Bircham International University

BIU was founded by Deric Bircham, William Martin, and Bircham's adopted son, Laurence Cheng Wen.{{cite web |last=Barrett |first=Stephen |title=A Skeptical Look at Bircham International University |date=7 January 2013 |url=http://www.credentialwatch.org/reports/bircham.shtml |publisher=Credential Watch |access-date=29 May 2014}}{{Cite web |title=Bircham International University Foundation |url=https://www.bircham.net/bircham-international-university-foundation.html |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=www.bircham.net}} According to its website,{{Cite web |title=Bircham International University Legal History |url=https://www.bircham.net/bircham-international-university-legal-history.html |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=www.bircham.net}} Bircham was established in Europe in 1992. It is registered in Delaware (United States),{{Cite web |title=Division of Corporations - Filing |url=https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/Ecorp/EntitySearch/NameSearch.aspx |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=icis.corp.delaware.gov}} Spain,{{Cite web |date=2015-07-07 |title=Spain Business USA >> Search |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707155211/http://us.spainbusiness.com/icex/cda/controller/pageInv/0,2958,35868_595007_1131004_166539,00.html |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=web.archive.org}} and formerly operated from the Bahamas.{{cite book |last1=Seneca |first1=Kristofer |title=Guide to Earning Law and Law-Related Degrees Nontraditionally |date=2009 |publisher=Lulu |isbn=978-0-557-10593-9}}

John Bear, authority on distance education, wrote in the 2003 edition of Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning: 'Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorates Degrees by correspondence at all levels in business, arts, health, psychology, engineering, computers and science. Bircham's listed "delegation addresses [are] in Spain, England, United States (a Mail Boxes Etc. in Miami, Florida), Bahamas, Taiwan, China, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Columbia, and New Zealand." Bear's Guide states that "the offices in England and the Bahamas were strictly administrative and did not serve students."{{cite book |last=Bear |first=John |title=Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning |date=2003 |publisher=Ten Speed Press |isbn=1-58008-431-1}}

Bircham acquired Oxford International College in 2000.{{cite web |last=Bear |first=John |title=Bircham International University revisited |url=http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/45894-bircham-international-university-revisited.html |publisher=Degree Info |access-date=29 May 2014}}{{cite web |title=Oxford International College in the UK |url=http://www.bircham.net/uk-companies-house.html |publisher=BIU Human Network |access-date=29 May 2014}}{{cite web |title=Oxford College Dissolved |url=http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk |website=UK Companies House |access-date=2 November 2014 |location=3656298}}

BIU's website presents a list of accreditations and memberships,{{Cite web |title=Bircham International University References, Recognition & Accreditation |url=https://www.bircham.net/biu-references/world-references.html |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=www.bircham.net}} but none of them are from an educational accreditation body recognized by the countries where it operates.{{cite news |title=Unauthorized Schools and Invalid Degrees |url=http://www.oregonstudentaid.gov/oda-degree-authorization-academic-unauthorized-Invalid.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509021211/http://oregonstudentaid.gov/oda-degree-authorization-academic-unauthorized-Invalid.aspx |archive-date=9 May 2013 |access-date=4 April 2013 |publisher=Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization}}

BIU describes itself as a practitioner of non-formal education.{{Cite web |title=Recognition & Accreditation - Bircham International University |url=https://www.bircham.edu/about-biu/recognition.html |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=www.bircham.edu}} While it operates legally under Spanish law, it is not formally recognized by the Ministry of Education of Spain.{{Cite web |date=2018-08-21 |title=DegreeDiscussion.com • View topic - Bircham International University revisited |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821160602/http://www.degreediscussion.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9556 |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=web.archive.org}}{{cite web |date=27 November 2013 |title=Bircham International University in Kenya |url=http://www.zegabi.com/articles/?p=5805 |access-date=29 May 2014 |publisher=Zegabi East Africa News}} Because BIU is unaccredited, its degrees and credits might not be acceptable to employers or other institutions. Use of its degree titles may be illegal in some jurisdictions, such Texas.

Sources explicitly listing Bircham as "unaccredited" include the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which state that Bircham has "No degree-granting authority from Spain (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers [AACRAO] evaluation)."{{cite web |title=List of Non-Accredited Post-Secondary Schools – B |url=http://www.maine.gov/doe/highered/nonaccredited/list/b.html |publisher=Maine Department of Education |access-date=29 May 2014 |archive-date=21 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821223213/https://www.maine.gov/doe/highered/nonaccredited/list/b.html |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas |url=http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/index.cfm?objectid=EF4C3C3B-EB44-4381-6673F760B3946FBB |publisher=Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board |access-date=29 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712033711/http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/index.cfm?objectid=EF4C3C3B-EB44-4381-6673F760B3946FBB |archive-date=12 July 2017 |url-status=dead }} and the former Oregon Office of Degree Authorization which considered BIU a unaccredited foreign degree supplier.

