‘My life is ruined, unbelievable this happened in an EU country’

Foreign students say they have been left thousands of euros out of pocket in outstanding tuition fee refunds by a Gżira-based private ‘university’ that had its licence revoked by the higher education authority earlier this month.

Times of Malta spoke to several prospective students of the International European University (IEU), who complained the company failed to provide tuition fee refunds after their visa applications were rejected by Malta.

The non-EU students described being “scammed” and having their lives “ruined” after losing thousands of euros – their “life savings” – to the IEU in unrefunded fees.

Despite being promised refunds within six months, some students have been waiting for more than a year while complaining of being repeatedly fed “excuses” by the company.

The Education Ministry said the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA)  had “been attentive to concerns raised” about the IEU and decided not to renew its licence when it expired earlier this month, following a recent audit of the institution.

The MFHEA announced the revocation of the university’s licence less than a week after Times of Malta sent questions about the institution to the ministry.

The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA) said it had received “a number of complaints” about the IEU and had requested an “urgent meeting” with the institution.

It’s not a small amount of money; they’ve taken my whole fortune. It’s very bad... The impact has been so much, it’s very frustrating- Student

The IEU did not respond to repeated requests for comment. But when Times of Malta visited its Gżira campus, a man claiming to be president of the institution’s student parliament said the refunds were delayed due to “a lot” of visa refusals.

Prospective IEU students said that after being accepted by the university and paying advance tuition fees of up to €7,600, their visa applications were rejected by the Maltese authorities.

Rejection letters seen by Times of Malta show refusals on grounds the “justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay was not reliable”.

Students said they included an invitation letter from IEU and proof of tuition fee payment with their applications.

Despite being promised refunds within six months – Times of Malta has seen e-mail correspondence from the school promising refunds within that timeframe – the students say they have not received their money, with some waiting more than a year.

Bangladeshi student Al Younus Jibon, who was accepted for a Bachelor of Management degree at IEU, described feeling “scammed” by the company, emphasising the €6,800 owed to him was a “huge amount of money for us”.

“My life is ruined; I’m strong, but I can’t tell you how I’m feeling inside. It’s unbelievable this happened in an EU country... I don’t want anyone else to have their life ruined, I want to fight for this,” he said.

‘They’ve taken my life savings’

Cameroonian applicant Herman Ndoni Bakari, who was accepted for a Master’s in Management and Business Administration, called his experience with IEU “very frustrating,” stressing the absence of the €5,300 he paid in February last year had significantly impacted his life.

“After school, I worked for years and look at what they’ve done; they’ve taken my whole life savings,” he said. “It’s not a small amount of money; they’ve taken my whole fortune. It’s very bad... The impact has been so much, it’s very frustrating.”

Nigerian national Akin Adenike said he and his wife Toyin were experiencing depression after being left out of pocket €4,900 in unrefunded tuition fees, adding that without the funds being returned to them, Toyin was unable to pay for an alternative study course after her visa application for a Master’s course was rejected.

‘They should be punished’

Shaha Alam, the CEO and founder of Bangladesh-based educational consultancy company Study World BD, representing some of the students, said the university had “looked professional online and at first they behaved professionally”.

“But after the tuition fees were paid, they became slower to reply, only responding with unclear, repetitive excuses about a ‘complex process’ with no transparency, timeline, or meaningful updates,” he said, adding the school had since stopped replying.

While welcoming the revocation of the school’s licence, Alam demanded action be taken against the company’s management: “The licence is one thing, but what about the people running the school? They could do it again and they should be punished.”

Alam plans to open a court case against the IEU to reclaim the outstanding funds, with plans to travel to Malta next month, adding his experience with the school had soured his view of Malta and that he would no longer promote the country as a study destination.

Several online users claiming to be IEU applicants waiting on refunds have taken to Facebook and Reddit to air grievances about the company.

The Education Ministry said the authority had “very limited remit on refund matters” but that it had taken “proactive steps” to assist students, which in “certain instances led to the resolution of issues”.

"The results of two recent audits have now been communicated to IEU, and in keeping with standard procedure, the full report will be published once the process is concluded", a ministry spokesperson said.

Facilities at the Malta campus advertised online by IEU. Photo: IEU

War licence

The IEU was founded in Ukraine in 2019, according to the company. In 2023, it was granted a temporary MFHEA licence to operate in Malta due to the Ukraine war.

That temporary licence was renewed in August last year on the condition the IEU underwent financial and an institutional audits, with failure to pass either set to result in revocation of the licence.

Staff at the Gżira campus of the IEU refused to provide their names or show Times of Malta around the facilities during a recent visit. Young people, apparently students, were visible on campus during the visit.

Despite being advertised through regular Instagram posts appearing to show classes at IEU, from an account claiming to be the “official” account of the Malta campus, the company has disavowed any social media accounts apart from its Facebook account for the Ukrainian wing of the company.

The sole shareholder and director of International European University (IEU) Malta Ltd is Ukrainian national Alla Navolokina – president of the Ukrainian IEU – according to the Malta Business Registry.

At the time of publication, the IEU was continuing to advertise itself as being licensed by the MFHEA.