By Sandra Devie, Senior Writer

JUST last month, 40 members of the insurance industry celebrated getting their Masters' degrees in Business Administration.

Then one of them had a niggling suspicion about the credentials of their alma mater, International University (IU), Vienna.

He found that it was not accredited in Austria, which raises questions about the worth of their degrees. Now some are thinking of getting refunds for their course, which cost them about $12,000 each.

The course is being offered by the Financial Services Managers Association and Great Eastern Life Planners Association who engaged education consultancy, CPPD Systems Associates, to run the academic side of the programme.

Contacted by The Straits Times, the Austrian Embassy here confirmed that IU was not on its list of approved private universities.

But retired Nanyang Technological University business professor, Dr B. C. Ghosh, of CPPD Systems Associates, clarified that although the university has a campus in Vienna, it is registered as a university in the state of Alabama in the United States.

Dr Ghosh said: 'IU is licensed in the US by the State of Alabama, which is accepted by the Secretary of US Department of Education, and hence a recognised US degree.'

US education counsellors here have pointed out before that just because a university has a licence to operate, does not mean it has academic accreditation, which is a check on the quality of its programmes.

Straits Times checks with US education authorities both here and in the US show that the university has no accreditation for its courses.

Dr Ghosh added that the university was undergoing accreditation by the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE), which is 'due to be recognised' by the US Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

IACBE on its website says that as a 'professional accrediting association in business', it is not recognised by the US Department of Education.

Officials of the managers' group - which had 28 graduands this year - could not be contacted but an insurance agent who took up the MBA course two years ago through the body said the degree had been previously offered by the Vancouver University Worldwide and many agents had gone through the course. Last year, Canadian courts ordered it to shut down. The programme was then transferred to IU, Vienna.

The GE group only started offering the course since last year. So far, 12 association members have taken the course. Another nine are on it now.

Its vice-president, Mr Paul Chan, said the association representatives had visited the campus, interviewed the university officials and 'was fully aware that the US accreditation process has not happened yet'. He said that all members were given 'the full facts' before signing up .

But two of the graduates who spoke to The Straits Times said it was not made clear to them that the university was unaccredited. They intend to ask the association to refund the fees they had paid.

Said a third: 'What about the time spent going through a worthless course. Who's going to pay for that?'

The Straits Times managed to reach the university's president Professor Dr Wil C. Goodheer in Vienna. 'I have never stated that IU Vienna is accredited by any regional or national accreditation agency,' he said.

sandra@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times on September 15, 2008.

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