Sadeen Education Investment has been granted a five-year licence to run its American University of Malta, having agreed to a set of conditions established by the National Commission for Further and Higher Education. 

In a statement issued tonight, the NCFHE said that the Sadeen group would be bound to the conditions established back in June. Investors had recently asked for "some clarifications" about the conditions, the commission added. 

The licence means Sadeen can now use call its college a 'university'. Part of the university will be located at Dock One in Cospicua, and the other campus will be in Marsascala, on 18,000 square metres of ODZ land. 

As part of the agreement with the NCFHE, the American University of Malta's internal quality assurance processes will be audited every year by Clemson University. The South Carolina university was brought on board as a partner following initial hiccups at the due diligence stage.

The NCFHE will also be conducting spot-checks on a regular basis, as well as its own external quality audits to ensure academic, administrative and service operations are up to scratch.  

The university must show that all funding required for its completion is in place within timelines established by the NCFHE, and it must also run any proposed changes to academic staff or shareholders by the commission before carrying them out.

In its statement, the commission said it was confident that "AUM is in a position to fulfill its potential as a provider of high-quality education."