Lansbridge University-New Brunswick intends to expand by building a campus in Fredericton, president Chris Pilgrim said during public hearings for a provincial post-secondary commission. The announcement comes one week before its sister school of the same name in B.C. is set to close because of violations of the Degree Authorization Act.

Landsbridge University-BC was investigated after the fall closing of another BC private institution, Kingston College. It is owned by Michael Lo’s Kingston Education Group, the same company that owns Landsbridge-BC and Landsbridge-NB.

But Pilgrim insists that the institutions are separate entities. “Our students and faculty are fully aware of the situation and understand that it has nothing to do with Lansbridge University-NB, except with respect to ownership and a similarity in names.”

The B.C. government investigation revealed that Lansbridge-BC advertised degree programs before gaining authorization, submitted misleading documents when applying for degree-granting status, and did not maintain the required financial security to protect students, among other violations. The investigation also reported, “The state of student files raises serious questions about administration, admissions standards, credit transfer criteria, and like issues.” Shockingly, one student transcript was discovered on the back of an old email regarding Lo’s credit limit.

The NB commission also heard from Jack Vanderlinde, president of the Federation of New Brunswick Faculty Associations, who urged the province to ban the creation of more private institutions.  

"When someone does a thing for profit, clearly what you're most interested in is the profit, and not the product," Vanderlinde said last week. "If I were a student, I would be really very hesitant to go to a private institution, where, first of all, your fees would be much, much higher than the public universities, and there's absolutely no guarantee at the other end that you'll get anything out."

Approximately 300 students attending Lansbridge University-BC and Kingston College – the majority international students from India and China – spent up to $40,000 in tuition for a four-year degree, in addition to living costs, and are now left without credentials. Many of these students are facing the possibility of having to leave Canada as their student visas run out, having wasted their families’ savings and their chance to study in Canada.

Pilgrim accused the faculty association of having ulterior motives because private universities are not unionized.