Canyon College

[Chaundra]

Has anyone ever done any coursework at Canyon College out of Caldwell Idaho? I am considering it for a MN in nursing education and would really like to talk to someone who is working on or has done the program.

[Chaundra]

Thanks for checking it out NurseWeasel

[NurseWeasel]

UPDATE. Local news channel http://www.ktvb.com ran this story, this is in no way meant to violate copyright or anything, just passing on the story.

Online school based in Idaho raises concern

7 INVESTIGATION

04/24/2003

Anna Rau

Idaho's NewsChannel 7

CALDWELL - It's an online college in Idaho that you probably didn't know existed - but Canyon College has been on the state's radar for years.

A degree is one of the most important pieces of paper you can get.

In Idaho, there are plenty of places you can get one - Idaho State, Boise State, The University of Idaho. One place you may not have heard of - Canyon College.

It's an online college based in Caldwell - handing out degrees some employers won't accept. NewsChannel 7 wanted to know why.

"I live in Boise, so the campus is very close it sounds like," our NewsChannel 7 Producer asked

"Let me tell you something really quick, Idaho residents cannot participate in Canyon College," Canyon College representative said during an under cover phone conversation.

So what is Canyon College? Why can't Idaho residents get their degree there? We went to the State Board of education for some answers, and found a whole file on Canyon College

"Calls would come in from potential students that were asking questions about registration, were they legitimate?" Dr. Robyn Dodson said.

Dodson was the chief academic officer for the Idaho State Board of Education when Canyon College began operations in 1998.

He says he was immediately concerned about Canyon College because of a section of Idaho state law.

"It says that you have to be accredited by a recognized accrediting agency by the Department of Education to offer degrees," Dodson said.

"Accreditation is a very critical issue," the State Board of Education's Randy Thompson said.

Thompson says to take an Idaho State Board exam for things like nursing, social work or teaching you need a degree from an accepted, accredited college or it may not be worth the paper it is printed on.

"We found that they were not accredited by an accrediting body that's recognized by the department of education in Washington," Thompson said. 'They have been instructed not to solicit Idaho students."

But Canyon College's website says they are accredited by two different agencies. One is the Central State's Consortium of Colleges and Schools, an agency that is not accepted by the US Department of Education. The other?

"We're accredited by the National Board of Education," the Canyon College rep. said.

So our producer asked where the National Board of Education is based.

"Um I don't have any of that."

NewsChannel 7 found out that the National Board of Education Inc. is out of the Republic of Liberia - in Africa.

But when our producer asked specific questions about it, the answers were hazy,

NewsChannel 7 Producer: "It is a U.S. Agency though right?"

Canyon College rep: "It's a national agency."

NewsChannel 7 Producer: "Right, so they're the U.S.?

Canyon College rep: "Right."

Nothing was said about the republic of Liberia.

No one with Canyon College would go on camera, but registrar John Denmark says you have to have foreign accreditation if you have foreign students.

That's a claim that the State Board of Education's Thompson says it is not true - all you need is accepted regional accreditation - something Dr. Dodson says Canyon College does not have.

"Why go to Liberia?, why wouldn't you go to one of our accrediting agencies in this country?" Dodson said.

In an unmarked building in Caldwell - an online college is operating, offering degrees to people all over the world - except in it's home state of Idaho.

When our producer called to ask some questions - and revealed she lives in Idaho, Canyon College was upfront wither her - saying she could not get a degree at the online Caldwell school.

"It's a lot of red tape, is what it comes down to, state of Idaho wants a lot of money for us to register with them, I mean millions of dollars," Dena with Canyon College said.

"I would disagree with that," Thompson said. "To characterize the state as requiring them to pay money or fees to the state is inappropriate, the registration fee is $100."

But when our producer pressed - the woman on the phone she insisted Idaho wanted millions of dollars.

Dena, Canyon College: "Right now, I don't think it has anything to do with accreditation I think it has to do with just they set down a figure and we don't want to pay it."

Dr. Dodson says it's the online colleges that stand to make millions of dollars...he says he knows of one online college in idaho that raked in between 4 and 10 million a year.

