PragerU is a Legit University, As Long as Dennis Prager Gets to Decide What That Means

[Demovictory9]

https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/prageru-is-a-legit-university-as-long-as-dennis-prager-gets-to-decide-what-that-means/


Right-wing columnist and commentator Dennis Prager insists that his media enterprise PragerU is a legitimate university, as long as you’re open to lying to yourself about what a university is.

During a PragerU “Fireside Chat” broadcast yesterday, Prager took issue with an August Los Angeles Times article that accurately noted that PragerU is not actually a university. Prager questioned what it truly means to be a university and contended that his communications shop, which publishes highly trafficked videos loaded with right-wing talking points presented as educational materials, was in fact a type of university.

“Now if ‘university’ means by definition you grant degrees and you are accredited by whoever accredits universities to be a degree-granting place, then we’re not a university,” Prager said.

That is exactly what the word university means.

“But is that the only definition? My contention is that it is a university, but it doesn’t grant degrees and it’s not accredited, and that’s absolutely accurate. We don’t portray ourselves as what we’re not. But if a university is a place to learn and learn and learn, and study and study and study, and gain wisdom, then why aren’t we a university?” Prager rhetorically asked.

To further strengthen his case, Prager compared his operation to something called “Donut University,” where people learn how to make doughy treats.

[Igel]

1. I know people from unaccredited institutions

who did receive degrees.

Very often the credits transferred just fine as long as they passed review. But there was no body vouching for the credits ahead of time so there was a process, and you'd have to wait sometimes for admission or to find out which credits transferred. The institutions said "no" to accreditation because they refused to abide by some specific requirements, but beyond those specific violations things were just fine. It did mean that out of a choice of perhaps 50 or 60 courses, 2-3 violators wouldn't be transferrable.

In principle, it's no different from an institution whose accreditation was revoked, and there are some mainstream colleges and universities that have fallen in that category. (Same goes for some programs at universities, where the accreditation process for graduate programs isn't the same as for undergrad programs.)


I'd go with "degree-granting institution" as something that's pretty core to the definition these days, though.

[struggle4progress]

2. "I transferred my courses at Prager U to Trump U without a hitch!"