American City University
Encyclopedia
American City University (ACU) is a private unaccredited
offeror of higher education
via distance education
operating from Los Angeles
and Fresno
, California
. The same name was formerly used by a similar institution that operated from Cheyenne, Wyoming
.
ACU is affiliated with a corporation
called International Management Association, headquartered in Hong Kong
. Honolulu University
is another affiliate of the International Management Association, which also formerly identified an affiliation with the American Central University
, which was based in Laramie, Wyoming
.
ACU in Los Angeles was incorporated in 2008 and is licensed by the State of California but is not accredited by any recognized accreditation body.
, where it was one of a dozen unaccredited offerors of higher education by distance learning that operated under a permissive state higher education
law and were suspected of being diploma mill
s. In 2005, ACU was reported to be operating out of office space in the Tivoli Building, a Victorian
building in downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming
that had once housed a brothel
and saloon. ACU operated in 14 other locations worldwide, including sites in London
; Limerick and Cork, Ireland
; Kiev
; Macedonia
; Dubai
; Beirut
; Athens
; Sri Lanka
; Taiwan
; the Philippines
; and Malaysia. ACU reported in 2005 that 300 students were enrolled worldwide. The school is alleged to have marketed an MBA program in Vietnam
that did not deliver the promised value to the students it enrolled. After Wyoming enacted a law requiring higher education institutions in the state to be accredited or in the process of obtaining accreditation by July 1, 2006, several unaccredited schools closed down or left the state. ACU sought accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council
. As of June 2009, however, the Wyoming Department of Education
listed ACU as "no longer licensed or registered ... to operate as [a] private post-secondary degree granting education institution."
ACU became a member of the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools (CAPPS) in May 2009. CAPPS is a California association representing private postsecondary schools in California. It is a professional organization, rather than an accreditation association.
s in business administration, including the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Master of Business Administration (MBA), and Doctor of Business Administration (DBA).
Educational accreditation
Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...
offeror of higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
via distance education
Distance education
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...
operating from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Fresno
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The same name was formerly used by a similar institution that operated from Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
.
ACU is affiliated with a corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
called International Management Association, headquartered in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. Honolulu University
Honolulu University
Honolulu University of the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, or just Honolulu University, is an unaccredited institution of nontraditional higher education .-History:...
is another affiliate of the International Management Association, which also formerly identified an affiliation with the American Central University
American Central University
American Central University is an unaccredited distance learning private, for-profit university licensed by the state of Wyoming in 2004. The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization states that the institution may be run from Malaysia.-Controversy:...
, which was based in Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....
.
ACU in Los Angeles was incorporated in 2008 and is licensed by the State of California but is not accredited by any recognized accreditation body.
History
Formerly, American City University was the name of an institution that operated in WyomingWyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, where it was one of a dozen unaccredited offerors of higher education by distance learning that operated under a permissive state higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
law and were suspected of being diploma mill
Diploma mill
A diploma mill is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit...
s. In 2005, ACU was reported to be operating out of office space in the Tivoli Building, a Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
building in downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
that had once housed a brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
and saloon. ACU operated in 14 other locations worldwide, including sites in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
; Limerick and Cork, Ireland
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
; Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
; Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
; Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
; Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
; Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
; Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
; Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
; the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
; and Malaysia. ACU reported in 2005 that 300 students were enrolled worldwide. The school is alleged to have marketed an MBA program in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
that did not deliver the promised value to the students it enrolled. After Wyoming enacted a law requiring higher education institutions in the state to be accredited or in the process of obtaining accreditation by July 1, 2006, several unaccredited schools closed down or left the state. ACU sought accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council
Distance Education and Training Council
The Distance Education and Training Council is a non-profit national educational accreditation agency in the United States specializing in the accreditation of distance education institutions.- History :...
. As of June 2009, however, the Wyoming Department of Education
Wyoming Department of Education
The Wyoming Department of Education is the state education agency of Wyoming. It is headquartered on the second floor of the Hathaway Building in Cheyenne. The agency has offices in Laramie and Riverton.-External links:* * at Facebook...
listed ACU as "no longer licensed or registered ... to operate as [a] private post-secondary degree granting education institution."
Memberships
ACU became a member of the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools (CAPPS) in May 2009. CAPPS is a California association representing private postsecondary schools in California. It is a professional organization, rather than an accreditation association.
Academic programs
ACU offers degreeAcademic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
s in business administration, including the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Master of Business Administration (MBA), and Doctor of Business Administration (DBA).
See also
- Newport International UniversityNewport International UniversityNewport International University is a non-accredited for-profit educational institution incorporated in Wyoming and operating from Hayward in Northern California....
- Preston UniversityPreston UniversityPreston University is the first private university of Pakistan with campuses in Karachi, Kohat, Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Faisalabad and Ajman...
- Rutherford UniversityRutherford UniversityRutherford University, also known as Senior University International and Stratford International University, was an unaccredited private institution that offered degrees online...
- Warren National UniversityWarren National UniversityWarren National University was a post-secondary, distance learning, unaccredited private university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in the United States, based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Until December 14, 2007, its administrative offices were located in Agoura Hills, California...