Columbia Pacific University
| Type | Non-traditional; Distance Learning |
|---|---|
| Active | 1978–2000 |
| Location | San Rafael, California, United States |
Columbia Pacific University (CPU) was an unaccredited nontraditional distance learning school in California. It was founded in 1978 by Richard Crews, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, and Lester Carr, a former president of Lewis University, and operated with state approval. Distance learning and education authority John Bear gave "high marks" to the school in his 1982 "Bears' Guide to Non-Traditional College Degrees, 8th edition.
CPU was closed by California court order in 2000. The court also ruled that CPU had granted degrees legally between 1978 and mid-1997, a period when it was approved for operation by the State of California.
CPU alumni acquired all rights to the CPU name and registered a "Columbia Pacific University," a non-profit organization in Delaware. Until 2007, the CPU Press continued its publication program.
In 1983, after four years of operating under a basic authorization licensing, CPU's programs in administration and management received institutional approval from the California Department of Education Private Postsecondary Education Division. On June 2, 1986, the California Department of Education granted all of CPU's programs full institutional approval for a three-year period, ruling that CPU's curricula met California Education Code Section 94310(b)'s statutory requirement of being "consistent in quality with curricula offered by appropriate established accredited institutions which are recognized by the United States Department of Education."
California passed the Private Postsecondary Education Act, changing state regulations for approved schools in 1989. This law established the Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education (CPPVE) as the single State agency responsible for reviewing and approving private postsecondary institutions in California. Legislation in 1997 providing "authorization for continuation of the Reform Act was vetoed due to political pressures and concerns about the level of fees, the way in which Council staff was carrying out its responsibilities, and the absence of an administrative appeals" process. In a meeting of the ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION the veto of CPPVE was said to be caused by unfairly high fees charged to smaller institutions and "vindictiveness by Council staff" to institutions that didn't comply. With new legislation in 1997 "the Legislature created the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education" within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and transferred "responsibility for administration of the Reform Act from the Council to the Bureau" placing CPU under the authority of the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education (BPPVE). Staffing and funding of the Bureau was transitioned over a period of years such that the Council continued to operate until 2005 and BPPVE ceased operation in 2007 due to a sunset clause in the law. California Department of Education Private Postsecondary Education Division also ceased operation in 2007. Institutions that were in good standing with BPPVE were allowed to continue operation under existing approvals that were valid for two years, until the (BPPE) "Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education came into existence on January 1, 2010, following passage of Assembly Bill 48, known as the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009" (California Education Code, Title 3, Division 10, Part 59, Chapter 8).
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