Michael K. Clifford

Initially following his father's trade as a musician, Clifford converted to Christianity and decided to follow Jesus in his mid-twenties. Contacts made through faith-based non-profit organizations introduced him to John Sperling and Brian Mueller, and he moved into the field of online higher education.[1]

Working as a fundraiser for faith-based organizations brought Clifford to the notice of Pat Robertson, and he co-managed Robertson's 1988 bid for the U.S. presidency.[1]

Clifford's early business practices involved identifying and purchasing nonprofit colleges and converting them to for-profit institutions.[2][3] In 2004 he bought Grand Canyon University on behalf of Dream Center Education Holdings, and in 2009 he set up Victory University, which closed 5 years later.[4] He was also involved in the creation of the Jack Welch Management Institute, and helped found the company that would later become Bridgepoint Education.[5]

In 2008, a Clifford entity paid $5.25 million to buy a venerable but ailing Cleveland college (Myers University) out of bankruptcy. Clifford renamed it Chancellor University...[6]

Clifford reportedly left the Chancellor board in 2010.[6] During his tenure, at a full faculty and staff meeting, Clifford lauded the teaching of business courses and flat-out insulted liberal arts professors and their classes.[7]

Muddled Vision:

When Chancellor lost Jack Welch, Mr. Daugherty insisted Chancellor would be known for its academic programs rather than for the iconic businessman whom many saw as the savior of the institution. However, a handful of former Myers University administrators said the school's administrators and investors were caught up in the allure of profits from online learning and lost sight of the school's original strength — local business education. ...a former Myers University administrator who stayed on board with Chancellor for about 15 months after the acquisition, characterized the university's leadership in an e-mail as "callous, anti-intellectual, insensitive ego-freaks." He went on to say "their quest for the Holy Grail of an on-line money fountain was ill-advised and obviously unsuccessful." [8]

“In September 2009, Chancellor approached local homeless shelters to recruit the homeless, who are eligible for federal student loans and grants,” reported Crain's Cleveland Business. One shelter director said Chancellor recruiters gave enrollment pitches to homeless residents, “but I don’t think they actually took the bait.” The director later told Chancellor to go away.[9]

(Clifford) bought a bible college in Memphis in 2009, christened it Victory University, and installed former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as chancellor. That school closed in 2014. [post-gazette.com]

In 2010, Clifford was profiled in the PBS documentary College Inc., which examined the effects of and failures surrounding the for-profit college industry.[2]

In 2013, Clifford created DreamDegree, an unaccredited online learning portal.[3] He founded Significant Systems, a consultancy firm for higher education institutions,[4] which later rebranded as SignificantFederation.[5]

In 2017, Clifford was a key player in the creation of Dream Center Education Holdings, LLC., a subsidiary of Dream Center Foundation. Dream Center Education Holdings, LLC. purchased the failing assets of Education Management Corporation (EDMC) which includes Art Institutes, Argosy University, and South University in the hopes to convert them into non-profit institutions in order to avoid for-profit oversight.[10]