please call me. I have alot of information. I do not want to disclose this on the internet. I have thought of writing a letter to the NY Times,regarding what I consider fraud on the part of our school. I have been so defeated by accumulating 129 credits and finishing my dissertation (owing $400,000 in loans--including those for years prior to my colloquim) and not being awarded a diploma, that I have given up hope except a law suit.

The administration\\\\??? really did a number on those of us to graduate in 2004. I cannot find anyone to speak to who has similar problems.

Please contact me at 575-499-7644. I am 2 hours earler than you are. We need an educational attorney in Ohio to look into this.

iF this posting is put out by the school, you know who I am and why I am going to take action.

I hope this is a legitimate concerned fellow learner. If I get no response, I'll know. Union! You will not get away with charging me for 10 years of tuition during which I was without a Core faculty member for 3 years.....adding on an additional year while I was still in my Masters program, and adding 2 years on in 2006 and 7 when I was not enrolled. Your fraud will come to light!

Please ignore this if you are a former learner with the same or similar issues as mine.

Union Institute and University had a valid PhD program, but it was put on probation back in 2004. Sadly, students were not given an option to withdraw and be given refunds for big student loans. I hung in there as long as I could, and kept borrowing, but because the US Department of Education had disqualified them for Federal Student Loans, I had to use Sallie Mae's Opportunity Loans. I wish I had withdrawn in 2004. Union officials met with the DOE and Ohio Board of Regents to try to get their accreditation back, but it never happened. Students who have tried to get their credits transferred to another program so they can finish with an accredited degree find they are worthless now. What is confusing is that because Union did have a good reputation at one time, many in the academic community don't know about their PhD program's problems. As far as I know, their undergraduate programs are still accredited, adding to the confusion. The essential problem with the PhD program is that there are not enough faculty and staff to administer the program. The degrees take forever to complete, drawing the student deeper and deeper into debt. They describe a new PhD program online, but as far as I know it is not yet accredited, and students who matriculated into the older program are not allowed to transfer into it. I'm now leading a group involved in a lawsuit against them. Anyone who wants more information is welcome to contact me.

I thinik we need to publicize that there are many people claiming to have a variety of Ph.D.s when the Union has only offered one Ph.D.