TUI For Sale!

Touro University International never went through candidacy in California. In fact, it never went through candidacy in New York either. It was originally accredited by Middle States through a Touro College 'substantial change' process.

When Middle States grew concerned about the scale of the Touro operations in California and told Touro to get Touro University International and Touro University-California (the osteopathic college in Vallejo) accredited by WASC, WASC also seems to have used an abbreviated process. They probably used much of the documentation and conclusions that had already been generated by Middle States.

If Touro University International's sale actually happens, WASC would want to assure themselves that all of the necessary functions and procedures were still working effectively in the new regime. Since they are already working now, I don't know why I should expect that everything will suddenly unravel.

It's hard to know what kind of administrative arrangements new owners will bring. If the new owners are some kind of investment group that intends to run TUI as a stand-alone proprietary distance-learning university, the current arrangements will probably continue largely intact.

But if the new owners are an existing B&M university seeking an instant turn-key method of moving online in a big way, many administrative functions now handled by TUI might be taken over by the new parent school. TUI's separate existence and accreditation might fade away as they are absorbed into an existing school or into a new entity, if that's how it all eventually plays out.

An example is US International University buying California Schools of Professional Psychology and rolling it all into a new Alliant International University. CSPP lost its separate name and WASC accreditation in the transaction, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing since the new Alliant is still RA.

WASC will also want to be confident that the new financial arrangements are consistent with TUI's continued stability and viability, in whatever form that takes. I'd guess that TUI's already profitable, so that shouldn't be a big problem unless it's terribly mismanaged.

Frankly, I'm a little skeptical of Touro College's existing management. They were running full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal saying that TUI was regionally accredited before Middle States had even come to a decision on the original substantive change application. Then Touro burped up its new osteopathic college in Vallejo, and before that was even fully up and running, construction was underway on another new "branch" osteopathic college in Las Vegas (in the Northwest Association's territory). Then there was the new B&M Touro College in Los Angeles that was advertising itself as fully accredited by WASC before it had even opened its doors or taught its first class. It hasn't appeared on WASC's site visit schedule and still doesn't appear in the WASC directory. And then there are the international Touros in places like Russia... Touro seems like an institution that pushes the envelope very aggressively and plays extremely close to the edge, which aren't necessarily good things to see in a university. Touro University International might actually be better off if it can distance itself from that. Depends on who buys it, I guess.

My guess (that's all it is) is that the explosively expanding Touro empire could easily be in debt up to its eyeballs. If so, then that could explain why they are suddenly interested in selling assets and in generating cash.

Bottom line, if this Touro University International sale happens, it could conceivably be a good thing for TUI, depending on who buys it and why. There's no reason to fear for its accreditation at this point.

 

We know that the school is up for sale so that part is not groundless speculation, l agree losing its accreditation is speculative talk but it's not entirely groundless. There are many scenarios that could happen here one of which is that TUI is sold to a company that has a lower reputation than TUI currently holds. This is what troubles me the most not the possibility of losing its accreditation. Personally, I think that TUI will retain it (which is also speculative).

Susanna

 

Let's be realistic here:

• What kind of bills does a 100% online university really have, espicially when one considers that online schools tend to use more adjuncts than tenured professors, so there is less retirement to pay.
• And TUI certainly hasn't been existence long enough to be paying out retirement salaries.
• Additionally, just how many tenured professors does TUI have, if any? And how does the percentage of tentured professors at TUI compare to the percentage of tenured professors at a B&M?
• And how much overhead is there with a 100% online operation?

All of these issues tend to keep costs down and, hence, profits high. How can a 100% online school possibly NOT be making giant profits?

 

I think there is a strong possibility of name change by whoever buys TUI. Its just me thinking