[6] Legislation in 1997 providing "authorization for continuation of the Reform Act was vetoed due to political pressures and concerns about the level of fees, the way in which Council staff was carrying out its responsibilities, and the absence of an administrative appeals" process.
"[12] In 1994, Marin County inspectors discovered eight permitless dormitories on CPU founder Les Carr's property.
[13] An August 1995 site visit committee of the Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education found that CPU had not met the new regulations.
31", regarding CPPVE's finding that a Ph.D. dissertation was submitted in Spanish and reviewed by faculty who could not speak the language, CPU responded that the indicated student "provided an authenticated English translation" and had been working with a Spanish-fluent mentor who resided in Venezuela.
[citation needed] CPPVE director Kenneth Miller issued CPU a Denial of Application for Approval in December 1995.
Among other items, the administrative appeals judge found that CPU: In the state's 1997 lawsuit to compel CPU to close, California Deputy Attorney General Asher Rubin called the correspondence school "a diploma mill which has been preying on California consumers for too many years" and "a consumer fraud, a complete scam".
The suit also referred to Columbia Pacific University as a "phony operation" offering "totally worthless [degrees]...to enrich its unprincipled promoters".
[14] On December 2, 1999, the Marin County Superior Court ordered the school be shut down,[16] also levying $10,000 in fines against CPU for its "deceptive and unfair practices" in operating without authorization and failing to disclose its status to prospective students during the appeals process.
[citation needed] Soon after CPU's closure in California, founder Les Carr relocated to Missoula, Montana, and formed Columbia Commonwealth University (CCWU).
[17][18][19] Columbia Commonwealth University obtained approval from the Republic of Malawi to operate as an accredited educational institution in the African nation.