Dr. Dodson: "It is big business, it's huge."

An ad soliciting professors for Canyon College offered $175 dollars for each student who completes the course.

We looked into some Canyon College instructors, and ran into some problems when we tried to check out Shelagh Gray.

Her online bio says she has a PH. D. from Walden University. When we called, they said she is enrolled, but is not scheduled to graduate until September of 2005.

Gray did not return any of our phone calls or e-mails.

We tracked down one of Canyon College's alumnus - Dominick Flarey who says he earned a doctorate in clinical hypnotherapy from the college in 2003.

He is now running his own online college in Kamiah Idaho called Breyer State University. It has the same two accreditation agencies as Canyon College and Flarey is an instructor for both colleges.

Shelagh Gray also turned up as an instructor on the Breyer State webisite.

Like Canyon College, the Idaho Board of Education has told Breyer state they cannot give degrees to Idaho students.

"It's very unfortunate, because we do have a lot of students in the state of Idaho who would like to participate," the Canyon College representative said.

Dr. Dodson looks at it differently.

"If students access programs that are not up to standards that does upset me, it's a quality issue and there are students that can be harmed by that," he said.

The Idaho State Board of Education gets about one inquiry on Canyon College every week - mostly from out of state students.

Potential employers also call to check on the school's degrees.

Denmark with Canyon College says accreditation is a voluntary process, and adds that their instructors are excellent.

[NurseWeasel]

UPDATE. Local news channel http://www.ktvb.com ran this story, this is in no way meant to violate copyright or anything, just passing on the story.

Online school based in Idaho raises concern

7 INVESTIGATION

04/24/2003

Anna Rau

Idaho's NewsChannel 7

CALDWELL - It's an online college in Idaho that you probably didn't know existed - but Canyon College has been on the state's radar for years.

A degree is one of the most important pieces of paper you can get.

In Idaho, there are plenty of places you can get one - Idaho State, Boise State, The University of Idaho. One place you may not have heard of - Canyon College.

It's an online college based in Caldwell - handing out degrees some employers won't accept. NewsChannel 7 wanted to know why.

"I live in Boise, so the campus is very close it sounds like," our NewsChannel 7 Producer asked

"Let me tell you something really quick, Idaho residents cannot participate in Canyon College," Canyon College representative said during an under cover phone conversation.

So what is Canyon College? Why can't Idaho residents get their degree there? We went to the State Board of education for some answers, and found a whole file on Canyon College

"Calls would come in from potential students that were asking questions about registration, were they legitimate?" Dr. Robyn Dodson said.

Dodson was the chief academic officer for the Idaho State Board of Education when Canyon College began operations in 1998.

He says he was immediately concerned about Canyon College because of a section of Idaho state law.

"It says that you have to be accredited by a recognized accrediting agency by the Department of Education to offer degrees," Dodson said.

"Accreditation is a very critical issue," the State Board of Education's Randy Thompson said.

Thompson says to take an Idaho State Board exam for things like nursing, social work or teaching you need a degree from an accepted, accredited college or it may not be worth the paper it is printed on.

"We found that they were not accredited by an accrediting body that's recognized by the department of education in Washington," Thompson said. 'They have been instructed not to solicit Idaho students."

But Canyon College's website says they are accredited by two different agencies. One is the Central State's Consortium of Colleges and Schools, an agency that is not accepted by the US Department of Education. The other?

"We're accredited by the National Board of Education," the Canyon College rep. said.

So our producer asked where the National Board of Education is based.

"Um I don't have any of that."

NewsChannel 7 found out that the National Board of Education Inc. is out of the Republic of Liberia - in Africa.

But when our producer asked specific questions about it, the answers were hazy,

NewsChannel 7 Producer: "It is a U.S. Agency though right?"

Canyon College rep: "It's a national agency."

NewsChannel 7 Producer: "Right, so they're the U.S.?

Canyon College rep: "Right."

Nothing was said about the republic of Liberia.

No one with Canyon College would go on camera, but registrar John Denmark says you have to have foreign accreditation if you have foreign students.

That's a claim that the State Board of Education's Thompson says it is not true - all you need is accepted regional accreditation - something Dr. Dodson says Canyon College does not have.

