Hello, While browsing the web, I stumbled across an online institute called the European Business and Management Institute, which, I believe, has never been discussed in the forums: https://www.ebmi.eu/ They offer “professional” programs in business fields like MBA, DBA, MPA etc. They claim to be accredited by an American IABSP and a European EACBE, which I never heard of. Also, I couldn’t know the country of origin of the institute; they say they have offices in Berlin and Paris. The only things I found appealing were the price of the Law courses and the design of the website, unlike many shady schools that didn’t even bother to put effort into making their websites look good/understandable. Personally, I’m not a native English speaker, and I don’t plan to immigrate to the US or anywhere else. I just would like to get educated on the field of Laws for my own knowledge. But also I would like to ensure that the knowledge comes from a legitimate source, not from, for instance, opinions on YouTube. Moreover, since this education will have no utility in the workplace or anywhere else (no ROI) but merely personal fulfillment, I am interested in affordable and reasonably doable courses, unlike Law programs offered by top US schools for hefty prices and require you to spend a year or two to write a single paper. So, please if anyone can shed light on this EBMI or any other schools offering legit and affordable Law programs, kindly let me know. Thank you, Sam
Hello! I know these guys. They were discussed in a German Forum similar to this one here. See here: https://www.fernstudium-infos.de/topic/19080-ebmi-european-business-management-institute-erfahrungen. Recap of that discussion: "Accreditors" have almost identical IP addresses as the institute itself. So, make out of that what you want... but I, personally, was out before I was even in. Best regards, Mac Juli
Hello Mac, Thank you very much for bringing the IP address thing into my attention. It might actually imply that these “accreditation bodies” were created by the school to accredit and recognize itself, lol. Does the law in Germany even allow the establishments of educational institutes without getting proper permissions and authorizations, let alone offering certificates even on the “professional” level? From this useful forum, I learned that in Europe it is somehow possible to offer “professional” certificates with fancy names in Poland, Czech, Slovakia and France, among others, if the school gets the proper incorporation permissions. Kind regards, Sam
As far as I know: no. But if a company in Berlin / Germany sets up an institute in Czechia which issues degrees in Poland and in France nobody gives a damn, are these thingies allowed in Thailand if they are issued at full moon with an apostille in Malaysia...?! ... Sorry, I lost track. I guess the public prosecutors did, too!!
Kinda surprised they didn't set up in Switzerland, TBH. Switzerland seems to turn a blind eye to these kind of things, if they play within the rules. Or Malta. With Germany, they're probably playing with fire and they'll get burned eventually. Bureaucracy can be slow and it's entirely possible that they're already going after these people behind the scenes, but neither the "school" nor we know what's going on.
Doesn't Malta have some schools of ... dubious merit/legality? Or do I have them confused with a different country?
Searching this forum for Malta brings up a number of pages' worth of threads. I note this one about UCN where Malta is mentioned as having a system that is susceptible to corruption: https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/central-university-of-nicaragua-degree-scheme.60720/#post-562684 The other threads aren't much better. A couple do say that Maltese accreditation is good (or at least no issue), while most seem to be looking on it with at least slight suspicion. I can't find it now, but I'm pretty sure that someone (maybe on the other forum?) has previously mentioned Malta as having a really low barrier to entry for schools to be counted as "legit" there.
They seem to list some obscure for-profit schools. I am not aware of any outright mills. People seem to have strong opinions about SMC, but is it that hard to believe that particular organization can successfully jump through accreditation hoops? Until shown otherwise, well, Malta is obscure but its EU membership is sufficient for checking-the-box purposes. Every country has obscure for-profit schools. In US, we can name many (not only or primarily UoPx). A school in Ukraine I actually like (ConcordiaUA) started out as a branch of a degree mill. These cases prove nothing.
Mentioned by people who actually know what they're talking about? Because when it comes to commentary on international higher education on these sorts of forums, people don't always opine from a position of information or experience, and I'm putting it delicately.
This EBMI school doesn’t actually claim to be German. What makes them even more suspicious is they claim no higher education permission of any country; they say they just have offices in Berlin and Paris. According to the German forum link provided above by Mac Juli, the German office points to a business center for working spaces (suitable for a shell company). Other member says that the EBMI IP address originates from Czech Republic. If that is really the case, I am quite surprised that they didn’t set up a genuine headquarter there and get proper authorizations, since Czech law allows for the establishment of educational centers with little effort. Take for example, https://www.fves.eu/en/, https://www.study-esbm.com/specialization/mba-global-business/, https://www.businessinstitut.eu/ and many more. Or EBMI could’ve simply set up in France, where they say they already have offices in. Practically anybody in France can be a “private provider of higher education” authorized by the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, Research, and Innovation, in accordance to and in compliance with the French Education Act: Code de l’Education Articles L 444-1 to 444-11 and R 444-1 to 444-28. Take these jokes as examples, https://www.riviera-university.fr/, http://sorbon.fr/, https://www.egs.education/. Speaking of Switzerland, oh I don’t even know where to start. The private education sector there is really getting out of hand. It’s extremely expensive with no real value in terms of education (or accreditation if that’s what you’re looking for). I once tried a “free trial” at an online PhD program in one of the most popular “schools.” They offered nothing new that a Freshman in their first year of undergraduate college wouldn’t learn. Till I found this joke, https://www.myglobalworld.org/program-self-paced-mcq-dba-ibss. Apparently it is a Swiss education company that offers a “multiple-choice DBA” degree that you can finish “as fast as you want” through their Danish partner, IBSS. The IBSS campus is a private farm in Denmark, and they are not shy about it. About Malta, like other members I have not heard about shady practices when it comes to education. Please let us know if you are familiar with such schools so people can be wary of them. Regards, Sam
At least you do a little multiple-choice exam, lol. Unlike some schools, including this misleading fancy-name Sorbon, who makes you a Doctor of Philosophy in a couple of days through what they call a “Rigorous VAE Process” just because they can, under the jurisdiction and law of their respective county.
Friedrichstraße is one of the most famous streets in Berlin, personally I cannot imagine that this school has more than a mailbox there.
Ah, come on, there are such nice office spaces to rent there... https://rentofficetoday.com/de/b%C3%BCro-vermietung-berlin/all-berlin/friedrichstra%C3%9Fe_79/. Give them at least the credit that they might have an office there (if not a proper accreditation)!!
