Woolf University - Educational Partnership & Institutions

[Johann]

I'd watch this place VERY carefully. They've been around since 2018, raised a lot of cash from investors and pivoted their aim once or twice. They were going to be the "First Blockchain University" and that idea seems to have somewhat subsided. Now they talk about "Accreditation as a Service." Seemingly other colleges, or even consortia, can obtain accreditation under their umbrella. Sounds like a buzzword to me. They tend to use the word "accreditation" rather loosely.

They are indeed accredited by Malta - as a Higher Education Institution or similar. They have permission to operate in 3 US states but no recognized US accreditation, though they list these permissions under "Accreditation." They have various groups in their chain that do not seem to be Universities. That includes a large-ish multinational Doctoral Studies Consortium that awards PhDs. Perhaps they are validated by Woolf. Exactly how it works (if it does) is not clear to me.

One of Woolf's constituent elements is a bunch of offerings by UpGrad. UpGrad is known to enrol people in a special low-cost (~$8500-$10K) DBA at a French school, ESGCI, Paris. Although that school may award the degree legally, it is beyond the institution's scope and, for that reason, does not carry French State recognition. That's something UpGrad (Indian owned - by Ronnie Screwvala) doesn't tell you in the blurb. I've looked at quite a few Upgrad offerings and I'm uneasy with some blanket statements about the almost universal acceptability of some of the degrees. That said, billionaire Ronnie (Rohinton) Screwvala is a very interesting guy. You might want to look him up. The Wiki is a good read.

There's considerable press re: Woolf. Some links here. I'd be very careful.

https://www.tonybates.ca/2018/06/19/wool...-clothing/
https://blog.edtechie.net/edtech/woolf-u...lockchain/
https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_d...ty_concept