American Conservatory of Music in the State of Indiana is an interesting case of diploma mill. The conservatory is far from the original school of Illinois in old days. The once-respected American Conservatory of Music school is currently operating in awarding bachelor's, master's and doctoral courses without any federal accreditation (NASM: National Association of Schools of Music), which is viewed as proof of quality and high standard in education. The school is not accredited with Indiana state accreditation (COPE: The Indiana Commission on Proprietary Education), either. Their doctorate course instructors are unsigned local musicians. Unsigned local guitar player, Curtis Robinson is one of their bogus doctor for their doctorate course. This instructor calls himself as "doctor" without holding any Ph.D and without writing any thesis for academic journals.
The American Conservatory of Music is not accredited in the Indiana State (COPE The Indiana Commission on Proprietary Education ): NO STATE ACCREDITATION http://www.in.gov/cpe/2337.htm
Surprisingly, the American Conservatory of Music is not accredited by National Association of Schools of Music: NO FEDERAL ACCREDITATION http://nasm.arts-accredit.org/
This sham school is still insisting the founder of NASM (federal accreditation organization = NASM: National Association of Schools of Music). Regarding NASM status, please check NASM handbook directly:
http://nasm.arts-accredit.org/site/docs/Handbook/NASM_HANDBOOK_2009-10_DEC2009.pdf
Here's the quotation from the official handbook:
"The National Association of Schools of Music was founded in 1924 for the purpose of securing a better understanding among institutions of higher education engaged in work in music; of establishing a more uniform method of granting credit; and of setting minimum standards for granting of degrees and other credentials. It is incorporated in the State of Ohio as a non-profit organization. The work of the Association during its early years was financed largely by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. In November of 1975, representatives of member institutions ratified proposals creating a category of membership for non-degree-granting institution."
NASM never mention the relation with American Conservatory of Music. The original ACM was just one of the member in the beginning period.
Before relocating to the Indiana, Chicago Sun Times had reported their activity in Illinois very well. The news headlines quotations are as follows:
Conservatory con man back with new scheme Chicago Sun-Times; Mar 20, 1997; Raymond R. Coffey "Remember Richard Schulze, the amazingly elusive, big ticket, coast-to-coast con man who used to run the once-respectable American Conservatory of Music in downtown Chicago? Apparently he still runs it - but with a new address, yet another corporation (this one chartered in Las Vegas) and another pitch to shake money out of alumni, students and friends of the conservatory. This time around, Schulze is trying to raise $60,000 via a "private" shareholder offering in a "limited liability" company named Conservatory Partners LLC. To anyone familiar with his past and the current status of the conservatory, the brochure and letter promoting the pitch reads like classic con-artist poetry. In ..."
Court Directs Conservatory Chairman to Bow Out Chicago Sun-Times; Apr 5, 1996; Raymond R. Coffey "Richard Schulze, central figure in two multimillion-dollar fraud cases, will be gone May 13 as chief of the "charitable" trust through which he and his family control the American Conservatory of Music. Under a preliminary injunction entered Thursday by Circuit Judge Margaret S. McBride, his resignation as a director and chairman of Friends of the Conservatory Inc. takes effect at the end of the current semester. Friends of the Conservatory is the tax-exempt, nonprofit entity Schulze created in 1993 - with his wife, Theodora, as president and son Otto as secretary-treasurer - to operate the school in the Stevens Building, 16 N. Wabash. Schulze's reluctant departure was a first-round ..."
Conservatory Chairman To Soon Face the Music Chicago Sun-Times; Apr 4, 1996; Raymond R. Coffey "On the basis of Richard Schulze's record in investor fraud cases, the Illinois attorney general is moving to oust Schulze, his wife and son from control of the "charitable trust" through which they operate the American Conservatory of Music. The landlord says the Schulzes are "substantially in arrears" on the rent for their Stevens Building space at 16 N. Wabash. In February, they were hit with a $120,000 judgment for (still) unpaid faculty salaries. And the state Board of Higher Education contends the school is "operating illegally" in awarding bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. In the face of all this, the school recently sent Korean students - on whom it counts heavily for ..."
Lawsuit Leaves Students Of Music School in Limbo Chicago Sun-Times; Feb 3, 1996; RAYMOND R. COFFEY "What happens now to the Korean students at Chicago's American Conservatory of Music, an upset and perplexed Ju-Yeon Seong wonders. The pianist, who holds degrees from a music college in Seoul and from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, has been a student at the conservatory here for three semesters, working for a doctorate. Last month she was informed by letter that she was being expelled on grounds that she had associated with another conservatory student/employee, Peter Boda, who also was "expelled irrevocably" for allegedly having fomented unrest among students. On Friday she learned from the Chicago Sun-Times that Illinois Attorney General James Ryan had filed a lawsuit ..."
