Tuesday, October 15, 2002

Louisiana Board of Regents Shuts Down 4 Distance-Learning Institutions By ANDREA L.FOSTER The Louisiana Board of Regents has voted to force four unaccredited distance-learning institutions that are based in Louisiana to leave the state. The decision will rid the state, once known as a haven for diploma mills, of poor-quality higher-education institutions, officials said. The board last month refused to renew the operating licenses of Bienville, Columbus, Glenford, and Lacrosse Universities. Their licenses expired in Louisiana on October 1, but students who were already enrolled in the institutions have until March to finish their work, said Lawrence J. Tremblay, associate commissioner of the Board of Regents, the state agency that oversees higher education in Louisiana. "Louisiana has become quite serious about protecting its citizens," he said. "Any institution that would call Louisiana home has to exhibit some standards of quality, and the board decided early on that that standard would be accreditation." Representatives of the four universities did not return telephone calls last week. Mr. Tremblay said the institutions' presence in the state is limited to their offices. Some institutions are so transient that they share clerical help with other agencies, he added. The board's unanimous vote in September means the last of Louisiana's questionable higher-education institutions will leave the state, said Mr. Tremblay. "I would agree with that," said John Bear, one of the authors of Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press, 2001), which tracks various unaccredited institutions and diploma mills. The board's decision last month means that -- unless they find another state in which to set up shop -- the universities have to stop enrolling students, shut down their Web sites, and discontinue advertising, marketing, and recruiting. Bienville University already has incorporated in Mississippi, said Mr. Bear. He said it is run by Thomas J. Kirk, who spent time in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges of mail and tax fraud after a 1996 raid by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents at LaSalle University, a Louisiana-based distance-learning institution that he founded. LaSalle, which became Orion College, closed in June. Background articles from The Chronicle: States Struggle to Regulate Online Colleges That Lack Accreditation (3/23/2001) Founder of Correspondence School in La. Pleads Guilty to Fraud (11/22/1996) FBI Agents Raid Correspondence School (7/26/1996) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

Lecturers begin strike at 5 California campuses, causing some classes to be canceled 2 universities in Kentucky give bonuses in lieu of raises Institute of Medicine announces 65 new members Louisiana Board of Regents shuts down 4 distance-learning institutions