La Salle Extension University

La Salle Extension University (LSEU) was a nationally accredited private university, originally based in Chicago, Illinois at 4046 Michigan Avenue (41st Street & Michigan). During the 1940's, LSEU relocated its administrative offices to the historic downtown Chicago area known as "The Loop," at 417 S. Dearborn Street, near Grant Park.

The University was in operation for over 90 years, from 1908 to around 2000.

About

La Salle Extension University was licensed to operate as an institution of higher education by the [http://www.isbe.state.il.us/ Illinois Department of Higher Education] . LSEU held Illinois School ID code 6110025.] and consisted of several schools, including Business, Finance, Law, Science, and others. In its early years, LSEU became one of only two schools in the United States to be authorized by the National Home Study Council (NHSC, now the Distance Education and Training Council or DETC) and the State of Illinois to grant academic degrees for completion of distance study programs; the other was Grantham University [ [http://www.grantham.edu/ Grantham University] ] . The DETC (formerly, the NHSC) is recognized by the US Department of Education as a national accrediting agency.

The Veterans Administration funded scholarships for US military personnel to attend LSEU under the 1944 G.I. Bill of Rights. Many qualified military and civilian students of the University accepted full Pell Grants as authorized by the US Dept. of Education. Around 1978, LSEU moved from downtown Chicago, Illinois to Wilmette, Illinois, approximately 20 miles north, on the site of the National Register Publishing Company, MacMillan Directory Division, 3002-3004 Glenview Road. At the time, the La Salle Extension had branch locations across the U.S. including one in Detroit, Michigan and another in downtown Manhattan, N.Y. at 5th Ave. & E. 41st Street. Some time following the 1978 move to Wilmette, the La Salle Extension was acquired by Macmillan Publishers via leveraged corporate buy-out. Later, in 1994, MacMillan was acquired by Pearson (Simon & Shuster) which further complicated matters. Today, the office address is MacMillan On-line Publishing, 345 Park Avenue South, New York, NY.

La Salle Extension University voluntarily relinquished accreditation of its law school program on September 29, 1980, but the program was not deprecated by the FTC until May 12, 1986. LSEU resources were absorbed into MacMillan & Company's vast global training system. The last known director of the La Salle Law School was Dr. Charles B. Marshall. Fact|date=February 2007

Alumni

According to degree.net, at the time of the LSEU buy-out, the university had over 120,000 enrolled students. Fact|date=February 2007

La Salle Extension University produced many alumni in the legal and insurance fields, as well as state and local political administrations, and a spectrum of US military officials. Fact|date=February 2007 E. Seigel served as Alumni Director of the LaSalle Alumni Club. E.B. Menager (LSEU 1976/Business) manages the online LSEU Directory of Graduates. [http://www.ebmnet.com/co/lasalle/directory.htm LSEU Directory of Graduates.] Retrieved September 19 2006.]

Controversies

In the University's declining years, its marketing officials became practically legendary for their overly-aggressive advertising practices (rivaling those of the University of Phoenix, today), and, as a result, the University was embroiled in several lawsuits and counter-suits by the FTC. Most notable was the University's use of ads on paraphernalia such as matchbooks, ink pens and pencils and in various types of magazines, with a grinning graduate and the famous headline "Look who's smiling now!" Scan of the [http://web.archive.org/web/20020329183749/http://rareads.com/scans1/31447.jpg"Look Who's Smiling Now!"] ad, from rareads.com via archive.org]

In 1973, La Salle Extension University was charged by FTC (D. 5907) in the Seventh Circuit (Chicago) "involving misrepresentations about obtaining law degrees through a correspondence course." [http://www.ftc.gov/os/annualreports/ar1973.pdf Annual Report of the Federal Trade Commission For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1973.] (PDF)] FTC ruled that the University be required to include a disclaimer in ads for its law distance program that read: "No state accepts any law home study course, including La Salle's, as sufficient education to qualify for admission to practice law." This disclaimer was subsequently proven not to be factual, as some states, such as California, Montana and Georgia,among others, had already sanctioned distance education in law as sufficient preparation to sit for their respective bar exams. [http://www.law.stanford.edu/publications/projects/wlhbp/papers/Bradley_tl-Scher05.pdf Stanford U. Law School, Calif.(2005)- "Women's Legal History"] ] [http://www.infoplease.com/biography/us/congress/gibson-john-strickland.html John Strickland Gibson, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present] ]
Colleges such as the University of Wisconsin have ruled that distance law study programs are adequate preparation for continued studies in the legal academics, and have accepted students on that basis. Fact|date=February 2007

La Salle Extension University closed its law school program in 1980 following the litigation involving the FTC - "LaSalle Extension University v. Federal Trade Commission [ [http://cases.justia.com/us-court-of-appeals/F2/627/481/ LaSalle Extension University & Katharine Gibbs School v. Federal Trade Commission et al.] ] ," 627 F.2d. 481 (DC Cir. 1980). LaSalle Extension University under MacMillan continued to operate other degree programs until 2000 at Wilimette, Il and Detroit, MI.(E.B. Menager (LSEU 1976 Business) manages the LSECU Directory of Graduates (See Alumni, www.ebmnet.com/co/lasalle/directory.htm.

References