relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . january 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message not to be confused with american public television . american public university system motto educating those who serve type for profit established 1991 1 president dr. karan powell academic staff 1 750 2 students 98 400 3 undergraduates 83 % 4 postgraduates 17 % 4 location charles town west virginia united states of america campus online colors blue and white mascot amu golden eagles ; apu volunteers website www.apus.edu american public university system apus is a for profit online learning institution that is composed of american military university amu and american public university apu . apus is wholly owned by american public education inc. a publicly traded private sector corporation nasdaq apei . apus maintains corporate and academic offices in charles town west virginia and administrative offices in manassas virginia . apus offers associate bachelor s and master s degrees in addition to dual degrees certificate programs and learning tracks . apus is not a part of the us government or the us military . approximately 56 % of apus s students reported that they served in the military on active duty at initial enrollment . 5 about 55 000 military service members get tuition assistance ta for apus schools . 6 another 16 702 use their gi bill benefits for the schools . 7 contents 1 history 2 accreditation 2.1 professional recognition and affiliation 3 academics and finances 3.1 servicemembers opportunity colleges 4 notable faculty 5 notable alumni 6 student organizations 7 partnership with walmart 8 references 9 external links history edit the university was founded in 1991 by major james p. etter usmc retired as american military university . 1 operations began in january 1993 with the enrollment of 18 graduate students . initially the main goal of the university was to meet the unique educational needs of military personnel needing courses in specialized areas such as counterterrorism and military intelligence that were not included in typical university course offerings . in the early years instruction was done through conventional correspondence . 8 in june 1995 amu became nationally accredited by the accrediting commission of the distance education and training council detc . in january of the following year the school introduced its first undergraduate programs . in 1998 amu made the transition from correspondence based learning to online learning . 8 in 2002 amu expanded to become american public university system and established american public university intended primarily for civilians interested in public service programs . 8 in 2006 apus was granted regional accreditation from the higher learning commission of the north central association of colleges and schools . in 2012 american public university system resigned its detc accreditation . 9 the university is listed as tied for 58th place in u.s. news & world report ranking of online bachelor s degree programs . 10 in 2013 apus acquired national education seminars inc. which is now branded as hondros college of nursing hcon . hcon offers a diploma in practical nursing an associate degree in nursing and an online rn to bsn program . 5 in may 2016 apus reported a 12 % year over year decrease in students down to 98 400 students and 60 000 alumni worldwide . 11 in july 2016 long time president dr. wallace e. boston was succeeded as apus president by former executive vice president and provost dr. karan powell while continuing his leadership role as ceo of apei to provide strategic and leadership support to apus hondros college of nursing and other apei ventures . accreditation edit apus is accredited by the higher learning commission of the north central association of colleges and schools . . 12 the university s school of business is accredited by and several business programs have specialized accreditation from the accreditation council for business schools and programs 13 the university s bachelor of science in nursing rn to bsn program is accredited by the commission on collegiate nursing education . 14 professional recognition and affiliation edit select apus programs are also affiliated with and or recognized by such professional organizations as 15 society for human resource management american sport education program national academy of sports medicine nsa s information assurance courseware evaluation 16 the national council on family relations 17 academics and finances edit apus is an open enrollment institution . the system employs approximately 410 full time faculty members and 1 800 part time faculty members . 5 full time professors are salaried employees without tenure . apus offers 200 degree and certificate programs across six academic schools through american military university and american public university including the following 18 school of arts and humanities school of business school of education school of health sciences school of science technology engineering and math school of security and global studies according to the national center for education statistics the overall graduate rate is 46 % . 19 the hondros college of nursing hcon provides nursing education online and at four campuses in ohio . hcon has more than 1 500 students . 5 its nclex pass rate is currently 72 % 20 according to the national center for education statistics apus most recent student loan default rate was 23.3 % . 