Bircham International University is a private, unaccredited institution of distance-learning higher education. It is registered in Spain and the United States (Delaware), and formerly operated from the Bahamas.
History and location
BIU was founded by Deric Bircham, William Martin, and Bircham’s adopted son, Laurence Cheng Wen.According to its website,Bircham was established in Europe in 1992 and is also registered in Delaware (United States), Spain, and the Bahamas. John Bear, authority on distance education, wrote in the 2003 edition of Bears’ Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning that Bircham’s listed “delegation addresses [are] in Spain, England, United States (a Mail Boxes Etc. in Miami, Florida), Bahamas, Taiwan, China, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Columbia, and New Zealand.” Bear’s Guide states that “the offices in England and the Bahamas were strictly administrative and did not serve students.”
Bircham acquired Oxford International College in 2000.
Accreditation status
BIU’s website presents a list of accreditations and memberships, but none of them are from an educational accreditation body recognized by the countries where it operates.
Sources explicitly listing Bircham as “unaccredited” include the Maine Department of Education and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which state that Bircham has “No degree-granting authority from Spain (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers [AACRAO] evaluation).” The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization considers BIU an unaccredited foreign degree supplier.
BIU describes itself as a practitioner of non-formal education. While it operates legally under Spanish law, it is not formally recognized by the Ministry of Education of Spain.Because BIU is unaccredited, its degrees and credits might not be acceptable to employers or other institutions. Use of its degree titles may be illegal in some jurisdictions.
