very, very rare (but not totally unheard of) for them to do so, and I would want to check a little further before putting a bunch of time in, because if the guy is confusing "legally operating in the state of Louisiana" with "accredited", you may waste a bunch of time and not be any further along.

 

This is a little off topic, but I wonder if LaSalles University in Philadelphia would have any rights for legal action against this school. Did the unaccredited school make a point to differentiate itself? Just curious.

 

"I wonder if LaSalles University in Philadelphia would have any rights for legal action against this school. Did the unaccredited school make a point to differentiate itself?"

There have been more than a few cases where a legitimate school either sued or got an injunction against a fake school. Indeed, when LaSalle's founder went to prison, he promptly started Edison University from his prison cell, and the real Thomas Edison State got an injunction. So he changed it to Addison. They got another injunction. So he changed it to Acton. The real Washington University in St. Louis successfully sued the fake Washington University in Pennsylvania (which changed its name to Washington International). And I believe the real Regis University successfully sued the fake St. Regis U. That sort of thing.

 

'94 graduate

I can certainly identify with Lost4Words and all of the other graduates of LaSalle. I too worked very hard on my Master's degree. I had worked for a major computer manufacturer for 27 years in various positions from computer maintenance, systems engineering, sales & marketing and strategy. At the time I had an Associate Degree in Electronic Engineering. For most of those 27 years I competed successfully with colleagues with various advanced degrees. When I left I wanted to find a way to get a Master's degree but also felt that my life experience should count for something. I researched many institutions (including traditional universities) and eventually chose LaSalle because I was convinced that it was not a "diploma mill". I needed to submit a portfolio containing every educational course that I attended in the company with information about content, duration and objectives. In addition, a detailed resume was included. It was only after that was evaluated that my LaSalle course requirements were defined. Another point that gave me some confidence in this institution was that one of the courses that I needed to complete (Basic Business Law) used the same books as my son was using at Syracuse University.

I have just recently retired as a Vice President of Information Services with a nationally renowned health care organization. I have spoken numerous times at local, regional and national events as well as having been published more than a dozen times.

My degree from LaSalle did not help me do my job but did help me to get it. Still, I have always been a bit embarrassed about it. It was accredited at the time that I was involved with them but there still seems to be some stigma attached to any education not emanating from the traditional “bricks & mortar” institutions. I am more convinced than ever that life experiences should count.

 

Moving forward

I've done a lot of research and found that you almost have to start over. Univeristy of Phoenix will allow some of the credits throw a PLA program. This is expensive and takes a lot of time to prove your knowledge. On the other hand you can CLEP or Dante test a number of the required courses. Most schools have limit to how many of these credits you can bring in. The ranges I have ran accross is 21 - 30 credits. Some schools will also allow you to challenge their course with a school final exam. This is a great option. If you want to skip all this you can go to www.ebsglobal.net. This school will allow you to go into a Master program once you have passed 2 of their courses. This is a great option if you do well on self study and exams. In any of these cases you are for the most part starting over. This really sucks but that is what it is so my recommendation is to move forward and get a new degree. If you put LaSalle on your resume you may get the interview but could kill your chances to get the job in the end or maybe you get the job then get fired later. I would not chance it. Signed one of those who was a victim. Note was a victim! Now I'm moving forward.

I want to thank Dr. John Bear for his help and assistance during this process. He is a very nice person and has done a lot for me in my education process to move forward. Thank you again Dr. John Bear.

 

"If you earned your LaSalle degree(s) after June or July of 1997, the strategy you suggest may have merit, since they were undeniably operating legally (albeit without accreditation) from then on. Before that: extremely unlikely, since, despite having catalogues that described coursework, the FBI provided ample evidence that degrees were being given for no work at all."

In reference to the above quote from a previous post, I am curious about the status of my degree. I began studying at LaSalle in October of 96 and graduated in September of 98. This timeframe bridges the "unaccredited bogus" degree period and the "unaccredited legally operating" period. How should I describe my degree to others, as a bogus degree earned at a diploma mill or a legitimate degree earned at an unaccredited but legally operating university?

Thank you for your help

 

This is a difference without distinction. Legal or no, degrees awarded by LaSalle or its progeny, Orion, are not really degrees. But if you wish, you can certainly go on pretending, assuming you don't get caught. Good luck.

 

It is a time bomb you carry about. Some time bombs go off, some don't. There is no simple answer. The safest solution, of course, is not to mention it at all, ever . . . and then to complete a degree at a properly-accredited school. There are many thousands of people still using their LaSalle degrees in various ways. Some will suffer greatly, some will never suffer at all. Louisiana roulette.

 

Newbie necromances three year old thread. Interesting reading.

 

Legal or not....

I'm sorry but I don't think you answered my question. I do understand that Orion was not acredited but was working on its accreditation; so the degree for Orion is not legal because it was not acredited or because it was part of the so call mill. If it is the latter, then I think you are contradicting yourself in the post I quoted with my initial question.

No, I don't want to continue pretending nor assuming, I know I studied and I know I attended the graduation, and I know I met the "professors". I also know that my final project has touched twelve nations including Kenya, Uganda, and India, so I didn't loose my time nor my money and as of now I'm retired so I don't need to pretend nor assume anything; I just want a straight answer, is it not legal because Orion never got accredited or because it is tied to LaSalle?

Thank you,

 

From Wikipedia: LaSalle University after Kirk's imprisonment

According to John Bear, in 1997 LaSalle University was sold to new owners who operated it as a legitimate operation until January 1999 (however, during this period some students were still doing substandard work for the old LaSalle programs). It continued to operate under the LaSalle name from January 1999 until October 2000, during which time all academic work was intended to meet accepted academic standards. Beginning in October 2000 and continuing until its final closure in the summer of 2002 it used the name Orion College.[7] Pat Brister, a leader of the national and Louisiana Republican Party, served as chief executive officer and chairman of the trustees of Orion College during its brief existence.[9]

The actions of LaSalle were illegal, that is why the owner(s) was/were prosecuted. LaSalle(AKA Orion) was operating legitimate(whatever that means under Louisiana laws) after that. Still associate with the stigma of everything that happened, it can be assumed(or least many people assumed) that the new operation was not trustworthy. Hence, guilty by association.