21 servicemembers opportunity colleges edit american military university participates in the servicemembers opportunity college program with eligible bachelor s degrees in homeland security intelligence studies emergency and disaster management coast guard only criminal justice management and business administration . 22 amu is also a navy college program distance learning partner . 23 notable faculty edit alan hale co discoverer of comet hale bopp . 24 wendy b. lawrence former nasa astronaut . 25 brandt smith member of the arkansas house of representatives since 2013 ; associate professor of security and global studies 26 notable alumni edit nicole malachowski united states air force officer and the first female pilot selected to fly as part of the usaf air demonstration squadron better known as the thunderbirds . master of arts with honors national security policy 2009 27 student organizations edit students at apus are involved in a variety of different student organizations and honor societies . this includes chapters for the national association for environmental professionals naep international association of emergency managers iaem student veterans of america sva the society of human resources management and the saber and scroll for history students . academic honor societies include alpha phi sigma sigma beta delta delta epsilon tau epsilon pi phi golden key pi gamma mu delta mu delta national society of collegiate scholars and sigma iota rho . 8 partnership with walmart edit apus has had a key partnership with walmart since 2012 . walmart has spent 50 million on the program chiefly on tuition grants for walmart workers . according to walmart the potential for educational advancement helps further develop a pipeline for leaders . the program is called walmart s lifelong learning program . 28 29 currently walmart workers can get a 15 % tuition grant for the online school . 30 college credit may also be given for work experience . 31 references edit a b for profit education in the age of austerity the apus story . forbes.com . retrieved 2016 01 20 . apus facts . apus.edu . retrieved 2016 05 25 . http finance.yahoo.com news american public education apei beats 220710930 . html ; ylt awrc1cmk0tfxl0waqqutmylq ; ylu x3odmteybjbwdmdkbgnvbg8dymyxbhbvcwm1bhz0awqdvklemdzfmqrzzwmdc2m a b apus facts . apus.edu . retrieved 2016 05 25 . a b c d edgar pro . yahoo.brand.edgar online.com . retrieved 2016 05 25 . dod comparison tool home page . dodmou.com . 1970 01 01 . retrieved 2016 05 25 . https www.vets.gov gi bill comparison tool institutions profile military status veteran & spouse active duty no & gi bill chapter 33 & cumulative service 1.0 & enlistment service 3 & consecutive service 0.8 & elig for post gi bill no & number of dependents 0 & online classes no & source home & institution search 21913148 & facility code 21913148 & a b c d american public university system in charles town wv apus american military university . stateuniversity.com . retrieved 2012 07 08 . report from the accrediting commission pdf . distance training and education council . 10 may 2012 . retrieved 12 may 2013 . best online bachelor s programs online bachelor s rankings . us news . retrieved 2016 05 25 . johnson madeleine 2016 05 09 . american public education apei beats q1 earnings & revenue estimates yahoo finance . finance.yahoo.com . retrieved 2016 05 25 . aqip institutions . ncahlc.org . retrieved 2012 07 08 . american public university system accreditation council for business schools and programs . acbsp.org . 2015 07 29 . retrieved 2016 01 20 . ccne accredited nursing degree programs . directory.ccnecommunity.org . retrieved 2016 01 20 . accreditation . american public university system . retrieved 2015 06 03 . ia courseware institutions . national security agency . retrieved 2014 12 19 . american public university system ncfr . ncfr . retrieved 2014 12 19 . 1 dead link college navigator american public university system . nces.ed.gov . 2012 10 04 . retrieved 2016 05 25 . report 1 year to date number and percent passing of first time candidates educated in bon rb jurisdictions pdf . nursing.ohio.gov . retrieved 2016 05 25 . college navigator american public university system . nces.ed.gov . 2012 10 04 . retrieved 2016 05 25 . servicemembers opportunity colleges . soc dns guaranteed transfer courses . soc.aascu.org . retrieved 2016 01 20 . ncp distance learning partnership schools . us navy . retrieved 2014 12 19 . amu faculty member alan hale . amu.apus.edu . 1999 08 11 . retrieved 2012 07 08 . amu faculty member wendy b lawrence . amu.apus.edu . retrieved 2012 07 08 . brandt smith . project vote smart . retrieved april 7 2015 . president bush appoints 2008 2009 class of white house fellows . georgewbush whitehouse.archives.gov . 2008 06 26 . retrieved 2012 07 08 . walmartone . us.walmartone.com . 2013 09 16 . retrieved 2016 05 25 . fain paul 2016 05 18 . walmart and american public u. chart new ground with partnership . insidehighered.com . retrieved 2016 05 25 . american public university and walmart lifelong learning program for associates . apus.edu . retrieved 2016 05 25 . college completion college education walmartone . us.walmartone.com . 2013 09 16 . retrieved 2016 05 25 . external links edit american public university system retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title american public university system & oldid 735723759 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