The Jordanian-owned American University of Malta is attempting to regain recognition as a university in Jordan, where its qualifications are no longer recognised.
In a statement issued by the university on Thursday, the AUM said Jordan’s Ministry of Higher Education recently updated its criteria for accreditation.
A new clause stipulates that for a foreign university to be recognised in the country, it must be listed in the ranking tables of one of three international ranking agencies; namely QS, Times Higher Education, or Shanghai.
The AUM said this decision affected it and many other universities all over the world.
“With these updated criteria by the Jordanian Ministry, the American University of Malta has now started the process to apply for one of these international rankings.
"It is noted that the Jordanian’s Ministry of Education decision will be automatically reversed once such ranking has been achieved,” the AUM said.
The change means that Jordan only recognises three Malta-based academic institutions: the University of Malta, the London School of Commerce LSC and the Institute of Tourism Studies.
The AUM said the Jordanian Ministry’s decision did not apply to any Jordanian students currently enrolled or those who previously graduated from AUM.
The AUM, based in Cospicua, and owned by Jordanian citizen Hani Salah's Sadeen Group, has been embroiled in controversy since it was announced.
It opened its doors to students in 2017 with the intention of attracting 350 students in its first year, rising to 4,600 by its 10th, and planned to expand to a larger campus in ODZ land at Żonqor Point.
But those plans have gone up in smoke with the University only enrolling a handful of students. Eventually, it dramatically changed course by allowing Maltese and EU students to enrol for free.
By 2019, the education minister at the time, Evarist Bartolo, said the AUM should not get its Żonqor land until it had more students while Labour MP Glenn Bedingfield criticised the university for its plans to take up more land in the Cottonera to build a dormitory.
Earlier this year, the university dropped its dormitory plans and Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that the university would be given land at Smart City rather than Żonqor Point.
The AUM's original licence expired in 2021 but it was then given a one-year extension. The licence was then extended for another five years in October.