Court overturns large fines against misleading education firms over missing screenshots
Thirteen educational institutions accused of misleading students about the degree they could obtain will not have to pay about 450,000 euros in fines, as investigators handling the case failed to take screenshots of websites and marketing material which could have proved the allegations. The highest administrative court in the Netherlands dismissed the penalties on appeal in a ruling published on Wednesday.
It has not been proven that the institutions involved conferred titles on their students without approval from the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO), according to the verdict from the Council of State's court branch. Further, there was no evidence submitted which demonstrated that the institutions made false claims.
The Council of State did not state which educational institutions were involved, however it appeared likely that the matter was linked to a 2022 report from the Education Inspectorate taking the adult education firm NCOI to task for offering programs using terms like "master," "professional master," or "executive master". Since then, the NCOI Group has been organized as the Salta Group.
"Based on the findings" in the report, "the Inspectorate concludes that between September 2017 and June 2021, the institution wrongfully awarded 435 degrees for professional master's and executive master's programs for which no NVAO accreditation existed," the Inspectorate wrote. This was in violation of the Higher Education Act," the report stated. The specific number of 435 degrees was also referenced in the lower court ruling that was appealed to the Council of State.
A master's title is a protected term, and only accredited institutions may award them. However, such words do not automatically make it a "master's degree" under the law, the Council of State ruled. It added that it is also not a criminal offense for others to get the impression that their training did lead to a master's title.
The institutions took the matter to the District Court for The Hague, which ruled in favor of the minister. They then lodged an appeal with the Council of State, the highest administrative court. The Council said that the inspectorate "failed to substantiate the findings with evidence." As a result, the minister "did not concretely and specifically record what was wrong and what has been improved," according to the Council.
The institutions were initially ordered to pay a combined total of approximately 470,000 euros. Former Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf imposed these fines two years after the Inspectorate's initial report, which determined that the situation had not sufficiently improved, and students still were not receiving clear information.
On June 26, 2023, the Ministry of Education issued fines against the institutions LOI, NCOI, NTI, Luzac, Scheidegger, Schoevers, SRM, Bestuursacademie Nederland, Tio, Pro Education, Boertien Vergouwen Overduin, ISBW, and Markus Verbeek Praehep. The highest fine, initially 207,250 euros, was for NCOI. This amount was later reduced to 194,000 euros.