In this article, the author, founder of Yorktown University, an online institution whose focus is training for citizenship, describes the often circuitous path to higher education accreditation. The author's story of what happened on his way to reform higher education is a tale of the political ability of traditional institutions to block startup companies from entering the education marketplace and how an economy careening towards depression may unleash the creative destruction needed to transform the way educational institutions are managed. Despite all difficulties, Yorktown University continues to grow enrollments and now offers accredited degree and certificate programs. (Contains 4 footnotes.)