AIU London

Because American University in Dubai claims US accreditation through its US parent, American Intercontinental University, I have followed the accreditation probation of AIU closely. What I missed until today, was that over a year ago, the London campus also came under the scrutiny of accreditors:

Quality watchdogs have privately delivered their first vote of "no confidence" in the academic standards of an entire university following a routine audit.

The Times Higher [Education Supplement] has learnt that the American InterContinental University in London (AIU London) has been informed by the Quality Assurance Agency that it has failed an audit carried out by a team of inspectors last year [2005].
...
It is understood that the judgment is being disputed by the private London institution, which is led by Geoffrey Alderman, an outspoken critic of the QAA [link added]. Thus the official verdict may not be made public for months and could be changed before publication.
...
Professor Alderman is a former QAA inspector himself. So he will have known what was at stake when he put the AIU forward to be audited by the inspectors. An approval from the inspectors would have provided a powerful marketing tool for the university.

A negative judgment would come as a major personal blow to Professor Alderman. As senior vice-president of AIU London, he led the audit process.
...
AIU is understood to be considering legal action against the OUVS, blaming it for the damaging judgment. Its lawyers were due to meet OU officials this week. An OU spokesman said it had written to AIU London in December "advising it of our intention to end the accreditation agreements".
...
As a private institution, AIU London is not obliged by law to submit to QAA inspection. It is understood that this voluntary status could form the basis of its dispute with the QAA.

More: American Intercontinental first to fail new QAA audit April, 2006 (subscription required).
The QAA audit of AIUL is here.

This google result for "AIU London QAA" is revealing and amusing:

[PDF] AMERICAN INTERCONTINENTAL UNIVERSITY File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML AIU-London is the. first American institution of higher education to be admitted to QAA membership. Whereas. British taxpayer-funded universities have to be ...www.aiustudyabroad.com/pdf/Grading_Procedures.pdf - Similar pages

Update on US accreditation issues surrounding American University in Dubai

Over at UAE community blog, I've posted an update on the continuing probation of AUD's US parent, AIU.

Get out of probation visits to AIU campuses :: Yahoo message board

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools was scheduled to visit American Intercontinental University campuses in October. SACS placed AIU on probation last year.

I wonder if they visited the London or Dubai (AUD) campuses each of which claim U.S. accreditation as branches of AIU.

Press Release

Quote:

Career Education is an industry leader whose gold-standard brands are recognized globally. Those brands include, among others, the Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America; the Harrington College of Design; the Brooks Institute of Photography; the Katharine Gibbs Schools; American InterContinental University; Colorado Technical University and Sanford-Brown Institutes and Colleges. The mission of CEC, through its schools, its educators, and its employees is education--their primary goal, to enable students to graduate successfully and pursue rewarding careers.

Meanwhile:

But the school, which has seven campuses, including two in Atlanta and one in Dubai, and another in London, and an online division, has been put on probation by the Commission on Colleges Southern Association of Colleges and Schools for all of 2006, according to its website.

The AIU website boasts that it is fully accredited.

The Commission website says staff will not comment further on questions related to AIU, but explained that probation "is the most serious sanction short of loss of membership."

AIU's status will be reviewed in December. The school offers associate degrees and bachelor's degrees in such areas as business administration and criminal justice. It also offers master degrees in information technology and education.

Career Ed dissident shareholder offers turnaround plan :: Crain's Chicago Business

Career Ed owns American Intercontinental University (AIU) the parent of American University in Dubai (AUD). Here's some of the latest on Career Ed:

Career Ed recently received three good pieces of news: the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission recommended ending a probe of claims that the company overstated enrollment and revenue; a California judge voided the probation of one of the company's schools; and a federal judge for a second time dismissed a class-action investor lawsuit against the company (although the case can be brought one more time).

Career Ed still faces investigations by the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, and California, Texas and New Jersey authorities, as well as lawsuits by current and former students and employees.

The SEC news was enough for several analysts to upgrade Career Ed's stock from an "underperform" to a "neutral," including Matthew Litfin, an analyst at William Blair & Co. in Chicago. . . . Career Ed's shares have dropped 47% since hitting a high in April 2004, closing Monday at $37.17, down 26 cents from Friday.
. . .
Hoffman Estates-based Career Ed operates for-profit colleges and trade schools around the U.S., enrolling about 104,000 students. In December, the company's American InterContinental University (AIU) was placed on probation by its accrediting agency, which cited concerns about the integrity of student academic records and accuracy in recruiting and admission practices.
. . .
If Career Ed can't address the accreditor's concerns, AIU could lose its accreditation and its access to federal student loan dollars. Such loans make up 62% of Career Ed's tuition revenue.
. . .
"Their operating costs are way too high," Mr. Bostic says. "When you recruit as many students as they do who don't finish, you spend all that money to bring them into the school and then you have to replace them. The cost of replacement is in the thousands of dollars." Mr. Bostic says Career Ed does not disclose its graduation rate, but he says, "We know that far too many students enter the programs and then leave." A spokeswoman said the company's 60% graduation rate, as of May 2005, is, in fact, publicly reported and is "higher than the aggregated percentage for public schools, is in line with aggregated percentage for private schools, and continues to exceed most of CEC’s competitors in the for-profit sector.

A for-profit college is under investigation for pumping up enrollment while skimping on education :: Chronicle of Higher Education: 1/13/2006

See also the conversation thread at RipOffReport.

In the United States. Not the United Arab Emirates.

Appalling that an institution, American Intercontinental University of Atlanta, would care more about whether students STARTED than whether ever they graduated. But such were the perverse incentives in places - and no doubt those can be traced back somehow to poorly designed/administered US and state government financial aid/loan programs.

