Maxine Asher - Higher Education

Higher Education

Asher is the founder of American World University, a postsecondary distance learning institution which is commonly considered to be a diploma mill. The school, which was founded in 1990, awards course credits for life experiences and does not require fluency in English. Foreign students make up more than 90% of the "student body", which consists of approximately 7,000 people. Tuition costs vary by country, and international students are attracted through local representatives, who handle regional advertising and in return receive half of the money they generate as a finder's fee.

AWU does not have a physical campus. It was based in Iowa City, Iowa until forced out by the passage of new state legislation governing postsecondary institutions in 2000. AWU relocated to Rapid City, South Dakota, but was forced to move again by the creation of a similar law. It is currently based in Pascagoula, Mississippi, with some operations such as the grading of papers also taking place at Asher's home in Westwood, California. The school also has a branch in Brazil, where Brazilian government officials estimate that it generated revenues in excess of four million dollars over its first two years in that country.

AWU is accredited only by the World Association of Universities and Colleges, an accrediting body founded by Asher which is not recognized by the United States Department of Education. Founded in 1993, the WAUC offers or offered accreditation to several institutions which have been classified as diploma mills by the federal government or state governments, including Lacrosse University, Columbus University, and Madison University. Neither AWU nor the WAUC are officially recognized by either the US Department of Education or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation.

A degree-fraud expert who has worked with the FBI has described AWU as "dreadful, useless, and terrible", while a former temporary employee describes the operation as a "total fraud", stating that Asher told her to write comments on students' papers "so that students would feel like they were being read". University of California, Berkeley professor John Bear, an expert on diploma mills, has described AWU as a "mail drop".

Asher has defended the academic rigor of AWU's curriculum, stating, "We're not Harvard, we're not Princeton, but I think we do a very credible job educating people." She claims that AWU is modeled on a fusion of American and European approaches to higher education.

In 2004, Asher was forced to close down the World University of Iowa, a Hawaii-based institution similar to AWU. As part of a summary judgement, she was ordered to cease operations, refund tuition money to all students, and pay $240,000 in damages. The action came as part of a statewide crackdown on unaccredited schools, as many had relocated there after 1999 in an effort to evade regulation in the mainland United States. During court proceedings, Asher refused to provide school documentation such as a list of students. Asher characterized the actions against WUI and other Hawaii-based schools accredited by the WAUC as pure harassment.