In 2018 Bircham obtained a charter from the Ministry of Education in Curaçao,{{Cite web |title=EU Curaçao Ministry of Education (Netherlands) |url=https://www.bircham.net/eu-curacao-ministry-of-education-netherlands.html |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=www.bircham.net}}{{Cite web |title=Students {{!}} TNE |url=http://tnecuracao.gobiernu.cw/students/?target=institutions%C3%A7 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240423162405/http://tnecuracao.gobiernu.cw/students/?target=institutions%C3%A7 |archive-date=2024-04-23 |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=tnecuracao.gobiernu.cw |language=en-US}} and the Education Quality Certification from the United States Distance Learning Association.

In 2003, South Florida's CityLink magazine reported that Oregon education officials said that Bircham was "totally bogus".{{cite news |last=Paola |first=Jim Di |title=Schoolhouse crock |url=http://www.citylinkmagazine.com/archives/101503coverstory.html |access-date=29 May 2014 |newspaper=City Link Magazine |date=15 October 2003 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070402214223/http://www.citylinkmagazine.com/archives/101503coverstory.html |archive-date=2 April 2007}}

In July 2007, the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) of Mexico issued a notice{{cite web |title=Alerta de Publicidad |url=http://www.sirvoes.sep.gob.mx/sirvoes/jspAvisosFull.jsp |publisher=Subsecretaria de Educacion Superior |access-date=29 May 2014}} stating that degrees lacking RVOE (Official Recognition from the Mexican Government) will not be validated by the SEP. Degrees via online or distance learning issued by foreign institutions like Bircham University will not be recognized by the SEP.

In April 2008, the Nairobi Business Daily reported that Bircham International University was operating in Kenya without authorization. In March 2010, the same newspaper published a correction, stating that BIU "is a Spanish institution of distance learning and is in good standing with Spanish authorities that offer alternatives to formal adult higher education specifically aimed at adult working professionals" and that its programs "can be legalized and validated by the Embassy of Kenya in the USA or Spain despite the institution not being registered by the Commission for Higher Education in Kenya".{{cite news |last=Nairobi |first=Mwaura Kimani |title=Kenya: Queries Over Quality of Degrees Awarded By Spanish College |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200804140057.html |access-date=29 May 2014 |newspaper=Business Daily |date=13 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906152746/http://allafrica.com/stories/200804140057.html |archive-date=6 September 2008}} An official of Kenya's Commission for Higher Education was quoted as warning that BIU degree certificates would not be recognized.{{cite news |title=Bircham International University – Correction and Clarification |url=http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/875402/-/t2qw1gz/-/index.html |access-date=29 May 2014 |newspaper=Business Daily |date=8 March 2010 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231734/http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/875402/-/t2qw1gz/-/index.html |url-status=dead }} In 2013, BIU directors state that BIU does not have any presence in Kenya nor any collaboration with other any college or educational institution in Kenya.

In 2013, health fraud activist Stephen Barrett conducted a review concluding: "BIU offers what amounts to supervised textbook reading plus credentials that suggest bearers have considerably more formal education and expertise than they actually have. The requirements for its degrees are much less than those of universities accredited by CHEA-recognized agencies. Most of BIU's teachings are straightforward, but some promote pseudoscientific concepts and practices. None of its health-related programs—by themselves—provide an adequate basis for clinical practice."{{cite web |last=Barrett |first=Stephen |title=Questionable Organizations: An Overview |url=http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/nonrecorg.html |publisher=Quackwatch |access-date=29 May 2014}} John Bear stated: "For many years, we have written that in the process of choosing any school, the prospective student should determine, as best he or she can, that their credential will meet both their current and predictable future needs. Based on the testimonials offered by Bircham, it seems clear that there are many satisfied people with the their credential."{{Cite web |date=2018-08-21 |title=DegreeDiscussion.com • View topic - Bircham International University revisited |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821160602/http://www.degreediscussion.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9556 |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=web.archive.org}}

In 2023, William Martin was included in the 10 Influential Education Leaders by Mirror Review Magazine. That same year, Fortune Times Magazine published a report with the foundational history of BIU.{{Cite web |title=The 10 Influential Educatio Leaders 2023. Vol 2 |url=https://magazine.mirrorreview.com/The-10-Influential-Education-Leaders-2023-Vol-2/ |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=magazine.mirrorreview.com}}{{Cite web |title=Deric Bircham |url=https://magazines.fortunestime.com/2023/the-most-visionary-leaders-transforming-education-sector-2023-dec23/#page=1 |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=magazines.fortunestime.com}}

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• {{Official website|http://www.bircham.edu/ Bircham International University}}

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Category:Unaccredited institutions of higher learning