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Department of Postsecondary Education

Bradley Byrne, Chancellor

Contact Information:

Martha Simmons

T 334.353.5892

F 334.353.5523

martha.simmons@dpe.edu

News Release

Monday, July 14, 2008

No more diploma mills:

Chancellor Bradley Byrne announces new initiatives

to shut down sham schools, better regulate other for-profits

MONTGOMERY – Alabama has a reputation as a good place to do business, but there’s one industry that is no longer welcome: diploma mills.

In a news conference Monday, Alabama Community College System Chancellor Bradley Byrne announced an aggressive new initiative to shut down fraudulent for-profit colleges and better regulate the legitimate ones.

“Fraudulent institutions do not belong in this state – period,” Byrne stated. “We are going to adhere to State Board of Education policy, increase our manpower, and strengthen our guidelines. We are not going to allow any college to commit academic or economic fraud on our citizens.”

Byrne emphasized that the new regulations, which will become effective October 1, are not meant to hinder legitimate operations. “For-profit institutions are an important part of the educational landscape throughout the United States,” he said. “In shutting down the diploma mills, we help protect the reputations of the legitimate proprietary institutions.”

In addition to much more stringent guidelines (see attached bullet list), fees will be increased to help the department pay for additional staff to adequately provide oversight to for-profit institutions, Byrne said. The private colleges also will be required to ante up a significantly higher bond to ensure that students’ investment in tuition is even better protected.

The Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education (DPE) oversees the state’s 27 public community and technical colleges and, since legislation enacted in 2004, also licenses for-profit colleges. Previously, the Department of Education handled that duty. During the past legislative session, Postsecondary sought to turn over private school licensure to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, which DPE officials contend is better equipped for the task, but the measure was defeated.

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“If Postsecondary is going to be responsible for private school licensure, then we’re going to do it right,” Byrne said. “Legitimate private school operators have told me they support our new initiatives. I’m putting the illegitimate ones on notice: We’re going to run you out of our state.”

Currently there are 258 licensed private institutions operating in Alabama, and only three full-time staff members in DPE’s Private School Licensure (PSL) Division. Despite being woefully understaffed, PSL has recently investigated and closed the books on 18 private institutions, through either rejection of applications or license revocation or non-renewal.

"For many years, Alabama has been considered one of the Seven Sorry Sisters: states that had bad laws or ineffective enforcement. These states became havens for diploma mills and substandard degree providers,” said Alan Contreras, administrator for the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization and outspoken critic of diploma mills. The other states, Contreras said, are Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

“Those of us who work in education quality control are very pleased to see the excellent recent enforcement efforts by the state of Alabama,” Contreras said. “This kind of consumer protection effort is crucial for not only your state's reputation, but for protecting the public against people with substandard credentials."

Diploma mills

While many of the institutions closed for legitimate reasons, some – notably Columbus University and Breyer State University – were operating apparent diploma mills and taking shameful advantage of hundreds of unsuspecting students.

Columbus University was issued a license to operate in Alabama in November 2007. PSL staff investigating the institution found that it was first operating out of a condo in Daphne, and later moved its address to a post office box in Mobile. PSL staff revoked Columbus University’s license in May after an intensive review of the institution uncovered a number of violations ranging from not requiring general education courses to producing degrees that are not valid or are not recognized by employers or accrediting agencies across the country.

According to the Columbus University website, the school claims to offer 128 associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. This was to be accomplished, PSL investigators learned, with only three faculty members – none of whom were qualified to teach the majority of the courses offered. In fact, some of the faculty claimed degrees awarded to them by Columbus University.

Breyer State University was issued a license to operate in the state in October 2004, and was non-renewed this June. One of the Jefferson County institution’s many violations included conferring honorary doctorates on individuals based on life and work experience, a one-time application fee and a monetary contribution to the institution. In addition, the institution offers an unheard of self-design degree program which allows the creation of a curriculum based on mentoring.

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Breyer State, according to its website, offers 74 associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs. Breyer State claimed to have 120 faculty members holding bachelor’s, graduate and post-graduate degrees, however, it was discovered that many of the faculty’s degrees did not come from accredited institutions.

Since losing its license to operate in Alabama, Breyer State moved to Idaho.

Going forward

“Next January and every January thereafter,” Byrne said, “we are going to publish an annual report card that will allow the public to see at a glance not only how our public colleges are doing, but also know exactly what they’re getting from a for-profit institution.” K-12 schools in Alabama already provide this kind of information to the public. Byrne said the annual report card will be easily accessible to the public on the Alabama Community College System’s website.

“We want to make our educational institutions completely transparent and consumer-friendly,” Byrne said. Among the details on the report card will be precise descriptions of course offerings, whether the institution is accredited by any recognized board or agency, and tuition and fees.

Byrne noted that many for-profit institutions offer the same courses available at public community or technical colleges, but at greatly increased tuition rates. “All prospective students should be able to make clear choices and be fully apprised of the cost as they are planning for their future. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous for-profits withhold cost information until the student comes in and gets pressured into signing a contract for exorbitant tuition and fees.”

The Private School Licensure Division of the department also expects to implement an online application form and other technology solutions to facilitate transparency, consistency, better monitoring and to make the process more user-friendly.

Public community colleges are committed to affordability and access, Byrne said, especially when state four-year institutions continue to increase tuition.

“It’s only fair that for-profit colleges are as transparent as public ones,” Byrne said. “If a student compares costs and program quality and still opts for the for-profits, so be it. But we think this report card will open citizens’ eyes to the quality education and comparatively modest cost of the quality education available through the Alabama Community College System.”

Victor K. Biebighauser, president of South University, Montgomery, supported the department's initiative, saying: "There is no constituency in the state more supportive of appropriate oversight and regulation to protect citizens from illegitimate diploma mills than the accredited school community.”  Biebighauser, also president of the Alabama Association of Private Colleges & Schools, an association of accredited licensed private postsecondary institutions in the state, added “The Alabama Private School License Law is a good statute, and we applaud the efforts by Chancellor Byrne to apply the provisions of the law in an appropriate and rigorous manner for the benefit of students, taxpayers, and institutions."

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