College, Inc.

Meet Michael Clifford. Clifford's important new book is "How To Run A College - By A Guy That Never Went To One!". He could relate to high school dropout, Ambassador College adman and "Chancellor" Herbert W. Armstrong.

MARTIN SMITH: Why did the university need to be reinvented? What's wrong with the way that universities were running up until the time that John Sperling came along with Phoenix?

MARK DeFUSCO: John saw the constraints of most- most college professors. You know, anybody who's got any new ideas in college are quickly beaten down. The academy hasn't had a real change in how it works for almost 500 years.

...

ANNOUNCER: [Univ. of Phoenix television commercial] Which university revolutionized education in America?

MARTIN SMITH: The granddaddy, University of Phoenix, spent $130 million on ads in 2008.

ANNOUNCER: [Univ. of Phoenix television commercial] Which university has the largest business school in the country?

MARTIN SMITH: That's more than brands like Tide, Revlon and FedEx.

ANNOUNCER: [television commercial] Why wait any longer?

MARTIN SMITH: What they spend on sales and marketing can rival or exceed what they spend on teaching.

MARK DeFUSCO, Dir., University of Phoenix, 1994-'02: If you take a look at for-profit colleges, the analysts will tell you that anywhere between 20 and 25 percent of the total revenue of a company is in sales and marketing, about a quarter. In most cases, the faculty are in the 10 to 20 percent range.

MARTIN SMITH: [on camera] Should that make us uncomfortable?

MARK DeFUSCO: I don't know. Why would one be uncomfortable?

MARTIN SMITH: Well, you're spending more on getting me to come to the school than you are on the service you're providing once I'm there.

MARK DeFUSCO: I understand. Well-

MARTIN SMITH: Is that right?

MARK DeFUSCO: When I go and buy perfume for my mom, the chemicals in the bottle and the bottle itself amount to about $0.50. The advertising amounts to five or six bucks.

MARTIN SMITH: But you're not selling perfume.

MARK DeFUSCO: What makes education so special? For-profits have to get people's attention, and they do a very good job of getting people's attention.

Read the full transcript here.

Ambassador Who?

Chancellor Rod Meredith suggests on the faculty page here of his Living University to have been awarded successive degrees in theology - including his 1966 D.Th. -from accredited Ambassador University. But the real truth is, Meredith never actually obtained an officially accredited degree from Ambassador University. According to official records obtained from the Texas Secretary of State, Ambassador University was formed and incorporated in Texas, and registered with the Secretary of State on April 5, 1990.

Ambassador University, incorporated in Texas in April of 1990- was eventually accredited by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges in January 1994 - for just 3.5 years - until AU closed down in 1997. Over a 50 year span- 14,732 young men and women attended Ambassador. Of the 9,362 who were awarded degrees, only those few students who completed required classes after January 1, 1994 were awarded fully accredited Ambassador University degrees.

Rod, tell the truth - you graduated from Armstrong's Ambassador College, not Ambassador University!

Entity Information: AMBASSADOR UNIVERSITY
PO BOX 385
PASADENA, CA 91102-0385
Status: NO STANDING, FRANCHISE RESPONSIBILITY ENDED
Registered Agent: JEB EGBERT
RR #2, BOX 518
BIG SANDY, TX 75755
Registered Agent Resignation Date:
State of Formation: TX
File Number: 0114885801
SOS Registration Date: April 5, 1990
Taxpayer Number: 17523298796