Rushmore University Rushmore University Rushmore University is an unaccredited institution of higher learning offering master's and doctoral degrees in a variety of business-related fields, exclusively via distance learning. Rushmore was started in 1996 in South Dakota by Michael Cox (professor) (1952-2006), whose credentials included a PhD in Accounting from Oklahoma State University and seven years' teaching at the University of Arkansas and Sam Houston State University. As of June 4, 2006 Rushmore had a mailing address in the Cayman Islands. The Maine Department of Education formerly listed it as having been located in South Dakota and the Cayman Islands. As of August
Mount Rushmore birds, including songbirds, nuthatches, and woodpeckers, inhabit the surrounding pine forests. Terrestrial mammals include the mouse, least chipmunk, red squirrel, skunk, porcupine, raccoon, beaver, badger, coyote, bighorn sheep, bobcat, elk, mule deer, yellow-bellied marmot, and American bison. The striped chorus frog, western chorus frog, and northern leopard frog also inhabit the area, along with several species of snake. Grizzly Bear Brook and Starling Basin Brook, the two streams in the memorial, support fish such as the longnose dace and the brook trout. Mountain goats are not indigenous to the region. Those living near Mount Rushmore are descendants of a tribe