American Public University System
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| American Public University System | |
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| Motto: | "Educating Those Who Serve" |
| Established: | 1991 |
| Type: | Private, For-profit |
| President: | Wallace E. Boston, Jr. |
| Students: | 30,000+ |
| Location: | Charles Town, West Virginia, USA |
| Website: | www.amu.apus.edu |
The American Public University System (APUS) is a private, for-profit online learning higher education organization that comprises the American Military University and American Public University. APUS maintains corporate and academic offices in Charles Town, West Virginia and administrative offices in Manassas, Virginia, and offers online associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees through its two constituent universities. APUS is wholly owned by American Public Education, Inc., a publicly traded corporation NYSE: APEI.
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[edit] History
The American Military University was founded in 1991 by James Etter a former Marine Corps officer and instructor, who originally taught at the Marine Corps Base Quantico.[1] The focus of the university was military personnel, whose mobility as a population coupled with both irregular schedules and limited financial resources prohibited regular attendance at an institution. At its launch, AMU enrolled 18 students in 22 courses and offered only graduate degrees.[2]
In 2002, the distance learning concept was extended to a wider range of people, including civilians, with the founding of the American Public University. At the same time, APUS was founded to coordinate the efforts of the two organisations.
[edit] Accreditation
The university is academically unusual in that it is both regionally and nationally accredited. Regional accreditation for the university system is granted by Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association.
Their national accreditation, which was granted some years earlier, is through Accrediting Commission, Distance Education and Training Council (DETC).
[edit] Academic programs and staff
American Public University System (APUS) is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and nationally accredited by the Accrediting Commission, Distance Education and Training Council. The school is listed as unranked by U.S. News and World Reports [1].
The universities of APUS offer more than 100 different qualifications[3] across three schools:
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- Arts, sciences and social studies
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- School of Military Studies and Public Safety
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- School of Business, Management and Graduate Studies
Sixty full-time faculty and more than 275 adjunct faculty deliver the courses, with a student to faculty class ratio of 7:1. [4] Their academic credentials include such institutions as the University of Chicago, University of Southern California, University of Notre Dame, Stanford University, Indiana University, Christian Theological Seminary, Cambridge University, UNISA, University of Virginia, London College of Teachers and Harvard University. [5]
Many have served extensively in the armed forces or are executives in government, business and non-profit organizations, including the United Nations, the British Parliament, the State Department, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. [6]
[edit] Students
The combined enrollment is in excess of 30,000 students, of whom 71% are undergraduates. These are mostly adults belonging to the military, or working in public sectors such as national security. Active duty military personnel account for 69% of the students, with the remainder being either civilians or non-active military personnel.
As an online university, student enrollment is not limited geographically, and the university has students from all over the world. [7]
