Patriot Bible University

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Coordinates: 37°40′16.3″N, 106°20′49″W

Patriot Bible University
Established: 1979
Type: Not accredited
President: Lonnie Skinner
Location: Del Norte, Colorado, United States
Website: http://www.patriotuniversity.com

Patriot Bible University, formerly known as Patriot University, is an unaccredited religious correspondence school located in Del Norte, Colorado. Critics charge it is a diploma mill, lacking sufficient academic standards to award degrees.[1]

Patriot is not accredited by any recognized accreditation body. As such, its degrees may not be acceptable to employers or other institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.

Contents

[edit] History

It was established in 1979 as Patriot University in Dallas, Texas at the home of school founder Lonnie Skinner.[2] Then in 1985 it became affiliated with Hilltop Baptist Church in Colorado Springs.[3]

Beginning in March 1988 the school was authorized by the State of Colorado Higher Education Commission to issue "religious degrees".[4] In July 2004, the school changed its name to Patriot Bible University and moved out of College Heights Baptist Church and into a building in the small town of 1,700 people in Del Norte, Colorado. Currently, Skinner remains a director and instructor at Patriot in addition to being a Baptist pastor.[5]

Front view of Patriot Bible University taken on November 22, 2006.
Front view of Patriot Bible University taken on November 22, 2006.

In 1997 Patriot's street address was also listed as the residential address of Lonnie Skinner.[6] As of 2007, Patriot's address is listed by Zabasearch.com as the residence of Lonnie Skinner and the Skinner family (Lonnie, Toni, and possibly Rachael).[7] Also as of 2007 it has a total of four employees.[8]

According to Patriot's website it issues approximately 50 to 100 Christian religious degrees (Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorates) per year, and has about 400 active distance learning based students.[3]

[edit] Accreditation

Profile view of Patriot Bible University taken on November 22, 2006.
Profile view of Patriot Bible University taken on November 22, 2006.

Steve Levicoff's Name It and Frame It? New Opportunities in Adult Education and How to Avoid Being Ripped Off by 'Christian' Degree Mills (4th ed., 1995) listed Patriot Bible University as a degree mill.[1] The college has varied its policies over the years, but it has been criticized for awarding students degrees based on questionable standards such as "life experience" or "ministry evaluation" that lack academic rigour and merit.

The university is not accredited by any recognized accreditation associations of higher learning. It is recognized by the American Accrediting Association of Theological Institutions, which has no recognition from the United States Department of Education or any other government educational organization.[9] The AAATI is itself considered an accreditation mill.[1] The group provides approval to schools for a $100 charge.[1]

[edit] Controversy and criticism

Close up profile view of Patriot Bible University taken on November 22, 2006.
Close up profile view of Patriot Bible University taken on November 22, 2006.

Critics have charged that Patriot Bible University is a diploma mill as it has unreasonably low graduation requirements, lack of sufficient faculty or educational standards, and a suspicious tuition scheme, among other issues.[1] The college itself has claimed that it simply does not "choose" to be accredited by standard associations.[4] The school's current policies allow students to attain bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and even "Doctor of Ministry" degrees in months, rather than years, for as little as $25 per month plus books. The university offers a monthly fee, unlike most universities, which only charge per-credit fees.[10] The school's catalog contains course descriptions but no listing of the school's faculty or their credentials.

[edit] Kent Hovind

Much of the criticism of Patriot is leveled at the controversial creationist evangelist Kent Hovind, who received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Patriot in 1989 and 1991 respectively, both in Christian Education.[2][11] Hovind's use of the title "Doctor" in particular has provoked extensive scrutiny of his education credentials and his dissertation.[2]

Doctoral dissertations from reputable institutions are published by the awarding institution and generally lodged with university libraries, as well as being made available to other scholars conducting research in similar areas. However, Patriot will not supply copies of Hovind's doctoral dissertation except with his permission.[12] Although one copy of the dissertation is on file at the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) the organization is not able to provide it on request because of copyright and distribution restrictions.

Various criticisms have been made of Hovind's dissertation, including charges of incompleteness, low academic quality, poor writing, poor spelling, and ungrammatical style.[12][13] The lack of quality was described, in part, by the fact that "the pages are not numbered; there is no title; of sixteen or so chapters in the index only the first four are finished; misspellings are rampant ("Immerged" for emerged and "epic" for epoch are two examples); and the single illustration was apparently cut out of a science book with scissors and fastened to the thesis with glue or tape."[12][13]

Hovind's testimonial appears on Patriot Bible's website.[14]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Steve Levicoff. 1995. Chapter 12, Name It and Frame It? New Opportunities in Adult Education and How to Avoid Being Ripped Off by 'Christian' Degree Mills 4th ed. See: Archive copy at the Internet Archive
  2. ^ a b c Barbara Forrest. September 1999. Unmasking the False Prophet of Creationism. from the National Center for Science Education
  3. ^ a b Skinner, Lonnie. "Brief History to Present Day", Patriot Bible University, April 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-02. 
  4. ^ a b "Accreditation", Patriot Bible University, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-04. 
  5. ^ Riogrande County Record Search
  6. ^ Barbara, Forrest. "Unmasking the False Prophet of Creationism", National Center for Science Education, September 1, 1999. Retrieved on 2007-02-19. 
  7. ^ "Zabasearch.com", Zabasearch.com, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-02. 
  8. ^ "Better Business Bureau profile of Patriot Bible University", Better Business Bureau, April 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-02. 
  9. ^ Patriot Bible University-Admissions Patriot Bible University
  10. ^ "Finance & Payments", Patriot Bible University, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-04. 
  11. ^ Hovind, Kent. "Where did you get your degree?", DrDino.com (archived), Aug 16, 2001. Retrieved on 2007-02-24. 
  12. ^ a b c "A Review of Kent Hovind's Thesis by Karen Bartelt, Ph.D."
  13. ^ a b "Know Your Creationists: Kent Hovind", Daily Kos, December 31, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-11-04. 
  14. ^ "Testimonials", Patriot Bible University, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-04. 

[edit] External links