"Why go to Liberia?, why wouldn't you go to one of our accrediting agencies in this country?" Dodson said.

In an unmarked building in Caldwell - an online college is operating, offering degrees to people all over the world - except in it's home state of Idaho.

When our producer called to ask some questions - and revealed she lives in Idaho, Canyon College was upfront wither her - saying she could not get a degree at the online Caldwell school.

"It's a lot of red tape, is what it comes down to, state of Idaho wants a lot of money for us to register with them, I mean millions of dollars," Dena with Canyon College said.

"I would disagree with that," Thompson said. "To characterize the state as requiring them to pay money or fees to the state is inappropriate, the registration fee is $100."

But when our producer pressed - the woman on the phone she insisted Idaho wanted millions of dollars.

Dena, Canyon College: "Right now, I don't think it has anything to do with accreditation I think it has to do with just they set down a figure and we don't want to pay it."

Dr. Dodson says it's the online colleges that stand to make millions of dollars...he says he knows of one online college in idaho that raked in between 4 and 10 million a year.

Dr. Dodson: "It is big business, it's huge."

An ad soliciting professors for Canyon College offered $175 dollars for each student who completes the course.

We looked into some Canyon College instructors, and ran into some problems when we tried to check out Shelagh Gray.

Her online bio says she has a PH. D. from Walden University. When we called, they said she is enrolled, but is not scheduled to graduate until September of 2005.

Gray did not return any of our phone calls or e-mails.

We tracked down one of Canyon College's alumnus - Dominick Flarey who says he earned a doctorate in clinical hypnotherapy from the college in 2003.

He is now running his own online college in Kamiah Idaho called Breyer State University. It has the same two accreditation agencies as Canyon College and Flarey is an instructor for both colleges.

Shelagh Gray also turned up as an instructor on the Breyer State webisite.

Like Canyon College, the Idaho Board of Education has told Breyer state they cannot give degrees to Idaho students.

"It's very unfortunate, because we do have a lot of students in the state of Idaho who would like to participate," the Canyon College representative said.

Dr. Dodson looks at it differently.

"If students access programs that are not up to standards that does upset me, it's a quality issue and there are students that can be harmed by that," he said.

The Idaho State Board of Education gets about one inquiry on Canyon College every week - mostly from out of state students.

Potential employers also call to check on the school's degrees.

Denmark with Canyon College says accreditation is a voluntary process, and adds that their instructors are excellent.

[casseiopia]

Everything I am reading about Canyon College indicates you are paying for a really expensive piece of paper that will get you no where. In fact Oregon can charge with with an offence if you pursue using that degree to get a job or try to get into a higher level of education. Scary! Chaundra I too am a Canadian nurse and money was definitely a concern for me as well and I found the program at Excelsior College out of Albany NY a great one. And my RN degree is recognized here in the province of Ontario.

Good Luck!

[KellyR7]

I got my degree there and all I can tell you is it was TOUGH. I'm proud of it and would recommend them.

[jeeps]

They are NOT accredited. You can do a Google search and read articles about them not being accredited. Of course, you have to go down below their advertising to find the article, usually in the NEWS section of Google but sometimes in the regular pages. Read the info in the news. They are NOT accredited and one poor woman faced criminal charges after spending $5500 of her money there. Ouch! Ouch!

[MSADN, ADN]

Canyon College is a degree mill. A nursing degree without NLN or CCNE is useless. If you must get a nursing degree without professional accreditation, then go with Governor's State, Walden U., or Aspen. These at least are regionally or nationally accredited. Canyon College has no legitimate accreditation.

[jeeps]

You can search for this article on Google: Canyon College Online Degree Problems Raise Questions. It contains this info, which is echoed by many other news reports: Canyon College is alleged to have potentially taken as much as thousands of dollars worth of money from at least 4,000 students. Then the students were sometimes told they could face criminal charges for trying to use these so-called degrees as legitimate ones.

Now, is that a school anyone would want to attend? Call me crazy but I wouldn't give $5500 to a college, only to face potential criminal charges - and NO job -at the end of the road!