UKeU
Encyclopedia
The UKeU was a company and website that promoted online
degree
s from UK
universities. As such, UKeU was not a university
in its own right and ultimately was a dot-com failure. UKeU delivered courses over a learning environment developed by Sun Microsystems
UK.
It was set up with UK public funds under the auspices of the Higher Education Funding Council for England
.
Select Committee on Education and Skills
was published in March 2005. In an accompanying press release, Committee Chairman, Barry Sheerman
said: "UKeU was a terrible waste of public money. The senior executives failed to interest any private investors and showed an extraordinary over confidence in their ability to attract students to the scheme. Any private company which rewards underperformance of this scale would normally face severe criticism from its shareholders."
Details of the House of Commons Select Committee on Education and Skills, their UKeU report and the evidence they received can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/education_and_skills_committee.cfm
A collection of reports on UKeU can be found on the Higher Education Academy web site at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ukeureports.htm.
A collection of reports dealing with the run-up to when UKeU actually started can be found on the Higher Education Academy web site at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/2249.htm.
Two further volumes are in preparation for release.
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
degree
Academic 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 from UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
universities. As such, UKeU was not a university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
in its own right and ultimately was a dot-com failure. UKeU delivered courses over a learning environment developed by Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
UK.
It was set up with UK public funds under the auspices of the Higher Education Funding Council for England
Higher Education Funding Council for England
The Higher Education Funding Council for England is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in the United Kingdom, which has been responsible for the distribution of funding to Universities and Colleges of Higher and Further Education in England since...
.
Cancellation
In 2004 it was announced that the project should be wound up as it was a failure having cost £50 m and recruited only 900 students. These received some of the most expensive degrees in history at £56,000 each. A highly critical report http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmeduski/205/20502.htm by the UK House of CommonsBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
Select Committee on Education and Skills
was published in March 2005. In an accompanying press release, Committee Chairman, Barry Sheerman
Barry Sheerman
Barry John Sheerman is a British Labour Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Huddersfield since the 1979 general election.-Early life:...
said: "UKeU was a terrible waste of public money. The senior executives failed to interest any private investors and showed an extraordinary over confidence in their ability to attract students to the scheme. Any private company which rewards underperformance of this scale would normally face severe criticism from its shareholders."
External links
The URL of the UKeU was http://www.ukeu.com but the link no longer works as the company has ceased to operate and was finally wound up in mid 2006.Details of the House of Commons Select Committee on Education and Skills, their UKeU report and the evidence they received can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/education_and_skills_committee.cfm
A collection of reports on UKeU can be found on the Higher Education Academy web site at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ukeureports.htm.
A collection of reports dealing with the run-up to when UKeU actually started can be found on the Higher Education Academy web site at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/2249.htm.
Two further volumes are in preparation for release.