American Public University System (APUS) is a private, for-profit, online university system with its headquarters in Charles Town, West Virginia. It is composed of American Military University and American Public University (APU). APUS is wholly owned by American Public Education, Inc., a publicly traded private-sector corporation (). APUS maintains corporate and academic offices in Charles Town, West Virginia. APUS offers associates, bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees, in addition to dual degrees, certificate programs and learning tracks. APUS has approximately 110,000 alumni worldwide as of March 31, 2021. Despite its name and brands, APUS is not a public university and is not a part of the government or military. In 2018, the school paid $270,000 to the state of Massachusetts following an investigation by the state's attorney general into allegations that it misled potential students. Approximately 56% of APUS students reported that they served in the military on active duty at initial enrollment. About 55,000 military service members get tuition assistance for APUS schools. Another 16,702 use their GI Bill benefits for the schools. History The university was founded in 1991 by Major James P. Etter (USMC, retired) as American Military University. 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. 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. The first online courses and online classrooms started in 1998. In 1999, all undergraduate classes and programs went fully online, with graduate programs shifting to online in 2000. In 2002 AMU expanded to become American Public University System and established American Public University, intended primarily for civilians interested in public service programs. In 2006 APUS was granted regional accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission. In 2012 American Public University System resigned its DETC accreditation. In 2016, the university was listed as tied for 58th place in U.S. News & World Report ranking of online bachelor's degree Programs. In July 2016, long-time President Wallace E. Boston was succeeded as APUS president by former Executive Vice President and Provost Karan