Perhaps the parent, AIU, should be bought out by the affiliate, American University in Dubai which holds its US accreditation through AIU. It wouldn't be the first time such a purchase of US universities occured to The Emirates Economist. Everything is for sale at the right price. Right?

Site Meter - Counter and Statistics Tracker

Many visitors to this site arrive as the result of a google search. My favorite today was searching "AIU accreditation losing". The visitor's IP address: AIU/Career Education Corp located in Schaumbury, IL. Their search took them to this post.

American University in Dubai
Words and webpage out of sync

Recently, the executive vice president of AUD made this statement:

Whatever is taking place in the United States with the AIU has nothing to do with Dubai.

AUD's own website page on accreditation says:

The American University in Dubai is a branch campus of American InterContinental University, Atlanta, Georgia. American InterContinental University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award Associate, Bachelor's, and Master's degrees. This umbrella accreditation includes all approved branch campuses of the University, including AUD operating in Dubai.

And that statement isn't buried; it's the first item on the page. At one point AUD was happy to claim accreditation through AIU. But when AIU's accreditor puts it on probation, AUD denies there are any consequences for AUD students. There is contradiction between

1. Saying "nothing to do with" AIU's probation by its accreditor

and

2. Saying that your US accreditation falls under the "umbrella accreditation of the University [AIU] and its approved branch campuses."

American University in Dubai to remain accredited :: Emirates Today

Quote:

Diplomas and credit hours from the American University in Dubai (AUD) will remain accredited despite action taken against the university’s parent body in the United States.

A report in the Chicago Tribune said that the American InterContinental University (AIU) was in danger of losing its accreditation after it was put on probation for two years for not meeting the commission’s requirements, which included filing reports on time.The action was taken by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

“Whatever is taking place in the United States with the AIU has nothing to do with Dubai,” said Elias Bousaab, executive vice-president of AUD.

Bousaab said even if the umbrella institute should fail to meet those conditions, certification for the Dubai franchise came from the UAE’s Ministry of Education and would not be affected.

“Regardless of what happens with AIU, we still have separate accreditation, which we submitted to the Southern Association commission a few months ago. It is being processed right now,” Bousaab said, responding to concerns that AUD students may find their education discredited should they shift to America.

UPDATE: The Bermuda Sun provides information from the subscription-only story from the Chronicle of Higher Education:

Doubts raised over U.S. university

An American college that recently held a student recruitment drive in Bermuda has been put on probation by its accrediting body, but the reasons aren’t clear.

According to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education this week, as American InterContinental University (AIU) was being reaccredited in 2002, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) gave it two years to correct a number of problems related to ‘institutional effectiveness’.
. . .
The article quoted bank analyst Jeffrey Silber as saying the school’s problems seem to stem from “noncompliance with certain core requirements, such as programme content, full-time faculty, integrity of students’ academic records, and admissions policies, as well as non-compliance with standards such as governance, and administrative structure, and institutional effectiveness”.

He was citing a discussion he had with a SACS official about AIU.
. . .
AIU has five accredited campuses in the U.S. and two overseas, in addition to online-only programmes.
Total enrolment at the American campuses and online is about 30,000.

More - top investor's criticism:

We are troubled by recent CECO comments about the "excellent" relationship between CECO and one of the industry's top accreditation bodies, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). SACS has placed CECO's crown jewel, American InterContinental University (AIU), directly on probationary status, not wasting time on a warning period. CECO's comments were misleading and the stock fell nearly 12% on that news. Everything is definitely not O.K. at CECO these days. Where is the accountability?

More - industry analysis of Career Education Corp.

More - American InterContinental University website states:

American InterContinental University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award Associate, Bachelor's and Master's degrees. This umbrella accreditation includes the following branch campuses of the University: AIU-Buckhead; AIU-Dunwoody; AIU-South Florida; AIU-Houston; AIU-London; AIU-Los Angeles; AIU-Online (originating in Illinois); and American University-Dubai.

Emphasis added.

Later - More. See what Steve Bostik, Career Education Corporation's largest shareholder, wrote in May of 2005:

The irony is that, in less than one year our Company's earnings have continued to grow, but CECO stockholders have suffered a staggering $4 billion decline in market value. I believe that CECO's dismal stock market performance reflects a profound lack of investor confidence in CECO's future. . . . I believe that CECO's Board has allowed management to lose sight of the Company's primary mission of providing quality education services; under these directors, CECO management has sacrificed the quality of student programs, resulting in the severe escalation of student attrition - all for the sake of a "top-line growth strategy" that cannot be sustained. At the same time, our Company has been besieged by regulatory, accreditation and legal problems amid serious allegations related to management's conduct and operation of the business.

Over the past two years, the "black clouds" have persisted, despite CECO's strong earnings performance:

* Complaints to accreditation agencies, including ACCSCT(2) and SACS(2),
some of which have resulted in accreditation warnings and schools placed
on probation;
* Multiple class-action lawsuits against CECO and its senior management,
and derivative lawsuits against the CECO directors;
* SEC and Department of Justice investigations, and EEOC(3) findings of
sexual harassment at CECO schools;
* Negative media coverage of the company, including a "60 Minutes" expose.

Emphasis added.

And, one more thing, from Inside Higher Ed:

in a year in which it faced a court fight over the revocation of the accreditation of Edward Waters College, the accrediting group stopped short of any such actions this time around — which its officials insist had nothing to do with the legal challenge.

The American University of Dubai & Sharjah? :: AMEInfo

Did I miss the merger announcement? No, American University in Dubai and American University of Sharjah are very much independent. In this case the confusion was probably simply an editor's error. More generally, the similarity in names leads many to assume the institutions are related. They're not.

About AUD and its connection to American InterContinental University here, here and here.

About AUS and its connection to American University.