For more than 30 years, Catholic Distance University has been
operating in the Arlington Diocese. That changed the week of
Sept. 14, with the move of their administrative office from
Hamilton to Charles Town, W.Va.
CDU was founded in 1983 by Arlington Bishop Thomas J. Welsh.
It started as the Catholic Home Study Institute offering
correspondence courses through the mail. In 2000, the school
began offering online courses and now offers courses
exclusively online. CDU offers accredited master’s and
bachelor’s degrees in theology; associate degrees; a
catechetical diploma and graduate certificates in sacred
scripture and church history; as well as non-credit courses.
That long association with the Arlington Diocese continues
with Bishop Paul S. Loverde as chairman of the board of
trustees.
In 1997, CDU purchased a historic home in Hamilton, and the
administrative functions of CDU have been housed there since.
The new headquarters is only 14 miles from Hamilton, but
according to CDU President Marianne Evans Mount, the changes
will have a positive effect on students and the school.
Mount said the main reason for the change was accreditation.
The school currently is accredited by the Distance Education
Accrediting Commission, a national accreditation agency.
There have been some issues with degrees being recognized and
some trouble with the transfer of credits. Mount said
regional accreditation will solve these problems.
Mount said that the CDU board of directors wanted
accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission of the
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
The agency accredits 1,000 schools in 19 states including the
University of Notre Dame in Indiana, Ohio State University in
Columbus and the University of Chicago. They also accredit
online giants like the University of Phoenix and Capella
University.
Although CDU leaves the Arlington Diocese for the Diocese of
Wheeling-Charleston, they plan to continue ties with
Arlington. They will maintain an office in the chancery, said
Mount.
The process of accreditation is long – six years or more. But
the process has begun.
The school was approved for teaching in their new home by the
West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission. Mount also
said that having current accreditation by the Distance
Education Accrediting Commission will help ease the new
accreditation effort. The school plans to continue
accreditation through Distance Education Accrediting
Commission.
Their neighbor in Charles Town is American Public University,
a large online school. Mount hopes to find ways to work
together with the school.
Bishop Michael J. Bransfield has welcomed CDU to the
Wheeling-Charleston Diocese, and Mount and her staff are
looking forward to settling in and continuing to serve their
students around the world.
“We see a bright future ahead for CDU,” said Mount.
