Patriot Bible University

Infobox_University
name =Patriot Bible University
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established = 1979
type =Not accredited
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president = Lonnie Skinner
chancellor =
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students =
address = 1135 French St.
city =Del Norte
state =Colorado
country =United States
campus =
free_label =
free =
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website = http://www.patriotuniversity.com

Patriot Bible University, formerly known as Patriot University, is an unaccredited fundamentalist Christian correspondence school located in Del Norte, Colorado. ["Patriot textbooks are carefully selected from Biblically conservative, profess- ional authors who have written on a focused subject. Course textbooks present and expound on the Bible’s absolute truth and not man’s modernistic reasoning.." from cite news | url=http://www.patriotuniversity.org/| title= Why Choose Patriot? |publisher=Patriot Bible University | year=2008 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2008-08-04] Critics charge it is a diploma mill, lacking sufficient academic standards to award degrees.Steve Levicoff. 1995. Chapter 12, "Name It and Frame It? New Opportunities in Adult Education and How to Avoid Being Ripped Off by 'Christian' Degree Mills" 4th ed. See: waybackdate|site=http://training.loyola.edu/cdld/nifi.html|date=19981205213123]

Patriot is not accredited by any recognized accreditation body. As such, its degrees may not be acceptable to employers or other institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.{category|}

History

It was established in 1979 as Patriot University in Dallas, Texas at the home of school founder Lonnie Skinner.Barbara Forrest. September 1999. [http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/2148_unmasking_the_false_prophet_of_9_1_1999.asp Unmasking the False Prophet of Creationism] . from the National Center for Science Education] Then in 1985 it became affiliated with Hilltop Baptist Church in Colorado Springs.cite news | url=http://www.patriotuniversity.org/index.php?mod=Articles&menuid=6 | title=Brief History to Present Day | publisher=Patriot Bible University | date= April 2007 | first=Lonnie | last=Skinner | accessdate = 2007-05-02]

Beginning in March 1988 the school was authorized by the State of Colorado Higher Education Commission to issue "religious degrees".cite news | url=http://www.patriotuniversity.org/index.php?mod=Articles&menuid=67 | title= Accreditation |publisher=Patriot Bible University | year=2007 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-02-04] In July 2004, the school changed its name to Patriot Bible University and moved out of College Heights Baptist Church and into a building in the small town of 1,700 people in Del Norte, Colorado. Currently, Skinner remains a director and instructor at Patriot in addition to being a Baptist pastor. [ [http://64.234.218.210/cgi-bin/co_riogrande_display.cgi?KEY=1531067084& Riogrande County Record Search ] ]

In 1997 Patriot's street address was also listed as the residential address of Lonnie Skinner. [cite news | url=http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/2148_unmasking_the_false_prophet_of_9_1_1999.asp | title=Unmasking the False Prophet of Creationism| publisher=National Center for Science Education | date= September 1, 1999 | first=Forrest| last=Barbara | accessdate = 2007-02-19] As of 2007, Patriot's address is listed by Zabasearch.com as the residence of Lonnie Skinner and the Skinner family (Lonnie, Toni, and possibly Rachael). [cite news | url=http://www.zabasearch.com | title=Zabasearch.com | publisher=Zabasearch.com | year= 2007 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-02-02] Also as of 2007 it has a total of four employees. [cite news | url=http://www.bbbsc.org/page.asp?id=140 | title=Better Business Bureau profile of Patriot Bible University | publisher=Better Business Bureau | date= April 2007 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-05-02]

According to Patriot's website it issues approximately 50 to 100 Christian religious degrees (Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorates) per year, and has about 400 active distance learning based students.

Accreditation

Steve Levicoff's "Name It and Frame It? New Opportunities in Adult Education and How to Avoid Being Ripped Off by 'Christian' Degree Mills" (4th ed., 1995) listed Patriot Bible University as a degree mill. The college has varied its policies over the years, but it has been criticized for awarding students degrees based on questionable standards such as "life experience" or "ministry evaluation" that lack academic rigour and merit.

