The government’s regulatory arm in higher education – the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA) – is refusing to explain why it renewed the operating licence of the International European University (IEU) to continue operating from a building in Gzira despite students’ claims that the institution is “one big scam.”

Since it relocated some of its courses to Malta in 2023 through a one-year temporary licence due to the ongoing war, The Shift is informed that tens of students and their parents contacted the MFHEA complaining of alleged “fake courses”, leaving many students and their families several thousand out of pocket.

Despite complaints, the MFHEA agreed to renew the ‘university’s’ operating licence for another year until mid-2025, basing its assessment on the fact that the IEU has a collaboration agreement with the American University of Malta (AUM), which also faces criticism.

In its renewal notice announcement, the Maltese authorities underlined that the IEU must make a “financial and institutional audit” by January 2025.  If this fails, the “licence will be revoked immediately”.

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While giving its nod, the MFHEA distanced itself from the IEU, making it clear that “the IEU is NOT a Maltese institution and hence it is not accredited by the MFHEA”.

Sources told The Shift that “pressure was made from political quarters to issue a licence renewal.”

The Shift asked the MCHFE to explain why the IEU was still allowed to keep its business running and to state what action was being taken about the complaints it received. No replies were given.

What university?

Based in Gzira’s Edgar Bernard Street, the IEU was established in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2019. It offers several degree courses, but these are not recognised by the EU’s educational certification standards.

Instead, the IEU is regulated under Ukrainian law by the country’s National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance in Ukraine, NAQA.

Since the war in Ukraine, the IEU has transferred its operations to Poland. However, the Polish government never officially recognised it, and the public prosecutor of Poznan is reportedly investigating it due to complaints.

In 2023, the IEU was issued a Maltese licence to transfer three courses to Malta temporarily. These are medicine (only the theoretical part, as neither the IEU nor the AUM has any laboratory facilities) and two business-related courses.

No one knows how many students are enrolled at the IEU. Sources state that these are not Ukrainian and are mostly non-EU citizens.

The IEU charges students up to €6,000 per year and thousands in added costs, including one-time accreditation fees and high accommodation prices.

Many students took their complaints online. They said they were never paid back their money, even when they decided to leave the university. They also complained that their reports to the MHFEA were ignored.