Beware of Northcentral

[RAW]

Here is something else that was passed on to me. Ever notice that NCU does not have a Wikipedia entry? The reason is that when the following was posted to their Wiki page the school was unable to refute it factually and so had the entire page closed down.

NCU Controversy

For the past two decades NCU's president Dr. Donald Hecht has been dogged by allegations of scandal and impropriety in the operation of higher education entities.

1. Balin Institute of Technology. On September 6, 1991, Administrative Law Judge John F. Cook ordered that Hecht's Balin Institute of Technology pay a $500,000.00 fine and terminated its eligibility to participate in student financial assistance programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. (Dkt. No. 90-67-ST) http://www.ed-oha.org/cases/1990-67-st.html

On March 26, 1992, the same Judge Cook ordered that Hecht's Balin Institute of Technology reimburse the United States Department of Education in the amount of $172,469.05 and reimburse lenders in the amount of $76,167.00. (Dkt. No. 90-84-SP) http://www.ed-oha.org/cases/1990-84-sp.html

Neither the fine nor any reimbursement ever has been paid.

2. American University of Hawaii (AUH). On May 17, 2006, Judge Shackley F. Raffetto of the Second Circuit Court of the State of Hawaii found that AUH had issued degrees in violation of the laws of the state, and that in so doing also had violated the state's laws against unfair competition and unfair or deceptive business practices.

The court found that AUH was incorporated in 1994 by Hecht's fianc?e, Carol Sue Fazio, who owned all its stock. Hecht provided AUH with its initial courses, curriculum, handbooks, dissertation handbook, and other academic materials, as well as its initial equipment and supplies, and he also designed and created the logo and motto of AUH.

The court described the AUH degree issuing scheme in its Findings of Fact:

"As a part of its degree issuing operations, Defendant AUH acts as the center of a hub of foreign universities located in different nations. Defendant AUH and these universities recruit and teach non-US-resident students. The student is required to pay tuition to the affiliate foreign university, located in the foreign country. In turn, Defendant AUH requires the affiliate to pay five percent of the tuition monies received to Defendant AUH. After the non-US-resident, foreign student has completed course work and after the fee is paid to Defendant AUH, Defendant AUH will issue the student an AUH degree, referred to as an "American" degree."

The enlistment of overseas agents to recruit and "teach" foreign students, and issuance of foreign degrees based on payment of a "fee," is a pattern of conduct typically associated with Hecht's operations.

http://www.hawaii.gov/dcca/areas/ocp/udg...ibit-a.pdf

3. Southern California University of Professional Studies (SCUPS). Another Hecht operation, founded in 1978 in Santa Ana, California.

The February 1995 issue of Spy Magazine reported on a "sting" operation in which a number of schools, including SCUPS, agreed to sell their undercover reporter various degrees. The SCUPS price, Spy reported, was $10,000.
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.educa...af7adcf216


In the April 25, 1997, issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education where there is an article headlined "Thailand Cracks Down on Diploma Mills," in which author Tony Gillotte reports that SCUPS operations in Thailand caused it to be blacklisted and banned there as a "diploma mill."
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.educa...32ecf8d103

According to John Bear, author of the authoritative Bear's Guide, SCUPS distributed "what looked like a reprint of the write-up on them in my book" but they had changed it, to have me say more favorable things about them than I did. And, for good measure, they also distributed what looked like reprints from my book on some of their competition, which they had changed to make less favorable than what I really said."
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.educa...6bf3a39221


SCUPS has never refuted any of these allegations.

Although it currently is being investigated by state and federal authorities, SCUPS remains approved to operate by the State of California BPPVE.

4. Newbridge College. A vocational school founded by Hecht and operating out of the same street address as SCUPS, it employs the same familiar scheme to entice overseas students as described above.

https://app.dca.ca.gov/bppve/school-sear...de=3004631
https://app.dca.ca.gov/bppve/school-sear...de=3008511


Newbridge maintains a relationship with MeiHo Institute of Technology in Taiwan "to encourage graduates to study to qualify to work in the United States. We look forward to a steady "pipeline" of students, to head to the US for work, after graduation."

http://universitiesunited.com/united/p1.html

5. Northcentral University (NCU). The deceptively named NCU (not the same as Minnesota's older North Central University founded in 1930) is a spinoff of SCUPS created by Hecht in 1996 and relocated to Prescott, Arizona, to take advantage of the lax accreditation standards employed by that regional accrediting agency, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCACS).

The nature and degree of separation, if any, between regionally accredited NCU and unaccredited SCUPS is a subject of much controversy. The two entities are said to have even established separate boards of directors only recently.

State regulators and regional accrediting agencies are investigating a purported "shell game," whereby SCUPS used NCU assets/students/infrastructure to support California BPPVE approval while simultaneously NCU used SCUPS assets/students/infrastructure to support NCACS accreditation.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.educa...fd114cb269

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.educa...66b9bc7a88

Dr. Tom Esch, who has well-documented the nature and extent of the connections between the unaccredited SCUPs and accredited NCU, has described any alleged separation between the two as "superficial."

http://www.degreeinfo.com/forums/showthr...ietnam+ncu

http://www.degreeinfo.com/forums/showthr...genumber=1

NCU also has well documented relationships with a number of foreign schools, in which NCU pursues the familiar "foreign agent" scheme described above, i.e., overseas agents recruit and "teach" foreign students, and NCU issues degrees based on payment of a "fee." As in the previous iterations of this scheme, these relationships are criticized for short-changing American students who pay full price for "degrees" they could obtain more cheaply and for little or no work overseas.

Among these "foreign agents" is the reputed Russian diploma mill International University of Fundamental Studies. NCU also has similar relationships with "foreign agents" in Vietnam and China.
http://forums.degreeboard.com/printthread.php?t=1556

Troublesome issues also remain regarding the overall quality of the NCU doctoral programs. Studies have shown that a disproportionate number of initial NCU PhD dissertations appear remarkably short in comparison to those of other universities.

NCU is up for accreditation review by its regional accrediting agency NCACS in 2008, with a site visit scheduled for February 25-27, 2008. Should NCACS decide to revoke NCU's accreditation, degrees issued prior to revocation still will be considered accredited. However, this likely will be small solace to degree holders when compared with the resulting loss of prestige and credibility. Prospective students should consider carefully the likelihood and possible consequences of such action by the accrediting agency before enrolling.