Preston University: Higher Ed Could be Big as Coal in Wyoming
CHEYENNE, Wyo.
Preston University Chancellor Jerry Haenisch has a bold vision for higher education in Wyoming: 500,000 students, new dorms and libraries, even a five-star hotel.
All the Legislature needs to do is pass a law that would accommodate schools like his.
But lately, state lawmakers instead have talked of requiring Preston and the state’s other private universities to become accredited. Rather than helping Preston, requiring accreditation likely would force the school to drastically scale back its international operations, and probably would force many of the other schools to shut down or leave the state.
“It’s eliminating Wyoming’s opportunity to participate in what’s going to be the knowledge delivery boom in the economy,” Haenisch said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Although Preston’s Cheyenne headquarters has a small number of students and employs 35 faculty, staff and administrators, the school exists mostly overseas, with 5,000 students at satellite campuses in 25 countries.
