Talk:Madison University

Info from archive.org

Note (also posted on 151.199.250.29 talk page): Although the ODA website is not the source of the historical statement in the article, on archive.org I find that from July 2004 until sometime around February 2005 ODA website, as archived stated the following regarding Madison University: "Appears to be a diploma mill. ODA has no evidence that this is a legitimate provider of postsecondary education meeting Oregon standards." That language first appeared on the website in July 2004 and remained until approximately February 2005, when it was revised to "ODA has no evidence that this is a legitimate provider of postsecondary education meeting Oregon standards." --orlady 20:50, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Dear Orlady, I appreciate your effort to clear up the issue. However, 1) the word "Appears" is not a definitive word and 2) ODA contacted the institution and decided to REMOVE the term "degree mill" for some reasons. I suggest us to remove the term "degree mill" from our Wikipedia page as well. That is all I ask out of fairness for everyone. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.199.250.29 (talk) 23:26, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

• As has been stated numerous times, the statements in the article are not sourced to the ODA website, but to publications that stated that Oregon had called this university a diploma mill. The article makes it clear that these are statements made in published sources at dates in the past. In case you have not read it recently, the article at http://chronicle.com/free/v50/i42/42a01201.htm, about Maxine Asher and World Association of Universities and Colleges, says (in part): "In 1993 she founded the World Association of Universities and Colleges, an accrediting service unrecognized by the U.S. Department of Education, that gives its imprimatur to a host of alternative institutions. Almost every day Columbus University and Lacrosse University, both of which are considered diploma mills by some government regulators, advertise in the back pages of USA Today. In bold type, they tout their accreditation from the association. That makes Ms. Asher a central figure in the shadowy world of unaccredited higher education.... Although some member institutions, like Columbus University and Madison University, have been labeled diploma mills by the state of Oregon, Ms. Asher defends her members, saying they generally provide more individual attention than traditional universities do. The real difference, she argues, is that they don't cost as much."(emphasis added) --orlady 01:25, 10 September 2007 (UTC)