Chai University? I love Chai tea, but a University

[mdoneil]

On LinkedIn I saw a note about Chai University's new $6000 MBA.

For your amusement I present their website: http://www.chaiuniversity.com/

[johann]

Hi

Chai University's site states that your Chai degree will come from THIS school: http://www.eiilmuniversity.ac.in/
This school (EIILM) claims full recognition and approval from from India's UGC (University Grants Commission) as of 2008.

The affiliation with EIILM is still noted as "proposed" on Chai U.'s website.

Johann

[Eric]

Even if this MBA is fully accredited what is the value of it in USA or CA?

Will employers prefer US MBA over Indian MBA graduates?
With all the respect to India and their very high level academic environment.

I think the US BMA for 25K may be better then 6K for Indian MBA.

I could be wrong , this is just an opinion.

But on another hand if persons goal form MBA is to get later in to DBA or Ph.D. then they may have a bargain here.
Pending acceptance by good post grad program.

There are cheeper options from Ukrainian based university that is recognized and accredited. I think MBA is for 3000K.
The question is what is the utility of such BMA in US, UK here or in CA.

[aplaat]

Hi, I wanted to introduce myself and also post a response to this thread.

My name is Aaron and I am the project manager for Chai University. To answer a few of your questions, we were pending our accreditation and affiliation with EIILM this past December, and have now entered into a successful educational partnership with them to offer our degree program.

There are quite a few people who have questions about the accreditation and how applicable it is to the US job market. The idea of receiving a degree from EIILM may be new to some students. But there are many people leading fortune 500 companies who have degrees from similar programs.

This is very common in the medical field. A future doctor will complete medical school overseas and then come to the states, complete the proper examinations, and then practice in the USA - mostly debt free from student loans. This is the same principle.

US accreditation is a very costly and time consuming process. Essentially, it's a tough and very pricey club to join, costing around $10 million. At this time, we have opted not to go this route and have passes the savings to students.

In addition, all students graduating from our first round of classes will receive a personal letter of recommendation to future employers from our founders, both Harvard Graduates and successful entrepreneurs.

Feel free to email with any questions you may have. I would be very happy to assist you!

info@chaiuniversity.com

[George Brown]

So which legal entity confers the degree?

Cheers,

George

[John Bear]

Founder/backer Vinay Rai is not without controversy in his own country. Business Week suggests that he is under indictment for business fraud, and is a follower of Sai Baba (http://tinyurl.com/AboutRai) the Indian guru with millions of followers, who is said to create coins, candy, jewelry, and other small objects out of thin air (and who also donates heavily to higher education). YouTube has many films, some showing his 'miracles,' and some exposing them as magic tricks.

[Hungry Ghost]

To answer a few of your questions, we were pending our accreditation and affiliation with EIILM this past December, and have now entered into a successful educational partnership with them to offer our degree program.

I see that Chai has added a mailing address for something called the 'Chai Network Inc.' to its 'contact' page. (The Chai Network appears to be a 'Life Education' discussion-board/blog). Many businesses appear to reside on the 9'th floor at 330 Madison Ave in NYC. Is it a mail forwarding address? Where is Chai University physically located and legally domiciled?

http://www.chaiuniversity.com/contact-us.php

Can you please expand on Chai University's legal status in the State of New York? Use of the names 'college' and 'university' appear to be regulated by law there, and it looks like state registration and licensing requirements extend to programs that are offered through NY remote-sites by out-of-state schools.

http://www.highered.nysed.gov/ocue/aipr/home.html

There are quite a few people who have questions about the accreditation and how applicable it is to the US job market. The idea of receiving a degree from EIILM may be new to some students.

If EIILM awards the degrees in India, then what functions does Chai University perform in New York or wherever it is?

The rhetoric surrounding Chai University emphasizes that it is "accredited". That needs to be more fully explained. What agency in what country accredited what exactly? Please provide contact information for the agency so that the details can be directly verified with them.

EIILM's Indian status is obscure. State government permission to operate in Sikkim wouldn't necessarily be the same thing as accreditation, since non-accredited schools can get state approval to operate in India just like they can in the United States. (State authorized mills recently created a scandal in the state of Chattisgarh.) The Indian UGC's NAAC doesn't appear to list any accredited universities or colleges in the small Himalayan state of Sikkim.

http://naacindia.org/accreditedall.asp

Referring to Sikkim state authorization as "regional government accreditation" is misleading, albeit cute. And no, boasting a .ac.whatever web address isn't proof of accreditation, even if Oxford has one.

http://www.chaiuniversity.com/faq.php

US accreditation is a very costly and time consuming process. Essentially, it's a tough and very pricey club to join, costing around $10 million. At this time, we have opted not to go this route and have passes the savings to students.

Please don't confuse the cost of making a new university accreditable (which may or may not be $10 million) with the application fees and clerical costs associated with an accreditation application.

If, as you seem to be implicitly acknowledging, your cryptic operation isn't currently accreditable here in the States, then it's probably best that prospective students remain skeptical about its Indian accreditation claims until those have been fully explained and verified.

[johann]

Hi

This is from EIILM's website - where I read It claims full UGC recognition and approval. Thanks to Hungry Ghost, we now know it is NOT UGC-authorized, as there appear to be no Sikkim-domiciled universities whatsoever on the UGC list.

"EIILM University, Jorethang, Sikkim, is fully recognized and approved by University Grants Commission (UGC) vide letter no. F. 9-19/2007 (CPP-I) dated 09the May 2008 and is established under Sikkim State Legislature ACT No. 4, 2006, Government of Sikkim. The Act was notified and published under the Government of Sikkim Gazette Notification No.28/LD/2006, dated April 3, 2006."

