No reason to revoke American University of Malta’s licence, regulator says

The American University of Malta has not breached any conditions that justify the revocation of its operating licence, the National Commission for Further and Higher Education said.

In a statement released on Friday afternoon, the NCFHE said the reasons that could prompt it to consider revoking the licence were clearly listed at law.

“Once conditions have been set and a licence issued, the provider is obliged to ensure that these conditions are being met as otherwise it can be subject to fines or in the extreme case, its licence being revoked… To date, the AUM has not breached any condition that can justify the NCFHE to consider revoking its licence,” the statement said.

The regulatory body has been inundated with questions after AUM axed all its academic staff at the start of the year, following a poor student intake.

The university was a start-up operation by Jordanian investor Hani Saleh and it received its licence from the NCFHE in 2016. The regulator had imposed strict conditions, including academic and financial audits.

The commission said certain actions could only be taken after the lapse of specific periods of time as dictated by legislation or as stipulated in specific licence conditions.

Focussing on the poor student intake – 23 students last September – the NCFHE said the AUM had always made it clear that the number of students, academic and non-academic staff would rise in stages over a number of years.

The regulator said the AUM did submit the CVs of new staff engaged recently and the commission was satisfied with the calibre of the lecturers recruited by the institution.

“As with all other higher educational institutions in Malta, AUM will continue to be closely monitored and if serious license condition breaches do occur then the NCFHE will take whatever steps will be shown to be necessary at that stage,” the regulator said.