National University acquires Northcentral University

[bjcheung77]

Nonprofit National University System to Purchase For-Profit Northcentral U

Here are the details! https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktake...hcentral-u

Hmm... I wonder if they will be creating any competency-based degrees, I am looking into Graduate Degrees!

[frank.f.franky]

Somebody is making some money?

Course Level
[b]Cost per Quarter Unit[/b]
$370
4.5 Quarter Unit Course
$1,665

Wow they netted $35m in 2017

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237172306

or about $150m+ over 2011-2017

nice that they are doing this for the public good.

funny, PATRICIA POTTER, FORMER PRESIDENT who works 0.10 gets $260,000

nice gig if you can get it.

[bjcheung77]

Yup, they're the same company that purchased "Patten University" and using that technology for offering those programs at JFK University. The main difference besides the name is the price, it has practically doubled.

[GoodYellowDogs]

Yup, they're the same company that purchased "Patten University" and using that technology for offering those programs at JFK University. The main difference besides the name is the price, it has practically doubled.

The current Patten rate per month was $520, and the current JFK rate is $708, so it hasn't doubled for the MBA program.

[harrypotter]

They are officially non-profit/ part of the NU system now. Only downside is that their grad programs are bit pricey.

[Sagan]

I find it interesting that National never created its own doctoral degree programs.

In the mid 1980s, National began offering 700-level courses beyond the master's degree. They made it clear that (a) these would be the curricula for doctoral degree programs and (b) there was no guarantee that National would ever implement the degree programs. These courses were abandoned quickly when National was placed under probation by WASC. 

That probation was not due to academics. Instead, it was (mostly) for financial reasons. When David Chigos wanted to get a bunch of managers at General Dynamics, where he worked, an MBA program, the only game in town was San Diego State University. (This was c. 1974) So he went to talk with them, asking if they would consider offering the degree to them at night (no such program existed in that region). SDSU told him no, that if they were serious about getting an MBA they'd leave their jobs and come to school on campus, full-time, for two years. Chigos instead created his own university, keeping the school records in the trunk of his Cadillac.

Well, National took off big-time. Accreditation came quickly, as did expansion. In just a few years it grew to become one of the largest private universities in California (it still is). Then Chigos did three very controversial things. First, he set up his main campus in Mission Valley, right below SDSU, and put up billboards all over town touting National's "No-nonsense Education." This tweaked the noses of the local universities, SDSU most of all. Second, his expansion was done mostly with purchased (not leased) properties, making National a huge landowner (and debtor). They were on shaky ground financially. Finally, he was warned not to expand to Las Vegas, but he did. WASC had had enough.

Chigos was forced out, some retired Marine Corps general was brought in, and divestiture began. Campuses were sold, Las Vegas (and San Jose, Costa Rica) were closed. The law school they'd purchased was closed, and the doctoral-level courses were halted. National's ship was righted and it began to prosper once again. Accreditation probation was removed and all has been pretty well since then. 

Two unique aspects of National back then: First, the administrative offices had no walls. Even Chigos didn't have a private office. Just wide-open spaces (not even cubicles). Students could go in and get help from anyone. Second, even more cool, the university operated on a single database concept (pretty original for c. 1980 when it was designed). This allowed the university to keep one set of records for all departments to access. Bursar, financial aid, registrar, everyone. If your information was update in one, it was updated in all. This also allowed changes in real time. Because National offered courses in more than two dozen locations, and because each course ran for one calendar month, students could change courses and attend them at multiple campuses with the flick of a switch. No add/drop forms, no standing in line. See a counselor (walk up, no waiting) and change your August course to September so you could go on vacation. Done. The team that set up this system wrote a dissertation on the process and results. National awarded them earned Doctor of Science degrees for the effort.