An Austrian company is offering part-time PhDs from an online business school in Malta for up to €32,000, despite Austrian authorities saying the courses are being offered illegitimately in the country.

The Hohe Warte Study Centre in Austria offers part-time Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) and PhD qualifications through Signum Magnum College (SMC) in Malta.

But according to the Austrian state agency responsible for quality assurance in higher education, the courses are not legal because SMC is not registered with the agency.

Despite the college being accredited and fully licensed by the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA), without registering its courses with education authorities in Austria, it is not allowed to offer the courses in the country.

Meanwhile, the college claimed the Austrian company is merely one of its “independent recruiting agencies” and that it has not been conducting activities in Austria which require registration.

Taking a similar line, the Hohe Warte Study Centre said it is simply a "contact office” for SMC – despite describing it as its “university partner” on its website – and that registration with Austrian authorities, therefore, is “not required”.

But the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQ Austria) disagrees: “The Maltese study programmes must be reported. What is not reported is not legal.”

According to the Austrian Education Ministry, unregistered degree courses are not legal and can incur fines of up to €25,000.

There is no suggestion that SMC is acting illegally in Malta and information about the company’s accreditation is available on the MFHEA website.

Online business school

Signum Magnum College is an online business school with offices in St Julian’s and Miami, according to its website, which describes the Malta branch as its 'Academic HQ'.

But when Times of Malta attempted to visit the company’s Portomaso Signature offices this week, reception staff said SMC staff were not present and did not attend the building daily and that lessons were not carried out at the offices.

In an email to Times of Malta after its visit, the company said it was an “online-only higher education institution without public campus” and does “not attend visitors without prior appointment.”

'Letterbox universities are common in Malta'

Online educational institutions are nothing new, but according to AQ Austria managing director Jürgen Petersen such entities are common in Malta.

In comments to Austrian newspaper Weiner Zeitung, which investigated the Hohe Warte Study Centre and Signum Magnum College in partnership with Times of Malta and weekly Austrian news magazine Falter, Petersen said “letterbox universities are commonplace in Malta”.

But he stressed that without Austrian recognition, their degrees are not recognised in the country and all courses must be registered with authorities, even if offered through a third party.

“This is important because the university that awards the degree is always responsible for the implementation of the course of study... The provider Signum Magnum College in cooperation with the Hohe Warte, is not known to us. We are looking into this.”

In comments to Times of Malta, SMC distanced itself from the term “letterbox university” but said it believes such entities to be the exception in Malta.

“SMC has permanent physical offices in Malta, a local academic and non-academic team, as well as local faculty members,” it said, stressing it was “common practice” for educational institutions to work with agencies overseas.

Accreditation

Degrees offered by SMC are accredited by the MFHEA, the national body which licenses private educational institutions and accredits Maltese qualifications, according to the Malta Qualifications Framework (MQF) system.

According to the MQF scale, PhDs are equivalent to level eight, post-graduate degrees level seven and bachelor’s degrees level six.

When contacted, MFHEA CEO Rose Anne Cuschieri said the authority "asks for access as students and as professionals working in the administration” when accrediting an institution.

“We do spot checks to determine student attendance... We can't just give out a licence and that be the end of it.”

While the MFHEA is part of a European body (ENIC-NARIC) that aims to facilitate national degrees being recognised in different EU countries, Austrian authorities only recognise registered degrees and only consider self-accredited institutions to be universities.

Only the University of Malta, Malta College of Arts, Science & Technology (MCAST) and Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS) are self-accredited. SMC does not refer to itself as a university.

But while the MFHEA is part of ENIC-NARIC, it is not a full member but an affiliate of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), seen as the gold standard in academic recognition.

The authority has applied for full membership and is currently awaiting a decision from ENQA after a review in October.

“The ENQA is prestigious and a final mark of quality. We're striving hard to get that and hoping for a positive reply,” said Cuschieri when asked about the authority’s application.

‘Not all inspire my confidence’

University of Malta rector Alfred Vella said accreditation agencies were set up “to keep students and society safe from entities peddling educational services of dubious quality.”

"ENQA helps national agencies perform their work to a high standard. I view membership of ENQA as a mark of quality to which accrediting agencies need to aspire,” he said.

Asked about institutions offering online degrees, Vella said that “while some are really good, not all inspire my confidence”.

Pointing to the UK Open University as “an excellent example of good practice and a formidable university”, the rector said others may not reach the required standards and stressed the importance of regulation in the sector.

“I much prefer blended learning to fully online which means that the online provision is complemented by in person teaching for part of the programme... There is also the serious security aspect connected with assessment of set assignments and exams which, to my mind, remains an unsolved challenge.

“As for research degrees, I cannot imagine how a student can navigate the demands of the hard work required for any serious project without easy and frequent access to a supervisory team.”

Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung reports that the Hohe Warte Study Centre has been offering degrees through SMC since the autumn without reporting the courses to Austrian authorities.

Following this investigation, AQ Austria asked the SMC to report its courses to the agency and a decision is expected in September.