External links
- "World Association of Universities and Colleges". Archived from the original on February 7, 2011.
- Accrediting bodies NOT recognized by the United States Department of Education
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Type | Unrecognized higher education accreditor |
|---|---|
President | Maxine Asher |
The World Association of Universities and Colleges (WAUC) is an institutional educational accreditation body not recognized by the United States Department of Education. [1] It is run by Maxine Asher, director of the American World University, an unaccredited school. [2] WAUC's website claims that "laws in the U.S.A. prohibit the recognition of global accreditation associations". [3]
According to Maxine Asher's American World University, World Association of Universities and Colleges was started in 1992. [4]
In March 2001, WAUC was reported to be using an executive suite in Henderson, Nevada as its address. [5]
In 2004, Asher was forced to close down the World University of Iowa, a Hawaii-based institution similar to American World University and accredited by World Association of Universities and Colleges. [6] As part of a summary judgement, she was ordered to cease operations, refund tuition money to all students, and pay $240,000 in damages. [6] The action came as part of a statewide crackdown on unaccredited schools, as many had relocated there after 1999 in an effort to evade regulation in the mainland United States. [6] During court proceedings, Asher refused to provide school documentation such as a list of students. [6]
In June 2007, the organization's website listed an address in Beverly Hills, California and WAUC listed 57 accredited schools and 28 nonaccredited "members only" schools. [7] In 2010, it offered accreditation for limited time offer at $500. [8]
As of September 2011, WAUC's website was offline. [9]
In 2012, the World Association of Universities and Colleges claims "a membership of forty universities, with dozens of other worthy institutions in the process of application.". [4]
As of 2008, WAUC listed the following as accredited members: [10]
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."
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".
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.
Suffield University is an unaccredited internet school specializing in what it calls Life Experience Degrees, issued upon payment, with life experience assessment based on the word of the applicant. Suffield is not accredited by any accreditation body recognized by its country. According to the US Department of Education, unaccredited degrees and credits might not be acceptable to employers or other institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.
American Accrediting Association of Theological Institutions (AAATI) is a Christian nonprofit organization based in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. It was founded by Cecil Johnson, president of Christian Bible College, a distance education Bible college based in Rocky Mount North Carolina.
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.
University Degree Program (UDP) is or was an unaccredited consortium of diploma mills run by Americans Jason and Caroline Abraham beginning in the 1990s. In 2004, The Chronicle of Higher Education called UDP the "granddaddy" of diploma mill operations.
The International Accreditation Agency for Online Universities (IAAOU) is a self-styled "accreditation" board based in the United States. It has no status with the United States Department of Education (USDE) or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Without USDE and CHEA recognition, its "accreditations" are essentially meaningless.
St Clements University is a higher education institution which has reported itself to be registered in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Its website lists a number of affiliations and recognitions and a network of over 10 centres and offices in a number of countries. Since 2005 it has established locally registered autonomous schools, St Clements University Higher Education School in Niue, St Clements University in Somalia, and the Université Suisse Privée St Cléments.
The University of Beverly Hills is now defunct, UBH was an unaccredited school of arts and sciences which operated in the State of California until 2007. Its main facility was located in Beverly Hills delivering on-site and distance education programs, currently lacks association to a campus, performing arts center, or laboratory facilities.
Accrediting Commission International (ACI), also known as Accrediting Commission International for Schools, Colleges, and Theological Seminaries, possibly associated with International Accrediting Commission (IAC), also known as International Accrediting Commission for Schools, Colleges and Theological Seminaries, is an unrecognized educational accreditation corporation in the United States. It primarily accredits religious schools, including seminaries and Bible colleges, and also offers accreditation to non-U.S. schools that offer business education programs. It is on a 2009 list of accreditation mills in College and University, the journal of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
Unaccredited institutions of higher education are colleges, trade schools, seminaries, and universities which do not have formal educational accreditation.
Columbus University is an unaccredited distance education institution that has been based at different times in Louisiana and Mississippi.
The University of San Andrés is a private university located in Victoria, Buenos Aires, Argentina on the shores of the Rio de la Plata, in the metropolitan area of Greater Buenos Aires. It is a small institution, with approximately 900 undergraduate students and 500 graduate students.
In the United Kingdom a bogus college is a fake college or university used as part of an immigration and visa scam, whereby people from overseas can apply for a British student visa and illegally reside in the United Kingdom. They have also been set up as a money making scam, selling fake qualifications which have no official accreditation, often at the taxpayer's expense.
Higher education accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of post-secondary educational institutions or programs are evaluated to determine if applicable standards are met. If standards are met, accredited status is granted by the agency.
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
