Dear Sirs,

It will be appreciated if you could provide me with your professional opinion on the Kensington University, Glendale, California, which used to operate until 1996

As far as I know it was approved to operate by the California department of education, but subsequently it was court ordered to terminate its operation, because it did not comply with the additional requirements the Education department requested.

What I am particularly concerned to know is whether degrees earned prior to its closure, that is during the period it's approval was in force, are considered legitimate, even though not accredited.

Moreover please advise me if any department, agency etc in the USA might still keep records of the students who have graduated from this University, as well as the degrees awarded to them.

Thank you and best regards
ioannis

Hi,

Kensington University originally operated as an unaccredited but state approved post-secondary school in Glendale California but was ordered shut down in 1995-96 for failing to meet state standards. It then re-opened in Hawaii as Kensington International University until closed down in Hawaii under court order a few years later. It is to my knowledge now 100% defunct.

This school was cited in the 1995 government sting operation on diploma mills and forced to close in both California and Hawaii so its credibility is not widely established in terms of using a degree from here for employment. Degrees from here have been banned for use in several states, such as Texas.

If you attended this school in California during the period it was a state approved yet unaccredited college then contact the State Department for questions related to receiving records. Schools are supposed to maintain records following closure BUT since this school was closed for failure to meet legal requirements and re-located twice you may not be able to locate any records facility for the institution.

Start here:California Post Secondary Education Commission www.cpec.ca.gov/

The Commission, which is being phased out of active service, acted as a clearinghouse for private postsecondary and vocational education schools that were approved by the state of California to operate as licensed schools. For questions about licensure or oversight of these institutions:

Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education
P.O. Box 980818
West Sacramento, CA 95798-0818
Phone: (916) 574-7720

Hopefully you can get some referral on this BUT since Kennsington is long gone through legal shut down and was never accredited I know of no other place that would keep the records for such an institution.

All the best
Vicky

Hello,

There is an interesting new blog piece that mentions Kensington University by Nate Thayer, an investigative journalist.

Nate has compiled data on political leaders -- dictators and despots and others of high office in Asia and around the world -- who are reputed to have used credentials from unaccredited colleges and degree mills, some from the US, others from the UK.

It's quite a list, interesting reading.

Nate also kindly mentions the Get Educated Diploma Mill Police (R) watchdog: Chester Ludlow MBA and pug dog extraordinaire, who earned his MBA online with honors in Finance back in 2009.

Chester had no idea his fellow online students carried such high political punch!

Nate asks that all intriguing question: what do real animals with college degrees have in common with political animals -- dictators and despots.

Nate Thayer blog on degree mills --

Animals with College Degrees, Diploma Mills, Dictators and Despots / natethayer.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/what-do-kim-il-sung-hun-sen-have-in-common-with-animal-pets-they-all-obtained-bogus-college-degrees/

All the best
Vicky