On Campus

Private university takes New Brunswick to court

Lansbridge wants to overturn decision to revoke its license to offer degrees

A private online university is taking New Brunswick to court over the province’s decision to revoke its license to offer degrees. Lansbridge University lost its accreditation to offer MBA and executive-MBA programs in August after a review by the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission (MPHEC) concluded its program failed to meet provincial standards.

“Following two failed institutional reviews, a subsequent onsite inspection found that Lansbridge University was still non-compliant and significantly sub-standard, and as a result, did not meet the standards outlined in the Degree Granting Act and regulations,” a statement from the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, read in August.

Lansbridge disputes those claims and is filing for a temporary injunction against the government’s decision. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

When Lansbridge responded to the allegations against it in the summer, the university claimed that insufficient notice was given to respond to the MPHEC report, and that the government released its decision online before students and staff could be contacted.

The university also suggested a “hidden agenda” was behind the removal of its degree granting status. “A real issue here is the question of whether MPHEC should be conducting such reviews of private institutions as they are in a direct conflict of interest, having been set up to deal with publicly funded in-the-classroom institutions that compete for the same students,” the statement read.

The Fredericton based school has 170 students, with 155 that are believed to be Canadian. According to Lansbridge, 11 of those students reside in New Brunswick. The province has appointed a registrar to help students transfer to similar programs at other schools.

Lansbridge had previously been granted a separate license from the British Columbia government but it was revoked in 2007.

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