EIILM University is the first University in the country who have been awarded the prestigious ISO 9001:14001 certification awarded by UKAS.. (Emphasis mine)

Sorry! If I'd bothered to read the last sentence (ISO 9001 approval millspeak) I MIGHT have known to dismiss the entire thing as nonsense. My apologies!

Johann

[George Brown]

Feel free to email with any questions you may have. I would be very happy to assist you!

Stil waiting for your reply.

Cheers,

George

[Poimen]

All students graduating from our first round of classes will receive a personal letter of recommendation to future employers from our founders.

Dear Future Employer:

Please be informed that John Doe is a graduate of Chai University and that I personally recommend him for the job.

Sincerely,
**** *****, Founder

[Hungry Ghost]

Here's some more stuff --

Controversy about EIILM opening a branch campus on the island of Mauritius.

http://sikkimnews.blogspot.com/2007/07/ ... nment.html

The Indian UGC telling private state-chartered Indian universities to knock it off, that they can only operate campuses inside the state that charters them.

http://www.ugc.ac.in/notices/private-un ... snov09.pdf

And this rather scathing report entitled 'The university operates from a carshed'.

http://www.darjeelingtimes.com/news/New ... shed-.html

[aplaat]

George, did you send an email? I have not receive it yet. aplaat@chaiuniversity.com

Re: Poimen
The reason for having a limited enrollment of students is so that more attention can be given to each one. And this includes the letter of recommendation.

There are quite a few people who have wondered what the 'best' degree accreditation is, as ours is from our partnership with EIILM. Some students are hoping to graduate with a degree that will secure them a job. However, there are other students looking to learn information that will enhance their career.

Chai University is not seeking to replace the traditional university experience. Rather, it is the purpose and vision of Chai University to provide a cost effective alternative to higher priced online programs available.

Several of the more popular online schools charge over $25,000 for an online MBA without providing solid interactions between professor and student. These universities happen to have US accreditation as well.

I would encourage you to view some of the free videos on our website and take a look at the quality of material that we are striving to provide. We recently interviewed TIME Magazine columnist Justin Fox, author of "The Myth of the Rational Market" and have posted this on our site.

Again, please feel free to email or call with any questions. I'd be happy to help you!

[aplaat]

So which legal entity confers the degree?

Cheers,

George

George, I re-read the discussion and saw your reply.

Graduates of the program will receive their degree from EIILM, as they are our accrediting body. Chai University provides all of the professors and instruction for the classes, delivered via streaming video and online classroom management systems - Moodle, in particular.

All of the classes will be taught by professors located here in the US, as we are located in New York and this is where we conduct our video recording.

[Hungry Ghost]

Graduates of the program will receive their degree from EIILM, as they are our accrediting body.

How is it possible for one university (which might not even be fully accredited itself) to accredit another? What you are describing sounds like an affiliation and/or franchise arrangement.

Chai University provides all of the professors and instruction for the classes, delivered via streaming video and online classroom management systems - Moodle, in particular.

All of the classes will be taught by professors located here in the US, as we are located in New York and this is where we conduct our video recording.

Once again, what is your legal status in New York? Is Chai University licensed by the NY State Department of Education? To the best of my knowledge, even NY branches of out-of-state schools need to register. I also understand that use of the name 'university' is regulated by law in NY and requires state approval, something that's difficult to get.

http://www.highered.nysed.gov/ocue/aipr/home.html

The legality of EIILM's relationship with Chai is problematic as well. The Indian University Grants Commission website includes this Public Notice:

http://www.ugc.ac.in/notices/importancenotice.pdf

Important Public Notice

It has come to the notice of the University Grants Commission (UGC) that some of the Deemed Universities are opening Off-Campus(s) / Off-Shore Campus(s) / New Department(s) / Study Centre(s) and starting Courses... without waiting for the final approval from UGC/Government of India. Some of them are also imparting education under distance mode without the approval of the UGC-AICTE-DEC Joint Committee and even through franchisee agreement with private institutions. Some of the Deemed Universities are reported to have given affiliation to Colleges / Institutions against approved policy of UGC.

Students, parents and the general public at large are, therefore, cautioned and advised not to take admission to the unapproved Off-Campus(s) / Off-Shore Campus(s) / New Departments / Study Centre(s), Colleges / Institutions affiliated to deemed to be universities and courses run under distance mode (without approval of UGC-AICTE-DEC Joint Committee)...

So my question to you is, has EIILM been authorized by the UGC to operate a affiliated/franchise school in New York? It seems that the UGC has already publicly stated that it has not authorized any private university in India to operate any branch campus or franchise operation beyond the boundaries of the state in which it's chartered. Has EIILM been authorized by the UGC-AICTE-DEC Joint Committee to operate in the distance learning mode, particularly when that DL is being offered from a satellite school in a different country?

See this:

http://www.ugc.ac.in/notices/publicnotice.pdf

which includes:

So far, UGC has not approved any off campus centre(s) of any Private University.

[aplaat]

Here are some answers to your questions. I apologize for the late response!

The relationship between Chai University and EIILM is not a franchise or affiliation. Rather, we are the administrators of their curriculum and provide the appropriate teachers for the classes. This was carefully structured so as to not violate any of the existing restrictions as mentioned.

All of our curriculum is the same curriculum as EIILM students are provided with. What Chai University does is provide the US teachers who teach the content as well as offer the live video lectures for the benefit of students. Your degree will come from EIILM and Chai University is the one who administers all content.

We are very aware of the legal restrictions in New York. And our company has been legally structured and formed in the state of Delaware.