The Strayer University District of Columbia

Date: Mar 12 2010
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
Strayer University has accreditation problems. The school began as Strayer College, a small for-profit business school in Washington, DC. It was accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) in 1981. Thereafter, the college grew, renamed itself Strayer University, and moved its headquarters to Arlington, VA (Strayer University is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Strayer Education, Inc.).

The school's fastest-growing division is Strayer University Online, headquartered in Lorton (Newington), VA. The school has also opened satellite campuses throughout Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida, all states in which colleges are normally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

Strayer does not have SACS accreditation. Moreover, the school's business courses and business degrees are not accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Thus, AACSB-approved colleges will not accept graduate transfer credits from Strayer. Additionally, Strayer's public administration degrees are not accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). These accreditations are important to employers. The Intel Corporation, for example, recently announced that it would not reimburse employees for tuition payments to schools that lacked AACSB accreditation.

Officials at Strayer have stated that SACS accreditation is not required, since the MSCHE has already evaluated the school's academic program. That accreditation, however, was in 1981, when Strayer was a small business school located in Washington, D. C. When Strayer moved across the Potomac River into Virginia, MSCHE accreditation no longer applied.

Strayer is reluctant to seek accreditation from SACS, AACSB and NASPAA for four reasons: ~ The school does not maintain a library—a traditional requirement for established universities. ~ A disproportionate number of teachers are part-time, with "adjunct" status. ~ Strayer has been criticized in the past for loose grading standards. ~ The school's goals of profits and growth are inconsistent with traditions of established universities.

Prospective students should be mindful of Strayer's accreditation problems before they enroll in courses, particularly those that are offered exclusively online. Such courses do not require actual attendance; additionally, they utilize unproctored, open-book exams.

In May 2008, Strayer hired 59-year-old Sondra F. Stallard to be the "president" of the university, and they gave her an office at one of the Washington, D. C., campuses. She is, at best, a ceremonial official without real authority or power. Strayer needed a key official in Washington D. C. to maintain the fiction that the school came under the MSCHE for accreditation purposes. All major decisions involving the university are actually made in Virginia by Robert S. Silberman, the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Strayer Education, Inc. Ms. Stallard was given stock worth $1.6 million to become the "president" of the university in lieu of real authority.