The Clayton College of Natural Health was a non-accredited American distance-learning natural health college based in Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

, offering classes in various forms of alternative medicine

Alternative medicine

Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....

. The school was founded in 1980 by Lloyd Clayton Jr. as the American College of Holistic Nutrition. According to its website, the school at one point had more than 25,000 students and graduates. The school and some of its more notable graduates have been the subject of controversy.

History and accreditation

The American College of Holistic Nutrition was founded in 1980 by Lloyd Clayton Jr. In 1997, its name was changed to Clayton College of Natural Health.

Clayton College of Natural Health never held educational accreditation

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...

 from any agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation

Council for Higher Education Accreditation

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation is a United States organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for self-regulation of academic quality through accreditation in order to certify the quality of higher education...

. Several state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 education agencies specifically list Clayton as unaccredited, among them Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, and Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

. Degrees issued by Clayton may not be acceptable to some employers or institutions, and use of degree titles granted by Clayton may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.

Closure and lawsuit

In July 2010, the college announced on its website that it was ceasing operations, blaming a number of factors but primarily the effects of the recent economic recession. In November 2010, a class action lawsuit was filed seeking recoveries on behalf of thousands of students who were enrolled in prepaid distance education programs at Clayton College. The lawsuit claims Clayton breached its fiduciary duty, was negligent, among other claims, and seeks compensation for the tuition amounts paid for programs that are no longer available. They are also seeking compensation for Plaintiffs’ "loss of time and opportunity", among other damages.

Programs

Clayton offered five degree programs and seven certificate programs. The degree programs included Bachelors and Masters of Science in Natural Health, Bachelor and Masters of Science in Holistic Nutrition, Doctor of Education in Holistic Health and Wellness, and Doctor of Naturopathy (not to be confused with Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine , in 16 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces refers exclusively to a medical degree granted by an accredited naturopathic medical school...

). Certificates were offered in iridology

Iridology

Iridology Iridology Iridology (also known as iridodiagnosis or iridiagnosis is an alternative medicine technique whose proponents claim that patterns, colors, and other characteristics of the iris can be examined to determine information about a patient's systemic health...

, Herbalism

Herbalism

Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...

, Companion Animal Studies, Practitioner Education Studies, and Natural Wellness Studies. No clinical training was provided.

Notable alumni

Well-known graduates include television nutrition personality Gillian McKeith

Gillian McKeith

Gillian McKeith is a Scottish nutritionist, television presenter, and writer. She is the former host in the UK of Channel 4's You Are What You Eat and Granada Television's Dr Gillian McKeith's Feel Fab Forever, and as of 2010 presents Eat Yourself Sexy on the W Network in Canada...

, controversial naturopath Hulda Regehr Clark

Hulda Regehr Clark

Hulda Regehr Clark was a naturopath, author, and practitioner of alternative medicine. Clark claimed that all human disease was related to parasitic infection, and also claimed to be able to cure all diseases, including cancer and HIV/AIDS, by destroying these parasites by "zapping" them with...

, author Robert Young, and author Kim Barnouin, co-author of the diet book, Skinny Bitch

Skinny Bitch

Skinny Bitch is a diet book written by Rory Freedman, a former modelling agent and Kim Barnouin, a former model.According to a New York Times article, the book sold better than expected despite not having high initial sales...

. McKeith's credentials from Clayton have been the focus of comment in The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

's "Bad Science

Bad science

Bad science can refer to:* Pseudoscience** Pathological science* The "Bad Science" column by Ben Goldacre in The Guardian* Bad Science , a 2008 book by Ben Goldacre...

" column, specifically the institution's unaccredited status and the institution's refusal to make McKeith's doctoral dissertation available for outside review.

External links

• Clayton College of Natural Health official website
• Stephen Barrett
  Stephen Barrett
  Stephen Joel Barrett is a retired American psychiatrist, author, co-founder of the National Council Against Health Fraud , and the webmaster of Quackwatch. He runs a number of websites dealing with quackery and health fraud. He focuses on consumer protection, medical ethics, and scientific...
  
  . "Clayton College of Natural Health: Be Wary of the School and Its Graduates". Quackwatch
  Quackwatch
  Quackwatch is an American non-profit organization founded by Stephen Barrett with the stated aim being to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct" and with a primary focus on providing "quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere."...
  
  , 2010.