City Unity College sent a “response” letter to Data Journalists, regarding the publication of the complaints of former students, about non-recognized qualifications provided from 2018 to 2022, in cooperation with the Swiss educational institution E.H.E. Europa Hochschule EurAKA CH.
Essentially, the response confirms Data Journalists’ report on the curricula that were provided with the approval of the Ministry of Education from 2018 to 2022, however, City Unity College clearly distinguishes its case from those of Athens Metropolitan College and Aegean College.
As underlined in City Unity College’s reply, “the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs rightly accepted the documents issued by the official Swiss authorities”, as at the time of the signing of the contract “in Switzerland, each Canton was responsible for the establishment and licensing of academic institutions operating within their region”.
Moreover, as stated, “there was a subsequent change in the Swiss educational process, under which all educational institutions operating under the control of the Cantons were required to apply for federal accreditation of these institutions, now by federal bodies”.
Noteworthy, is what is mentioned in the last paragraph of the letter, regarding the other two Colleges, which were mentioned in an earlier Data Journalists publication, namely the graduates of the Nursing Department of the Metropolitan College of Athens and the Midwifery Department of Aegean College.
City Unity College notes that “we have nothing to do with the other institutions mentioned in your article”, as we “have taken all appropriate steps for the smooth transition of our students to other recognized top universities, at our own expense and with simultaneous recognition of their studies”.
Also, as stated, “the competent bodies of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, in cooperation with our school, applied the relevant legislation to the letter, revoking the relevant curricula and approving the new universities that took over our students, resolving the problem successfully for all”.
Read below the response letter from City Unity College
A cooperation agreement has been signed between our College and E.H.E. EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY EURAKA SWITZERLAND to provide undergraduate and postgraduate programs of study of the latter to students in Greece, through the franchising or accreditation system. According to the legislation in force in Switzerland at the time of signing the contract, each Canton of the country was responsible for the establishment and licensing of academic institutions operating within their region. Therefore, the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs rightly accepted the documents issued by the official Swiss authorities and permitted us to grant the relevant programs through our college.
However, there was later a change in the Swiss educational process, under which all educational institutions operating under Cantonal control were required to apply for federal accreditation of these institutions by federal bodies, upon successful completion of which they would be entered in a federal register of educational institutions. That procedure gave all such educational institutions a deadline of 31 December 2022 to seek such institutional accreditation, failing which they would automatically cease to operate. The E.H.E. EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY EURAKA SWITZERLAND submitted its application in due time and started the federal accreditation process, but this process proved to be particularly time-consuming, as by September 2022, it had not yet been completed.
For the above reasons, which are related to the accreditation procedures of Swiss universities at the federal level and the uncertainty that has arisen regarding the successful and timely completion of this process by the Swiss partner university, the Administration of our College decided not to renew the cooperation with the said Swiss institution, which expired at the beginning of September 2022 and proceeded to conclude new partnerships with higher education institutions abroad, to continue the studies of the students in full and with full recognition of their previous studies. At the same time, we informed the competent bodies of the Ministry of Education about the current situation, the proposed solutions, and the respective Universities, which can replace the Swiss University in programs, while at the same time, we informed all our students.
As a result of the above actions, the relevant revocation of the accreditation of the programs by E.H.E. EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY EURAKA SWITZERLAND, and the simultaneous granting of permission by the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs for programs provided by other leading universities, which replaced the Swiss accreditation, with full recognition of their studies and degrees. This fact proves that we acted correctly and legally, always with the student’s interest as our guiding principle, as we have consistently done for the past 25 consecutive years of operation. Moreover, the aforementioned actions are reinforced by a relevant decision of the Consumer Ombudsman, who judged that there was no fault on our part regarding the above.
From the above it is clear that we have nothing to do with the other institutions mentioned in your article, since on the one hand we have taken all the appropriate actions for the smooth transition of our students to other recognized top universities, at our own expense and simultaneous recognition of their studies, and on the other hand, the competent bodies of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, in cooperation with our school, applied the relevant legislation to the letter, revoking the relevant curricula and approving the new universities that took over our students, resolving the problem successfully for everyone.
CITY U EKPEDEFTIKI EPE
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