State Goes After Music School Chief Chicago Sun-Times; Feb 2, 1996; RAYMOND R. COFFEY "The Illinois attorney general sued Thursday to oust Richard Schulze from control of Chicago's once-respected American Conservatory of Music, citing Schulze's record in commodities fraud cases in which investors lost millions of dollars. Schulze took over the conservatory in 1993 under the aegis of a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation named Friends of the Conservatory. Schulze made himself chairman, his wife Theodora president and their son Otto secretary. They also have been serving as virtually the only full-time faculty members of the conservatory, which, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, has been operating illegally in awarding bachelor's, master's and doctoral ..."
Squabble Drowns Out Sounds of Music at Conservatory Chicago Sun-Times; Jan 16, 1996; Raymond R. Coffey "Chicago's venerable American Conservatory of Music (founded 1886) has become the unlikely concert stage for a sour-note fracas in which: The Loop school's legal status as a degree-granting institution has been challenged by the State Board of Higher Education. More than 20 Korean students have been placed on academic probation for balking at participating in the recording of a mass composed by a faculty member. A former student; employee has been fired and "irrevocably expelled" for allegedly having "fomented discontent" among the student body and for having "sponsored" a student "boycott" of a recording rehearsal. There are not only the standard two sides to this squabble; there are ..."
Diploma mills fall into two categories:
1. One where "a student" just bought the degree without doing any work
2. The other where "a student" did some educational work, which turned out to be far below the normal college experience In this case, American Conservatory of Music in the State of Indiana falls into the latter category.
In 2005, the US Department of Education launched [www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation ] to combat the spread of fraudulent degrees. American Conservatory of Music cannot be found in their database as "accredited." A number of states have passed bills restricting the ability of organisations to award degrees without accreditation.
Here is the legal news release from the Illinois Board of Higher Education: [[1]]
NEWS RELEASE from the Illinois Board of Higher Education January 28, 1999 Contact: Ross Hodel, 217/782-2551 Don Sevener, 217/782-3632 Court Bars American Conservatory of Music From Granting Degrees SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Board of Higher Education and Illinois Attorney General are notifying students of the American Conservatory of Music (ACM) that the institution is under court order to cease offering degrees and instruction in the state of Illinois. A Cook County Circuit Judge has ruled that various corporations and individuals operating under the name of the American Conservatory of Music violated state laws in granting degrees without authorization from the Board of Higher Education. Circuit Judge Dorothy Kirie Kinnaird ruled that the defendants’ failure to receive IBHE authorization for its degree programs violated both the Illinois Academic Degree Act and the Private College Act. She enjoined Theodora Schulze, Richard Schulze, and Otto Schulze, who operated the American Conservatory of Music, from awarding academic degrees unless and until they have IBHE approval. "This court order shuts down the illegal operators who have been using the American Conservatory of Music name and similar names," Kathleen Kelly, deputy director of the IBHE, said. "Students, prospective students, and other institutions should be forewarned that no one using this name has legal authority to grant degrees in Illinois." Judge Kinnaird granted the request of the IBHE for a permanent prohibition against Conservatory Partners, LLC, which operated American Conservatory of Music, from "maintaining, operating, or establishing a post-secondary institution until the institution obtains a certificate of approval from the IBHE to establish and operate or become incorporated for the purpose of operating a post-secondary educational institution." She granted the IBHE motion to dissolve the American International Conservatory of Music as a corporation in Illinois. The court further ordered the institution to supply a list of current students to the IBHE so they can be notified of the court's decision. The original American Conservatory of Music closed in 1992 after a bankruptcy proceeding, and the defendants had used a series of corporate creations to grant degrees under the conservatory's name, even though they refused to seek IBHE approval to grant degrees. "We have been puzzled and dismayed at the obstinacy of the defendants in this case," Kelly noted. "The Schultzes have had more than ample time and opportunity to comply with the requirements of the law. Many students believed the Schulzes' representations that they were issuing degrees legally. Unfortunately for students, this just was not true."
More information from the Illinois Board of Higher Education: Judge Cites Owners of American Conservatory for Contempt, Illinois Board of Higher Education, news release, May 12, 1999 [2]
Their homepage can be a contempt of court which may occur when someone disobeys a court order, shows disrespect for the judge, or disrupts judicial proceedings.
http://www.orthodoxchurch.axios.tk/AmericanConservatory/IllinoisLitigation.html
It is clear that the school is a bad loser. That's just sour grapes.