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The University of Atlanta is a for-profit distance education institution based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Barrington University

The University of Atlanta was founded as Barrington University in the early 1990s by Robert and Steven Bettinger and by 1995 was operating out of a Burlington, Vermont address offering distance-learning degrees. The school lacked state approval; in Vermont, it is a crime to offer unaccredited degrees and in 1995, the state successfully sued and fined Barrington for fraud. The state's investigation revealed its physical campus was a rented post office box. The school was claiming that its degrees would raise buyers' lifetime earnings by $1 million. Barrington then moved to Mobile, Alabama, offering $4,450 degrees granting considerable credit for life experiences.

Barrington operated as a subsidiary of Boca Raton-based Virtual Academics.The company's literature ascribed a doctorate to the chairman but it was later shown that he did not have one. The University claimed accreditation by the "International Association of Universities and Schools Inc." (IAUS) however, a 2003 investigation by the South Florida Business Journal revealed this was a for-profit organization set up in Florida, not Switzerland or Washington, D.C as claimed. The IAUS was organized by Virtual Academics' chairman and the owner of another for-profit college in 1998; according to the New York Post, this was done to avoid further problems due to their schools' lack of accreditation. The IAUS' charter was subsequently dissolved by the State of Florida for failure to pay annual registration fees. The South Florida Business Journal also reported that Barrington was paying Chinese professors and schools commissions for selling the school's degrees to their schools' students in China; this revelation prompted a major drop in Chinese enrollments and a resulting decline in revenues. Virtual Academics then changed its name to Cenuco and announced its intention to focus on wireless products; according to the South Florida Business Journal, this was due to the adverse publicity associated with the chairman's missing doctorate and the Chinese enrollment problem. In 2004, Cenuco, still run by the Bettingers, sold the school to Georgia-based Rarefied, LLC, run by Akber Mithani, for $300,000 cash and a $700,000 seller-financed loan. Rarefied continued the school's operation with the same employees in the same location, a 1500 square foot office.

Starting as early as 2000, the school began having problems with the State of Alabama and the state threatened to revoke its operating license. State investigators determined that Barrington had been operating out of the offices of a Mobile secretarial and answering service. A U.S. General Accounting Office investigation found that Barrington was offering degrees for a fee based solely on life experience and requiring no classroom experience. By 2008, the State of Alabama was conducting a crackdown on such schools operating in Alabama, requiring all be accredited or actively seeking accreditation by October of that year. In 2008, while still operating in Mobile, Barrington changed its name to the University of Atlantaand obtained accreditation from the federally recognized Distance Education and Training Council(DETC). The DETC noted the school had been "comprehensively restructured and re-launched" starting in 2006. The school subsequently moved to its location in the Atlanta area.

Current

The University of Atlanta is authorized by the Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission and has been accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) since 2008.. Nick Mithani is the university's president; his brother Alex Mithani is CEO.

The University of Atlanta awards Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in the fields of Business, Social Science, Computer Science, and Education and Healthcare Administration. Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Executive MBA degree programs are offered with concentrations in Administration, Finance, International Business, Marketing, Human Resource Management, Management Information Systems, Computer Science, Educational Leadership and Criminal Justice.

The University is a member of the European Association for Distance Learning (EADL). Since 2008 it has been affiliated with the United States military's Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES).

References

1. ^ Byron, Christopher (2004-06-07). "Fee for Certificate". The New York Post. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
2. Harkness, Seth (2003-01-23). "Internet 'colleges' offer no-study diplomas for price". Rutland Herald. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
3. ^ "Virtual Academics now Cenuco". South Florida Business Journal. 2003-01-02. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
4. ^ Duggan, Ed (2000-10-13). "Reality check for Virtual Academics.com". South Florida Business Journal. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
5. ^ "Virtual whatever". South Florida Business Journal. 2007-10-20. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
6. ^ "Time to shuffle the deck and pick 2003's turkeys". South Florida Business Journal. 11-21-2003. Retrieved 2009-03-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. ^ "Purchase and Sale Agreement". Form 8-K, exhibit 10.1. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2004-10-05. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
8. "Description of Property". Cenuco Inc. Form 10-KSB. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2003-04-08. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
9. ^ Spencer, Thomas (2008-09-02). "Alabama takes aim at Internet colleges; Chancellor's office says targets 'not real schools'". The Birmingham News. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
10. ^ Listing for University of Atlanta, Distance Education and Training Council website, accessed February 28, 2009
11. ^ DETC Welcomes New Institutions, pages 4-7 in DETC News, Fall 2008, Distance Education and Training Council
12. Directory Of Authorized Schools, Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission website, accessed February 28, 2009
13. Member List: United States of America, European Association for Distance Learning website, accessed February 28, 2009
14. Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support, Information Bulletin No. 384, December, 2008

External links

• University of Atlanta - official website

• Schools in Atlanta, Georgia
• Distance education institutions