Questions Raised About Albanian University Linked to SUNY

February 13, 2012, 10:21 am

A private Albanian institution’s affiliation with the State University of New York has raised questions about whether such partnerships deliver quality education abroad, reports The New York Times. The University of New York at Tirana promises “the only real European and American education” in Albania and allows students to earn an American diploma from Empire State College, a division of SUNY, by paying an extra $100 per credit for the first three years plus an additional $5,000 for the final year. Critics say such arrangements are more about financial gains than education and question how much oversight Empire State asserts. Gavin Lowder, director of international programs at Empire State, told the Times the Albanian campus is held to “the same academic guidelines as the rest of the college. There are no separate standards for our Tirana program.”

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boldadventurer

The Balkan ‘universities’ have a lot of problems…ask all of us who work for the ‘AMERICAN’ University of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Tuzla and Sarajavo). Ask SUNY Canton.

The ‘universities’ from much of the region are readily recognized without apology as ‘buy yourself a degree’ places. There are not overseen by accrediting agencies that are independent or reliable; anyone can start one any time if you can get the start up cash.

They are mostly, as this article says, ways of bringing in income for an owner who has made themselves president and CEO. The US partner is not able to ‘supervise’ in another country what is being done, so with little oversight even possible, they ‘take the word of’ their foreign partner–the person that personally owns the local university!!

There are literally dozens of professors who would love to tell you…all first hand about AUBiH–and who are in the midst of a proposed lawsuit elaborating some of the problems–plus there has been a cease and desist from using our name in your ads from SUNY-Canton— that someone should check out.

I would wager, there could be much about UNY of Tirana to find out as well–and since I am also familiar with things in Tirana, I will look forward to futher articles about this situation.

We may have problems in the US with our educational system, but we have seen nothing like what is really true in foreign places. And no one really wants to hear from those of us who have seen a little.
boldadventurer

boldadventurer0 minutes ago The Balkan ‘universities’ have a lot of problems…ask all of us who work for the ‘AMERICAN’ University of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Tuzla and Sarajavo). Ask SUNY Canton. The ‘universities’ from much of the region are readily recognized without apology as ‘buy yourself a degree’ places. There are not overseen by accrediting agencies that are independent or reliable; anyone can start one any time if you can get the start up cash. They are mostly, as this article says, ways of bringing in income for an owner who has made themselves president and CEO. The US partner is not able to ‘supervise’ in another country what is being done, so with little oversight even possible, they ‘take the word of’ their foreign partner–the person that personally owns the local university!! There are literally dozens of professors who would love to tell you…all first hand about AUBiH–and who are in the midst of a proposed lawsuit elaborating some of the problems–plus there has been a cease and desist from using our name in your ads from SUNY-Canton— that someone should check out.I would wager, there could be much about UNY of Tirana to find out as well–and since I am also familiar with things in Tirana, I will look forward to futher articles about this situation.We may have problems in the US with our educational system, but we have seen nothing like what is really true in foreign places. And no one really wants to hear from those of us who have seen a little.