Patriot Bible University (PBU), formerly known as Patriot University, is an unaccredited Independent Baptist correspondence school located in Del Norte, Colorado, which issues religious degrees only. According to the State of Colorado, Patriot's "degrees or diplomas have no state recognition". PBU is not accredited by any agency recognized by the Department of Education. It has been called a diploma mill, lacking sufficient academic standards to award degrees. History In 1979, Patriot University was established at the Dallas, Texas home of school founder Lonnie Skinner. Then in 1985 it became affiliated with the now defunct Hilltop Baptist Church in Colorado Springs and became "an external studies mission of Hilltop Baptist Church." Beginning in March 1988, the State of Colorado Higher Education Commission gave Patriot "Religious Authorization", which they define as "[a] bona fide religious postsecondary educational institution which is exempt from property taxation under the laws of this state and whose degrees or diplomas have no state recognition". In 1993, its address was listed as 6915 Palmer Park Blvd in Colorado Springs, with Wayne Knight as President and Director. This is the address of Hilltop Baptist Church, which was founded in the late 1970s by Bill Knight; the current pastor is his son Franklin “Wayne” Knight. The current PBU president is Wayne Knight and Bill Knight is PBU chancellor. In 1993, admission requirements included that applicants must be "Bible believing Christians." In 1997, Patriot's street address was also listed as the residential address of Lonnie Skinner. In 2004, Skinner, previously a student at the unaccredited Baptist Christian College, "announced his early retirement (at age 56) as pastor of College Heights Baptist Church" after nine years. In July 2004, the school changed its name to Patriot Bible University and moved out of College Heights Baptist Church and into a building in Del Norte, Colorado, a small town of 1,700 people. According to property records, Hilltop Baptist Church bought the Patriot building, which was valued at $232,495; it currently has a tax exemption. In 2006, Patriot wrote that "Hilltop Baptist Church of Colorado Springs is our sponsoring organization." Also in 2006, it said it had about 400 active, distance learning based students, and issued approximately 50 to 100 Christian religious degrees (Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorates) per year. In 2007, it had a total of four employees. In November 2011, PBU's President and Hilltop Baptist pastor Wayne Knight was arrested on four counts alleging