Is there a legit Kensington University?

Really? You heart that?

 

Accredited by whom?

 

Dear Bruce

It so happens that I am one of the graduates of KU and I do agree with you that indeed when I have followed two programs of study back in the 80s I had to work for 4 years to earn them.
M.Sc. in International Management, June 1982 and
Ph.D. Economics, March 1984

I wonder if you could assist me in getting in touch, by email or fax, to any KU official who can provide me with a confirmation that as it results from their records I have indeed earned those degrees.

This is badly needed to present it to my employer.

If you can help it will be highly appreciated.

Alternatively it would also help if you could guide me as to which state department might keep records of the KU graduates, as that department might be able to provide me with the confirmation I need.

Thank you very much
ioannis

 

Try officials in Hawaii (Office of Consumer Protection) or California (BPPVE). A little research should lead you to the correct places.

Better hope your employer doesn't have an internet connection: Kensington University Faces Closure Hearing - Los Angeles Times

 

I earned my B.A. degree in Administration of Justice. I worked my rear end off to earn that degree. I was up all hours of the night reading and researching as well as writing papers. It was the hardest thing in the world to learn this way. It by far was not a diploma mill.....trust me............

 

P.S. I earned my degree back in 1992.............I guess things really changed later on.

 

I find it unfortunate when we find someone who worked very hard for a resume time bomb. By 1992, there were a plethora of accredited options.

There was a 15-year-or-so period (mid '70's through the '80's) when considering a degree from an unaccredited school (not on an accreditation track) might have been a reasonable thing, especially for some graduate degrees. But even during that period there were accredited options (the "Big Three") at the bachelor's level. Cheap, too. Really no reason to do a bachelor's at a California-Authorized school, even then.

 

Kensington never had recognized accreditation but they were California Approved for many years, and their law degrees did qualify people to sit for the California Bar exam. For most (perhaps all) of their quarter century-or-so of operation, they were owned and operated by a law firm (Calabro, Calabro and Calabro). I recall being fairly impressed on one long visit there--late 80s I think--when I spend an afternoon going through the Master's theses and doctoral dissertations they had accepted. Clearly a lot of people did a lot of work.

 

I graduated there too and it was alot of work!

Just like Ionis, I too, graduated from Kensington. I was an ER social worker at the time and one of the benefits was that they would pay for two classes per semester. When I asked about which colleges they would pay for, they gave me a list of them and Kensington was on it. I asked both Kensington and HR at the hospital what the difference was between accredited and non-accredited. I had no idea at the time. Both told me that accredited serves people going into the academic fields and is a requirement. However, both also said that the non-accredited would greatly increase my career advancement options. I had to also look at price - what I could afford if I didn't still work there before I finished my degree - and I looked at the programs. They had a great M.A. of Psychology Program and I found out that my hero - Dr. Susan Forward - who wrote the books " Men Who Hate Women and Women Who Love Them" and "Women Who Love Too Much" among other great books, and who also had her own talk show and was a widely reknowned Psychologist received her degree from there. That for me, sealed the deal.

I worked either one or two classes at a time. A year later, I was offered another - better job - elsewhere and that meant paying for it myself. I finished all the classes within two years but delayed for my Final project for another two years. During that time, my work was harshly critiqued and each assignment required an hour phone meeting with the professors, who went over every detail. We discussed concepts, reasons why I chose to write from the perspective I did and much more. I got good grades - mostly a A's, a couple of B's - but make no mistake! They did not come easy. I still have all of the text books for every class and every written evaluation for every assignment and class. My B.S. was from an accredited State University.

Now here I am, 50 years old, relocated and job hunting for my 4th year. I just found out today from ITT Tech that it shows up as unverifiable - and who knows how else - on my resume. They stated that I should have left it off. I know that it was used as a huge political weapon back in the early 90's to combat political proponents who had graduated from there. Also, why would California allow the law grads to take their bar exams from there if it was sub-standard?

What I was told by the State office in Hawaii and California was that Calabro took on partners around 1999-2001 and they began making it more of a degree mill. This ruined it for all of those previously who had worked so hard.

I kept wondering why I wasn't getting jobs with over 20 years of experience and also as a consultant. Now I'm wondering if this is why. (The last time I needed to job hunt was in the mid-80's. I am distraught! Two years of a big waste of time and money!

Is there any help out there for grads who are experiencing this? And for those who say there was no need to go to correspondence schools in the 80's or 90's, some of us worked full-time with children so that was more time we had to be home with them, even if we were doing homework.