Education watchdog grants Sadeen’s university tertiary education licence

The National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE) has granted Sadeen Education Investment Ltd the licence to operate the American University of Malta, officially recognising the entity as academically equipped to provide tertiary education.

The final decision of the education watchdog was announced today by the government, who in a statement described the decision as “opening a new and positive chapter in Malta’s history”.

“With this important step, the government is implementing the electoral promise of having a second university, providing pluralism in tertiary education,” the government said.

Sadeen Group, a Jordanian company, has been granted public land at Marsascala and Bormla to develop its private university. Originally unveiled by the Labour administration as a flagship project for the south, the controversial decision to grant land at Zonqor Point without public tender was met with a 3,000-strong protest in Valletta. The government, which first proposed to build the AUM over a campus stretching across 90,000 square metres of virgin land, downscaled the area to 18,000 square metres. Part of the proposed campus was relocated to the Bormla docks.

The name “American University of…” is best known in the cases of Beirut and Cairo, which for more than a century signified an American style of education in prestigious colleges. 

According to the government, the project is set to attract some 4,000 students, with a €48 million increase in economic growth set to increase to a yearly €85 million. The investment in its totality will create 470 jobs.

“The AUM underwent both academic and financial analysis, with the approval being carried out in the most professional manner. This process should serve as a yardstick for similar exercises in the future,” the government said.

The AUM will be providing five Bachelor courses, a Masters course and four PhD courses.

“This project will also inject new life in the south of Malta. Whilst the Opposition remains against the project at all costs, the government is satisfied with the result,” the government said.