American World University

Last updated

American World University
Established1990[ citation needed ]
President Maxine Asher [1]
Location
Pascagoula, Mississippi (no physical campus)
Website awuedu.org (archive)

American World University (AWU) is an unaccredited institution offering post-secondary education programs by distance learning. It has no physical campus. It awards academic degrees. In January 2000 American World University offered "all degrees" for $1,000 as a "New Years Special". [2]

Contents

History

In 1990, Maxine Asher founded AWU, which operated out of a Rapid City, South Dakota office until 2000, when an increase in Iowa standards for post-secondary institutions led it to relocate to Pascagoula, Mississippi. [3] Asher herself was based in California and died in 2016. [4]

As of 2017, its current office address is 400 South Beverly Drive, Suite 214 in Beverly Hills, California. [5]

Criticism and controversy

American World University is not accredited by any institutional accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education. [6] However, it is listed as "accredited" by the World Association of Universities and Colleges, an organization that is also run by Maxine Asher. [7]

As part of its services, AWU claims to offer people the opportunity to earn college credits based life experience and work, and to take courses at home through distance education. However, some dispute AWU's claim to provide legitimate academic services. John Bear, the author of Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees through Distance Learning, said of AWU, "Academically, there's nothing there."

In January, 2004, the State of Hawaii's Office of Consumer Protection won a lawsuit against AWU; the judgment enjoined AWU from "Providing any post-secondary instructional programs or courses leading to a degree" or "Acting as or holding themselves out as a 'college', 'academy', 'institute', 'institution', 'university' or anything similar thereto." [8] [9]

The Daily Iowan describes AWU in depth in an article entitled "Stealth U. in Iowa City duped many, experts say." [10] According to the article, Michael Lambert, the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Distance Education and Training Council said Asher applied for accreditation for AWU to his organization in 1996. He said she complained about the requirements and the paperwork and challenged him to visit her in person. He recalls flying to Iowa City and meeting her in a few empty rooms that were the headquarters of AWU. After a 30-minute meeting, Asher withdrew the application for accreditation. [10]

The same article related the experiences of a student named John Shaw, who he says he received specific assurances from Asher that the master's degree he was seeking would be acknowledged in Saudi Arabia. [10] When he applied for a job in that country, he was told that neither the degree nor the school were considered legitimate: "In fact, they told me that I was wasting my time and money studying with that school." [10]

In March 2004 The Washington Post reported that a public official was criticized for possessing a doctorate from American World University. [11] The article quoted John Bear as saying "Academically, there's nothing there," said Bear who noted "I don't call it a school, I call it a business."

As of 2006, the Los Angeles-area Better Business Bureau's report on AWU gave it a D rating, apparently based on one complaint, which the BBB says AWU "refuse[d] to adjust, relying on terms of agreement." The Mississippi Better Business Bureau, however, called AWU's record "satisfactory," again mentioning just a single complaint (presumably a different one) which, they judged, AWU had "made every reasonable effort to resolve." [12] [13]

AWU granted Ph.D. diplomas to several people who later supported the university in its literature, including Dr. Adrian Waller (a former lecturer at Nihon University in Tokyo and Mishima, Japan,) and Dr. Bruce Rosen (former Asst. Professor, Computer Science, University of Texas–San Antonio). [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

Bronte International University is an unaccredited post-secondary educational institution formerly in South Dakota. It is widely considered to be a diploma mill, operated from an unknown location. Its website offers "fast" degrees for "life experience."

A diploma mill is a company or organization that claims to be a higher education institution but provides illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee.

The World Association of Universities and Colleges (WAUC) is an institutional educational accreditation body not recognized by the United States Department of Education. It is run by Maxine Asher, director of the American World University, an unaccredited school. WAUC's website claims that "laws in the U.S.A. prohibit the recognition of global accreditation associations".

Maxine Klein Asher was an Atlantis researcher who founded and operated American World University, an institution which sold academic degrees, and the World Association of Universities and Colleges, an institution which "accredited" American World University, as well as other universities selling mail-order degrees which paid for accreditation by that body. Neither institution is accredited by any accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bircham International University</span>

Bircham International University is a private, unaccredited institution of distance-learning higher education. It is registered in Spain and the United States (Delaware), and formerly operated from the Bahamas.

Rushmore University is an unaccredited institution of higher learning offering online degrees in a variety of business-related fields, exclusively via distance learning. It has been described as a diploma mill, providing illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee.

Madison University is a non-accredited distance learning college located in Gulfport, Mississippi. The state of Mississippi considers Madison an "unapproved" college. Madison is also listed as an unaccredited and/or substandard institution by four other U.S. states. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Madison University has been referred to as a diploma mill by the state of Oregon.

