California Miramar University

California Miramar University (CMU) is an unaccredited proprietary institution of higher education located in San Diego, California. From 1977 to 2007 it was known as Pacific Western University of California (PWU). [http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/AAR/PrivateInstitutions/NoTX.cfm Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas] ] Pacific Western University was also the name of a now defunct university in Hawaii (Pacific Western University (Hawaii)).

Accreditation status

California Miramar University is not accredited [Authoritative databases of accredited US institutions exist at the Council for Higher Education Accreditation ( [http://www.chea.org/default.asp CHEA database] ) [http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Non-accreditedSchools_78090_7.pdf] and United States Department of Education ( [http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ USDE accreditation database] ); neither lists PWU as of December 2006.] by any higher education accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (agencies that recognize the accepted higher education accreditors in the United States). As such, its degrees may not be acceptable to employers or other institutions. In some jurisdictions the use of degree titles from the university may be restricted or illegal. [U.S. Department of Education, [http://www.ed.gov/students/prep/college/diplomamills/accreditation.html Diploma Mills and Accreditation] ] Jurisdictions that have restricted or made illegal the use of credentials from unaccredited schools include Oregon , Florida, [ Section 817.567, Florida Statutes. The statute was declared unconstitutional in "Strang v. Satz," 884 F. Supp. 504 (S.D. Fla. 1995).] Michigan [http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Non-accreditedSchools_78090_7.pdf Colleges and Universities not Accredited by CHEA] , revised May 20, 2008, Michigan.gov website] , Maine [ [http://www.maine.gov/education/highered/Non-Accredited/non-accredited.htm Maine Higher Education - Non-Accredited Schools ] ] , North Dakota [http://www.billingsgazette.com/newdex.php?display=rednews/2005/01/30/build/wyoming/40-online-learning.inc State mulls online learning] by the Associated Press, "Billings Gazette", January 30, 2005] New Jersey, Washington [ [http://www.hecb.wa.gov/autheval/daa/ConsumerInformation.asp Higher Education Coordinating Board ] ] , Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Texas, and Mexico. [ [http://ses4.sep.gob.mx/dg/dges/rvoe/ Aviso "Programas sin RVOE"] , Dirección General de Educación Superior Universitaria, July 2007 (In Spanish)] Many other states are also considering restrictions on unaccredited degree use in order to help prevent fraud. [ [http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/faq.html Is Oregon the only state that disallows use of unaccredited degrees?] Oregon Office of Degree Authorization]

California Miramar University received state approval to operate [http://www.cpec.ca.gov/CollegeGuide/Institution.asp?ID=E0208A&bhcp=1 California Miramar University] in Guide to California Colleges and Universities, California Post-Secondary Education Commission (accessed June 7, 2008)] from the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education. State approval should not be confused with accreditation; regionally or nationally accredited institutions were not required to seek California state approval. [ [http://www.cpec.ca.gov/CollegeGuide/PrivateSystemInformation.asp State-Approved and Exempt College and University Information] , California Post-Secondary Education Commission (accessed June 7, 2008)] According to the Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning, "There truly is no simple answer to the accredited vs. unaccredited issue, other than to say that one can rarely go wrong with a properly accredited degree. We hear from a moderate number of people who have made good use of an unaccredited (but totally legitimate) degree, but we hear from many more who have had significant problems with such degrees, in terms of acceptance by employers, admission to other schools, or simply bad publicity." [http://books.google.com/books?id=k67XC_7y5xEC&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=acceptance+of+unaccredited+degrees&source=web&ots=PSW-jvQo8n&sig=MaPc6li0PwGb3-q2eTbPCqhTfIc Chapter 9 - Accredited versus Unaccredited: How Does One Decide?] , "Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning", p63 of the 15th edition.]

History

California Miramar University was established as Pacific Western University (California) in February 1977. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20070517073542/www.pwu-ca.edu/about/history.asp History] , Pacific Western University website, archived May 17, 2007] Pacific Western University operated in the Brentwood, California suburb of Los Angeles for its first twenty years, and then moved to Westwood, California where it remained until relocating to San Diego, California in January 2006. According to "Inside Higher Education", the school changed its name to distance itself from past controversies. .cite news
first = Paul
last = Thacker
authorlink = Paul D. Thacker
author =
coauthors =
title = What's in a Name?
url = http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/15/calu
format =
work =
publisher = Inside Higher Ed
id =
pages =
page =
date = 2006-12-15
accessdate = 2007-07-04
language =
quote = ] The name change to California Miramar University happened in approximately March or April 2007.

PWU California and PWU Hawaii [http://www.hawaii.gov/dcca/areas/ocp/udgi/lawsuits/pwuh/pacwest_complt_and_summons.pdf State of Hawaii v. Pacific Western University (Hawaii) Inc., aka American PacWest International University, Complaint] (Sec. 8), count VI, count VII.] were separate entities that had the same ownership. [http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/unaccredited.aspx Office of Degree Authorization, Oregon] ] PWU Hawaii was sued in 2005 by the State of Hawaii. On 9 May 2006, the First Circuit Court of Hawaii entered a Default and Final Judgment against PWU Hawaii. [http://primeguard.hawaii.gov/ocp/udgi/news/PWUH Pacific Western University (Hawaii) aka American PacWest International University] ] The judgment dissolved the university's corporate status and effectively forced it to cease operations. [ [http://www.hawaii.gov/dcca/areas/ocp/udgi/lawsuits/pwuh/ Pacific Western University (Hawaii) aka American PacWest International University] ]

In 2006 a PWU California official told a journalist that PWU California had been under new ownership since 2004 and had no connection with PWU Hawaii. The California Post-Secondary Education Commission lists CMU's date of establishment as 2005.

