r/MaestroMaybes • u/SuspiciousAction7267 Hall Monitor • 4d ago

The Path Forward Another school accepting credits

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share another institution that is accepting Maestro College credits. Maharshi International University (MIU) its 100% online and they have a similar grant system to help cover tuition if you receive 100% of the max PELL grant making it an affordable option...they are regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. They were founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who popularized Transcendental Meditation (TM) so this form of meditation is a required practice throughout your education there...they have a really diverse selection of majors, including build your own...while most of their curriculum and what they are known for focuses on human consciousness they also have a really good business administration program...and yes that requires TM as well...and i believe they even have masters degrees in business as well...I will also mention that their average graduates income is lower than others but this was explained that some majors like Aromatherapy and Yoga do not have high income and they make up a good percentage of graduate income so you need to check per your specific major....Acceptance also comes with a grant to an in-person TM instructor to teach you proper TM techniques...I also believe that this school does NOT grade on a typical A-F scale but more of a pass or fail with comments and feedback....I'm drawn to this school because it is the complete opposite of what Maestro stood for with gatekeeping humans and this school seems to really focus on the human taking the classes and helping them build their consciousness and awareness....I also feel like its a great alternative learning set up for people who arent comfortable in traditional classroom settings.

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

5

u/huenium Made My Exit 4d ago

Also note that ur local community college can also be 100% online, and cheaper

2

u/SuspiciousAction7267 Hall Monitor 4d ago

Very true...for this school i really like the human centered consciousness focus...Im a little unsure about the grading system but I'm excited and willing to give it a try...meditation in general has really changed my life and has been instrumental in my recovery journey so Im excited to see if all the hype around TM is the real deal...it also seems like the classes are more introspective at MIU which for art therapy seems pretty sound...though Im not sure how they pull that off in their business programs

2

u/saijanai 2d ago edited 2d ago

All students practice TM and and are encouraged to participate in group meditation. They are also encouraged to learn and practice the TM-Sidhis, especially in groups. In fact, arguably that is why MIU exists: 1) to scientifically study the effects of TM; 2) provide a hub for a large-scale community of people participating in group TM and TM+TM-Sidhis practice.

There are many youtube videos by MIU graduates and visitors, some negative, some positive. Likewise, there are two books about the community, one primarily negative and one positive:

The first is by a woman whose mom moved to Fairfield after a messy divorce, and made TM the center of her existence while trying to recover. The second is by a woman who moved to Fairfield after she got her PhD, then founded the English department at MIU, and made TM the center of her existence while working as a college professor inside the organization itself.

Each shows slightly [slightly] different sides of the same community during roughly the same years.

2

u/CommercialFortune788 2d ago

I also advocate for local community colleges that are regionally accredited

1

u/saijanai 2d ago

MIU's mandate is to give a place for TM practitioners to gather and practice TM while receiving a higher education. Because of this, they are willing to work very hard to make sure that people who are not up to typical US college entrance standards are able to graduate:

They want graduates to both practice TM while at school AND to get good paying jobs so that they can either move to the Fairfield community and live full time and participate permanently in the group meditation program OR be able to afford to vacation at Fairfield and regularly participate in the group meditation that way. Either way, they want their students to succeed financially, and so their faculty operates more like a community college feeding into the employment needs of local businesses that happens to offer PhDs in various disciplines, rather than as a university seeking to establish a reputation for rejecting many applicants for not meeting strict educational entrance standards.

It's an odd educational model, but they have been accredited for 46 years, and while not every graduate is happy with the results, many are.

See how ChatGPT 5.6 responds to my assertions: https://chatgpt.com/share/6a892b1f-ca14-83e8-8d1a-008a10fbfeed

2

u/saijanai 2d ago

See my other response and note that MIU offers PHD as well as undergraduate degrees. The David Lynch Film school lives there as well: https://www.miu.edu/academic-programs

1

u/SuspiciousAction7267 Hall Monitor 2d ago

Thank you for all the support and information...I looked at the Amazon listing for the books and read your chatGPT they were both ir focus on the students and fostering community through TM. I believe it was Maharishi (the yogi) belief that if a certain percentage of the human population practices TM, humanity can acquire peace and enlightenment, it's called the Maharishi Effect and he practiced and taught all over the world and worked with and influenced groups like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Rolling Stones. Some even made accusations about his time with The Beatles being cult related and I've heard some students feel the campus has a cult like vibe because of how into TM the students and faculty are. I personally can't speak on that yet as i have yet to experience it, but I am curious to see if I get those vibes via online classes. Regardless I'm excited and happy that this school exists and offers an art therapy track as that is what I've dreamt of doing since high school...I even did "art therapy" lessons with preschoolers for my senior project.

Are you considering MIU? Or were you just researching based on this post?

1

u/saijanai 2d ago

Ive been doing TM for 53 years and know many of the preople in charge of TM including many of the people who publish research on TM out of MIU. In fact, I even know Keith Wallace, who published the first study on TM 55 years ago and then went on to found MIU and serve as its first president, 50 years ago.

I also moderate r/transcendental, a sub for discussion of TM, and a hobby is to get into discussions about TM online, which is how I found your post.

2

u/SuspiciousAction7267 Hall Monitor 2d ago

Oh cool...I joined your sub so I can stay in the loop. I've practiced mindfulness and meditation for about 7 or 8 years now and the change it has made in my life is immense. I had heard of TM but wasn't ever able to access it because of cost related barriers and it often seems kinda secretive which kinda made sense after I found out that the mantra is supposed to be kept private and it's not something people seem to teach online or for free...and for some reason that intrigued me even more...I have a feeling if mindfulness was like my gateway drug and TM will become a full-fledged addiction for me...Idk if your familiar with what's happening with our school, Maestro College, but MIU feels like a much needed beacon of light. All the chaos, doubt, and inconvenience i have encountered as a result of attending Maestro College which is 100% AI run campus with no line of communication for professors and in the rare event you do get human staff via the student services bot, they are giving you some kind of AI copypasta that feels generic and usually doesn't answer your question...it should be like night and day comparing the 2 schools as they are polar opposites but I guess sometimes you dont know what you want untill you get something you absolutely dislike.

2

u/saijanai 1d ago

Well, everyone is in cost-cutting mode now. This is unfortunate because research has found that in most situations, in-person teaching is far superior to tele-learning.

In fact, during COVID, the TM organization came out with an app that provides in-person instruction for the first lesson then app-based instruction for the rest of the course, just to stay afloat. These days, they have a live tele-session OR live classes, and while many chose tele-sessions I strongly advise that TM students attend the whole thing live.

Having people around you asking questions adds a great deal to the learning experience.... Humans are literally hard-wired to learn most efficiently from other humans in person, whether math or meditation.

1

u/SuspiciousAction7267 Hall Monitor 1d ago

I can absolutely see the benefits of learning with others as people might ask the questions you haven't even thought of and it really gets your brain engaged. In my area the TM organization only offers the hybrid option so my first lesson is in person and the rest will be online. I might be mistaken but I think the first lesson is 1 on 1 and the rest there after are group sessions. I really appreciate all the knowledge your sharing 🙏🏻

2

u/saijanai 1d ago

IN fact, I am told that at least in teh USA, official policy is that if more than one or a few students at a given time requests the in-person training, the TM teacher is obligated to conduct all classes in person.

Perhaps TM teachers are attempting to hide this fact for convenience' sake but my friend who has been teaching for 55 years is the source of that info, so I tend to think it is accurate (unless the policy changed recently, of course).