[1][2] In March 2000, Kepler College received provisional authorization from Washington State's Higher Education Coordinating (HEC) Board to grant degrees while the school pursued regional or national accreditation, a requirement for maintaining degree-granting status.

[5][6][3] An administrator at the University of Washington called the HEC Board's approval "ludicrous" and compared the study of astrology to "quack medicine".

[5] John Silber, chancellor of Boston University, wrote in a Boston Herald editorial that the school's promoters "honored Kepler not for his strength but for his weakness, as if a society advocating drunkenness named a school for Ernest Hemingway".

"[7] Kepler College promoted itself as the only institution in the Western Hemisphere to offer bachelor's and master's degrees in astrological studies and 31 students enrolled for the first term in July 2000.

[3] The majority of coursework was offered online, allowing students from across the U.S. to enroll with the requirement that they were present in-person for one week of the 11-week term.