Controversy

As Pacific Western University, i.e., prior to changing its name to California Miramar University, the institution was criticized on multiple occasions as a substandard educational institution or diploma mill. [http://www.hep.uiuc.edu/home/g-gollin/pigeons/ Information resources concerning unaccredited degree-granting institutions] , by George Gollin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]

In May 2004 the US General Accounting Office presented the results of an eight-month examination of diploma mills and other unaccredited schools and federal employees holding their degrees to the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. [ [http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04771t.pdf Diploma Mills: Federal Employees Have Obtained Degrees from Diploma Mills and Other Unaccredited Schools, Some at Government Expense] , United States General Accounting Office, Testimony before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, May 11, 2004] Pacific Western University in Los Angeles was one of the six schools on which the investigation focused.

Later that year, investigative reporters from television station KVOA of Tucson, Arizona described the Los Angeles campus of Pacific Western University: "We don't find students, classrooms or professors. Only a small office with two receptionists and a man who introduces himself as the dean." [http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=2578367&nav=HMO5TF68 Investigators: Degrees for Sale] , KVOA News 4, Tucson, Arizona, November 16, 2004] KVOA noted that federal investigators had identified PWU as a diploma mill. [http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=2688175&nav=HMO5TF68 Clarification] , KVOA News 4, Tucson, Arizona, December 13, 2004] The station reported that Pima Community College in Tucson had reduced the salaries of two faculty members who previously had been paid at the Ph.D level based on their degrees from PWU.

Internationally, Pacific Western University has a similar reputation. It was reported in the "Irish Independent" on 9 October 2005 that the Chief Science Advisor to the government of Ireland, Barry McSweeney, had been found to have advanced his career using a suspect degree obtained from Pacific Western University.Donal Lynch, [http://web.archive.org/web/20060212104857/http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/6475970?view=Eircomnet eircom net Degree of doubt for Bertie's boffin] , "The Irish Independent", 9 October 2005] [ [http://www.labour.ie/press/listing/20051009162932.html Gov must respond to bogus PhD claim on science adviser] , The Irish Labour Party press release, 9 October 2005] The newspaper report stated that McSweeney had obtained his Ph.D. in biotechnology and biochemistry from PWU in 1994 after just 12 months of study. It described PWU as having "no merit or standing in the academic world" and having been "the subject of numerous official investigations, state bans and media exposés" during its 28 years of operation. McSweeney was forced to resign his position as a result. [ [http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/22837/ Scandal forces out Irish science head] , "The Scientist", 6(1):20051121-01, 21 November 2005] In Australia, a lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland was banned from using the title of "Doctor" after it was discovered that his Ph.D. had been obtained from Pacific Western University. [ [http://www.nghtrainingireland.com/html/article.html Accredited or Unaccredited?] , by Martin Kiely, National Guild of Hypnotists]

Notable alumni

The following are among the notable people who have received degrees from Pacific Western University (some may actually have attended the Hawaii PWU) or California Miramar University:
*Susan Block - sexologist [ [http://www.drsusanblock.com/erotic.htm Phone Sex Therapy] drsusanblock.com]
*Marcus Einfeld, Australian judge, claimed a Ph.D. from Pacific Western University [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/the-infeld-follies-a-study-in-go/2006/08/20/1156012408310.html The Einfeld Follies: a study in ego] , The Sydney Morning Herald, August 21, 2006]
*Earl Ofari Hutchinson - journalist, author, and broadcaster [Buffalo News (March 1, 1995) "Author covering O.J. Trial to Speak." Local section, page B6.]

*Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Malawi, received a Ph.D. in development economics from Pacific Western University in California [ [http://www.malawi.gov.mw/information1/CabinetProfiles/Mutharika.htm Biography of Mutharika on Official Website of the Government of Malawi] , accessed May 16, 2008]
*David Reardon, biomedical ethicist known for his opposition to abortion who identifies himself as holding a Ph.D., [ [http://www.afterabortion.org/biograp.html Biographical Sketch: David C. Reardon, Ph.D.] , Elliot Institute website (accessed June 7, 2008)] has been reported to have obtained his Ph.D. in biomedical ethics from Pacific Western University [Chris Mooney, [http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0410.mooney.html Research and Destroy] , "Washington Monthly", October 2004] [Emily Bazelon, [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/magazine/21abortion.t.html Is There a Post-Abortion Syndrome?] , New York Times Magazine, January 21, 2007]
*Eddy Shell - Louisiana educator and Bossier Parish Police Jury member [ [http://www.legacy.com/ShreveportTimes/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=108951042 Eddy Shell Obituary] ShreveportTimes.com]

ee also

*Unaccredited institutions of higher learning

References

External links

* [http://www.calmu.edu/ Official CMU website]
* [http://www.cmualumninews.blogspot.com/ CMU Alumni News website]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070627185610/http://www.pwu-ca.edu/ Official PWU website] (archived June 27, 2007)
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070811002250/http://pwunews.com/ PWU news website] (archived August 11, 2007)