Type For-profitOnline President Robert Mayes, Jr. Students 20,185 Phone +1 251-981-3771 Graduation rate 49% (2014) | Established 1993 Dean John Hope, Ph.D. Undergraduate tuition and fees 5,135 USD (2015) Total enrollment 17,459 (2011) Founded 1993 | |
Provost Jeffrey Barksdale, Ph.D. Address 21982 University Ln, Orange Beach, AL 36561, USA Motto Flexible. Affordable. Online. Notable alumni Erik Simonson, Jason Saine, Deb Burchett, Joey Norman, Earl Jaques Jr Similar Capella University, Trident University, Waldorf University, Herzing University, Miles College Profiles | ||
Columbia southern university 2015 commencement morning ceremony
Columbia Southern University is a for-profit college specializing in distance education, headquartered in Orange Beach, Alabama, United States.
Contents
History
Columbia Southern University was founded in 1993 by Robert G. Mayes, Sr. The university developed its first degree programs in Environmental Engineering and Occupational Safety and Health in 1994. By 1996 additional degree programs were developed and offered: The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, followed by Computer Science, Criminal Justice Administration, and Health Administration.
Mayes headed the institution until his death in 2005, when his son, Robert Mayes, Jr., assumed the presidency.
Accreditation
Columbia Southern has been accredited by the Distance Education Accreditation Commission (DEAC), formerly the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), since 2001. DEAC is an accreditation agency recognized by both the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Columbia Southern is also a member of the Higher Education Transfer Alliance (HETA), a voluntary group of accredited institutions that are concerned with the importance of student mobility, enhancing success in transfer of credit, and affirming the responsibility and prerogative of individual institutions with respect to acceptance of transfer credits.
Faculty and agreements with other institutions
Currently, Columbia Southern has more than 1,000 full-time faculty and staff. It enrolls and graduates thousands of students annually on both national and international level. Columbia Southern also offers online degrees through partnerships with Waldorf College. The university is one of approximately 140 schools approved to offer up-front tuition assistance through the U.S. Army’s centralized tuition assistance portal, GoArmyEd.
Academics
Columbia Southern consists of three colleges, offering a total of 26 degrees at the associate, bachelor, and master levels, as well as 21 certificate programs online. Columbia Southern University offers a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree program, which is a terminal degree program requiring a master's degree as a prerequisite.