Knightsbridge University is a private distance learning institution based in Denmark that caters mostly to English speaking people. It was founded in 1991 by Henrik Fyrst Kristensen. Although the school is based in Denmark, John Bear's guide states that Knightsbridge was formerly incorporated in Liberia and at time of publication was incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda, while using a mailing address in Scotland.

Almeda University was an unaccredited for-profit online university registered on the Caribbean island of Nevis. It offered illegitimate degrees including online certificate programs, general "Life Experience Degrees", and doctorates in religion and theology. Almeda was accredited by the Council for Distance Education Accreditation, the Interfaith Education Ministries (IEM), and the Association for Online Academic Excellence (AOAEX), none of which were recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Almeda University is widely regarded as a diploma mill. It was owned and operated by Pakistani software company Axact.

Abraham Lincoln University (ALU) is a private, for-profit online university based in Glendale, California.

Name It and Frame It? is a 1993 book, written by Steve Levicoff, about unaccredited Christian colleges and universities, exploring the accreditation process and the nature of legitimate and illegitimate unaccredited institutions of higher learning. The fourth edition contains updated information and responses from some of the surveyed schools. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation, the National Center for Science Education, the Palm Beach Post, the Seattle Times, and the New York Post have mentioned the book as a resource. Additionally, it has been cited by numerous authors, including Julie Anne Duncan, Douglas Flather, John Bear and Allen Ezell.

The American University of London (AUOL) is an online diploma mill. The company disputes the label and instead describes itself as a for-profit unaccredited educational institution offering undergraduate and graduate degrees solely by distance learning. It is a different organization than the American University in London.

Columbus University is an unaccredited distance education institution that has been based at different times in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Washington International University is an online unaccredited institution of higher education founded in 1994 and currently incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. It describes itself as a "cyberspace university" and a "university without borders", serving clients from around the world online. The university website states that WIU's graduates have come from 112 countries.

Bienville University was an unaccredited institution that was based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was run by Thomas J. Kirk. Bienville University was referred to as a diploma mill or degree mill in a 2003 article by KVBC News 3. It was never recognised or approved by any accreditation agency and was not approved by the US Department of Education nor the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and has been closed by the State of Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diploma mills in the United States</span>

A diploma mill is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without academic approval by officially recognized educational accrediting bodies or qualified government agencies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit. These degrees are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some organizations claim accreditation by non-recognized/unapproved accrediting bodies set up for the purposes of providing a veneer of authenticity.

Lloyd E. Clayton Jr. is an American naturopath who established three for profit educational institutions in Birmingham, Alabama. The schools he founded are Clayton College of Natural Health, the American Institute of Computer Science, and Chadwick University. He also owns a business that sells herbal and homeopathic products.

Warren National University, previously known as Kennedy-Western University, was an unaccredited private distance learning university that claimed to offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in the United States from 1984 to 2009. It has been described by federal investigators and news sources as a diploma mill, a designation it has disputed. Its administrative offices were located in Agoura Hills, California.

References

  1. ↑ Message from the President, American World University, 2012
  2. ↑ American World University from 2005
  3. ↑ Bartlett, Thomas and Scott Smallwood (2004). "Maxine Asher Has a Degree for You" (http). The Chronicle of Higher Education . Archived from the original on 26 February 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2006.
  4. ↑ "Maxine Asher Obituary", tributes.com via "Gates, Kingsley & Gates Praiswater Mortuary", accessed December 2, 2017
  5. ↑ "Contact Confirmation". American World University. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  6. ↑ "Accreditation Database and Information". Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Archived from the original on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-18.
  7. ↑ World Association of Universities and Colleges list of schools Archived November 1, 2004, at the Wayback Machine May 2006
  8. ↑ "Lawsuit from Office of Consumer Protection" (PDF). State of Hawaii. 2005. Retrieved 2006-08-18.
  9. ↑ Tang, Heather (2000-05-26). "State dominates the $200 million quick-degree industry". Pacific Business News. Retrieved 2006-08-18.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Foley, Ryan (January 27, 2003). "'Stealth U' in Iowa City duped many, experts say". Daily Iowan. Archived from the original on 2008-02-01. Retrieved 2006-08-18.
  11. ↑ Paul Schwartzman. Johnson Deputy Defends Degree Unaccredited School Granted Doctorate. The Washington Post May 21, 2004; Page B01
  12. ↑ The Better Business Bureau of the Southland, Inc., report on company ID 100029797
  13. ↑ The Better Business Bureau of Mississippi, Inc., report on company ID 6001227 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2006-04-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ↑ "Excerpts from Letters". American World University. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.