Corona Institute & University, Sioux Falls, SD
Corona started as a school specializing in degree completion programs for the working adult, and adults that had been inconvenienced through employment requirements (i.e.: military and government service) resulting in missed traditional recognition. Students normally had attended many colleges, had accumulated credit hours from diverse areas, had experiences which had been evaluated for college credit, and/or completed competency testing resulting in credits awarded; though no degree due to frequent transfers. Corona addressed and solved this situation it's non-profit degree granting authority to help people finish their degrees. One of the four degree completion programs in the US (Corona, Regents, Thomas Edison, Charter Oak); Corona was economical and kept it's overhead to a minimum. Corona relied on third-party sources of credit (i.e.: CLEP, DANTES, Regents Exams, GRE, third party college classes, ACE, etc) which allowed students great flexibility when completing degrees.
Staffed, managed, operated, and funded by volunteers in education, industry, and government, Corona was the true non-profit educational institution. However, a change in state law required institutes such as Corona to obtain US Department of Education recognized accreditation and/or participation in Title IV Student Aid Program. Pursuing these options violated Corona's foundational principle of keeping college affordable. In recognition of the expanded costs required to comply with the new law, Corona ceased awarding college degrees on June 30, 2001 in South Dakota.
Plans for the Future
Let's keep the Corona spirit alive.
"Corona is a member of the Closed College Consortium."