| Abstract: | The author argues that so-called non-traditional universities, particularly those offering postgraduate course and degree programmes to mature students in mid-career, have come into existence to fulfill a growing demand for further training that is not being met by the traditional "bricks-and-mortar" institutions. Yet these institutions, if they are not accredited, are stigmatized as diploma mills. If they do manage to become accredited, they may have been forced to adopt characteristics of classical universities that detract from their non-traditional innova tions. The author thus sketches a set of standards that non-traditional higher education providers should uphold and proposes that the traditional and the non-traditional higher education institutions develop mutual tolerance and co-operation and that both encourage the traditional accreditors to broaden their perspectives. |
