University of Atlanta
Encyclopedia
- Not to be confused with the historical Atlanta University (see Clark Atlanta UniversityClark Atlanta UniversityClark Atlanta University is a private, historically black university in Atlanta, Georgia. It was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College and Atlanta University...
) or with Atlanta University CenterAtlanta University CenterThe Atlanta University Center Consortium is the largest contiguous consortium of African Americans in higher education in the United States. The center consists of four historically black colleges and universities in southwest Atlanta, Georgia...
or with Barrington CollegeBarrington CollegeBarrington College was a four-year Christian liberal arts college located in Barrington, Rhode Island. It is no longer in operation.-History:...
.
The University of Atlanta is a for-profit
For-Profit School
For-profit education refers to educational institutions operated by private, profit-seeking businesses....
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...
institution based in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. It is authorized by the Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission and has been accredited
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...
by 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 :...
(DETC) since 2008. Nick Mithani is the university's president; his brother Alex Mithani is CEO. R. L. Etienne Barnett is provost
Provost (education)
A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....
.
Degrees
The University of Atlanta grants Bachelor of ScienceBachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
and Master of Science
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
degrees in the fields of business, social science, computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, and education and healthcare administration. It offers Master of Business Administration
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
(MBA) and Executive MBA degrees with concentrations in administration, finance, international business, marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, human resource management
Human resource management
Human Resource Management is the management of an organization's employees. While human resource management is sometimes referred to as a "soft" management skill, effective practice within an organization requires a strategic focus to ensure that people resources can facilitate the achievement of...
, management information systems, computer science, educational leadership, and criminal justice.
Memberships
The university is a member of the European Association for Distance LearningEuropean Association for Distance Learning
The European Association for Distance Learning , formerly the Association of European Correspondence Schools, is an international organization consisting of schools, institutions and individuals working in the field of distance education, organized for the exchange of information and ideas on...
and American Council on Education
American Council on Education
The American Council on Education is a United States organization, established in 1918, comprising over 1,800 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher education-related associations, organizations, and corporations....
. In 2008, it became affiliated with the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
's Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES).
Operation as Barrington University
The University of Atlanta was founded as Barrington University (not to be confused with Barrington CollegeBarrington College
Barrington College was a four-year Christian liberal arts college located in Barrington, Rhode Island. It is no longer in operation.-History:...
) in the early 1990s by Robert and Steven Bettinger. By 1995, it was operating out of a Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
, address offering distance-learning degrees. The school lacked state approval. In Vermont, it is a crime for an unaccredited college to offer degrees. In 1995, the state successfully sued and fined Barrington for fraud. The state's investigation revealed that the physical campus was a rented post office box. The school was claiming that its degrees would raise buyers' lifetime earnings by $1 million. Barrington then moved to Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, offering $4,450 degrees granting considerable credit for life experiences.
Barrington operated as a subsidiary of Boca Raton-based Virtual Academics. The company's literature claimed that its chairman had a doctorate and a masters degree; an investigation showed that he had neither. Barrington also claimed accreditation by the International Association of Universities and Schools Inc. (IAUS). However, a 2003 investigation by the South Florida Business Journal
South Florida Business Journal
South Florida Business Journal is a newspaper printed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the Miami, Florida area, covering general business news, major events in Miami, Florida, and around the world, with sections on global news and local news, business news and political news, Florida cultural life...
revealed this was a for-profit corporation set up in Florida (not Switzerland or Washington, D.C., as claimed) by Virtual Academics' chairman, Robert Bettinger, and the owner of another for-profit college in 1998. According to the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, they did this to avoid further problems due to their schools' lack of accreditation. The IAUS' charter was subsequently dissolved by the State of Florida for failure to pay annual registration fees. The South Florida Business Journal also reported that Barrington was paying professors and schools in China commissions to sell Barrington degrees to Chinese students; this revelation caused a major drop in Chinese enrollments and a resulting decline in revenues. Virtual Academics then changed its name to Cenuco and announced its intention to focus on wireless products; according to the South Florida Business Journal, this was due to the adverse publicity associated with the chairman's missing doctorate and the Chinese enrollment problem.
The school began having problems with the State of Alabama as early as 2000. The state threatened to revoke its operating license. State investigators determined that Barrington had been operating out of the offices of a secretarial and answering service.
In 2004, Cenuco, still run by the Bettingers, sold the school to Georgia-based Rarefied, LLC, run by Akber Mithani, for $300,000 cash and a $700,000 seller-financed loan. Rarefied continued the school's operation with the same employees in the same location, a 1500 ft2 office. A General Accounting Office investigation found that Barrington was offering degrees for a fee based solely on life experience and requiring no classroom experience. By 2008, the State of Alabama was conducting a crackdown on such schools operating in Alabama, requiring that all be accredited or actively seeking accreditation by October.
Operation as University of Atlanta
In 2008, while still operating in Mobile, Barrington changed its name to the University of Atlanta, and students were informed via a forum post that the change of name would be effective from March 15, 2006 and it obtained accreditation from the federally recognized Distance Education and Training CouncilDistance 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 :...
(DETC). The DETC noted the school was founded in 1991 but started in 2006. The school subsequently moved to the Atlanta area.
External links
- University of Atlanta official website