The AOG School of Management, affiliated with the UG, has awarded 45 students an unlawful master’s degree, the Education Inspectorate has concluded after an investigation.
These diplomas granted students the title of master of business administration, master of general management, or master of marketing dtrategy and were intended to be officially awarded after September 1, 2017.
On that date, the Dutch Higher Education and Research Act (WHW) changed, making masters protected titles that can only be issued by recognised institutions of higher education. Although affiliated with the UG, the foundation did not fall into that category.
Not accredited
The AOG was established by the UG in 1988 to provide working individuals with an academic bachelor’s degree the opportunity to obtain a master’s degree on a part-time basis. While it operated on behalf of the UG for many years, it was not an accredited educational institution itself.
As the amendment to the WHW approached, forty-five students who only had their thesis left to write were at risk of not receiving a master’s degree. The foundation claimed these students were almost finished with their studies, according to the Education Inspectorate’s report.
Backdating
Therefore, AOG chose to backdate the diplomas to August 28, 2017, just before the amendment. However, the diplomas were actually awarded later in 2017 or even in 2018.
The Education Inspectorate criticised this approach. ‘Participants had not completed their education by August 28, 2017, as they still had to write a thesis. This means the date on the diplomas is incorrect’, it wrote in the report.
Incorrect information
Furthermore, the inspectorate stated that the foundation had repeatedly provided the students with incorrect information. Only last summer did it send a letter explicitly stating that their diploma was not a valid master’s degree. They now have the opportunity to obtain a degree through additional courses.
Since the amendment, the AOG no longer offers the study programmes. The AOG TSM Business School now provides these programmes and is accredited as an educational institution by the Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation (NVAO).