Pacific Western University (Hawaii)

Pacific Western University (Hawaii) was the name of an unaccredited university which was closed in May 2006 following a lawsuit filed by the State of Hawaii a year earlier.

Pacific Western University (Hawaii), Inc., also called American PacWest International University and registered with the business name Pacific West University (Hawaii) was incorporated in Hawaii in 1988 and operated within the State of Hawaii until May 2006. The University was an unaccredited institution based in Hawaii. This Pacific Western University institution was by far the largest of the three Pacific Western University schools and offered degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. Pacific Western University - Hawaii offered degree programs through several partnerships including Japan, Korea, Mexico, Argentina and Taiwan.

Pacific Western University (Hawaii) was the subject of controversy concerning the unaccredited nature of its programs.

In May 2004 the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs conducted hearings to determine whether the federal government had paid for, or governmental officials possessed, degrees from unaccredited schools. As part of those hearing the US Government Accountability Office presented the results of an eight-month examination and report. As the basis of the report, the GAO searched the Internet for nontraditional, unaccredited post-secondary schools that offered degrees that met their search criteria. After the passage of the Homeland Security Act, Section 4107 of tile 5, U.S. Code was amended. After this act became law in 2002, the federal government could pay for the cost of academic degree training for federal employees only if the college or university providing that training was accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body. The Senate Committee official transcript references Pacific Western University in Los Angeles and Pacific Western University (Hawaii) as two of the unaccredited schools the GAO found online and mentioned during the hearing. The official senate record reflects that Pacific Western University in Los Angeles was recognized as California State Approved. However, because the State of Hawaii had no state approval process, it was noted that it was difficult for students to tell the difference between the two schools who at the time where under the same ownership.

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