The university is not accredited by any recognized accreditation associations of higher learning. It is recognized by the American Accrediting Association of Theological Institutions, which has no recognition from the United States Department of Education or any other government educational organization. [ [http://www.patriotuniversity.com/admissionpolicy.htm Patriot Bible University-Admissions] Patriot Bible University] The AAATI is itself considered an accreditation mill. The group provides approval to schools for a $100 charge.

Controversy and criticism

Critics have charged that Patriot Bible University is a diploma mill as it has unreasonably low graduation requirements, lack of sufficient faculty or educational standards, and a suspicious tuition scheme, among other issues. The college itself has claimed that it simply does not "choose" to be accredited by standard associations. The school's current policies allow students to attain bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and even "Doctor of Ministry" degrees in months, rather than years, for as little as $25 per month plus books. The university offers a monthly fee, unlike most universities, which only charge per-credit fees. [cite news | url=http://patriotuniversity.org/index.php?mod=Articles&menuid=4| title= Finance & Payments |publisher=Patriot Bible University | year=2007 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-05-04] The school's catalog contains course descriptions but no listing of the school's faculty or their credentials.

Kent Hovind

Much of the criticism of Patriot is leveled at the controversial creationist evangelist Kent Hovind, who received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Patriot in 1989 and 1991 respectively, both in Christian Education. [cite news | url=http://web.archive.org/web/20010816220051/http://www.drdino.com/FAQs/FAQmisc13.jsp | title=Where did you get your degree? |publisher=DrDino.com (archived) | date=August 16, 2001 | first=Kent | last=Hovind | accessdate = 2007-02-24] Hovind's use of the title "Doctor" in particular has provoked extensive scrutiny of his education credentials and his dissertation.

Doctoral dissertations from reputable institutions are published by the awarding institution and generally lodged with university libraries, as well as being made available to other scholars conducting research in similar areas. However, Patriot will not supply copies of Hovind's doctoral dissertation except with his permission. [http://www.noanswersingenesis.org.au/bartelt_dissertation_on_hovind_thesis.htm "A Review of Kent Hovind's Thesis by Karen Bartelt, Ph.D."] ] Although one copy of the dissertation is on file at the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) the organization is not able to provide it on request because of copyright and distribution restrictions.

Various criticisms have been made of Hovind's dissertation, including charges of incompleteness, low academic quality, poor writing, poor spelling, and ungrammatical style.cite news | url=http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/31/8219/5938 | title= Know Your Creationists: Kent Hovind |publisher=Daily Kos | date=December 31, 2005 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2006-11-04] The lack of quality was described, in part, by the fact that "the pages are not numbered; there is no title; of sixteen or so chapters in the index only the first four are finished; misspellings are rampant ("Immerged" for emerged and "epic" for epoch are two examples); and the single illustration was apparently cut out of a science book with scissors and fastened to the thesis with glue or tape."

Hovind's testimonial appears on Patriot Bible's website. [cite news | url=http://www.patriotuniversity.org/index.php?mod=Articles&action=show&menuid=94&id=120 | title= Testimonials |publisher=Patriot Bible University | year=2007 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-05-04]

ee also

* Diploma mill
* List of unaccredited institutions of higher learning
* List of unrecognized accreditation associations of higher learning

References

External links

* [http://www.patriotuniversity.org/ Patriot Bible University] – Official website (new)
* [http://www.patriotuniversity.com Patriot Bible University] – Official website (old)
* [http://www.patriotuniversity.com/PriceOfTruth.htm Patriot Bible University] – Their defense of Kent Hovind
* [http://www.noanswersingenesis.org.au/bartelt_dissertation_on_hovind_thesis.htm An Academic Review of Kent Hovind's Dissertation] by Karen Bartelt, Ph. D