Ashford University

Coordinates: 41°51′04″N 90°11′53″W / 41.851°N 90.198°W / 41.851; -90.198

Ashford University is a for-profit university headquartered in San Diego, California. It is the largest educational holding of Bridgepoint Education. The university offers associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees in more than 50 degree programs on campus and online. The university consists of four colleges: the Forbes School of Business, the College of Education, the College of Health, Human Services, and Science, and the College of Liberal Arts. While a majority of the 54,120 students are enrolled in online courses, as of December 31, 2014, the university also hosts 742 students at their campus location in Clinton, Iowa. Ashford is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission.

History

Mount St. Clare: 1893–2003

Ashford University's campus was established in 1893 as the Mount St. Clare Academy, a boarding and day school for girls. The idea for this school formed when Father James A. Murray invited the Sisters of St. Francis to help teach in Clinton, Iowa. The new Mount St. Clare building was erected for this school in 1910 and remains in use today.

University Degree Program

University Degree Program (UDP) is or was an unaccredited consortium of diploma mills run by Americans Jason and Caroline Abraham (of Brooklyn, New York; also known by their Hebrew names Yaakov and Chaya Rochel) beginning in the 1990s. In 2004, The Chronicle of Higher Education called UDP the "granddaddy" of diploma mill operations.

Operations

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the University Degree Program recruited "students" over the telephone from call centers in Romania (where the call center also sold fake international driver's licenses) and Israel. Telephone salespeople, who were paid on commission and received performance-based bonuses, could offer degrees in any field requested. The Abrahams created websites for a diverse variety of bogus institutions whose names were printed on diplomas. Customers were not told which of these "universities" would issue their degree. According to the Chronicle, UDP sent a letter to customers stating: "The policy of not disclosing the name of the University protects you against unscrupulous individuals who do not approve of self study and life style improvement." The letter also said that this was done to avoid "bad publicity".