Unaccredited/non-recognised institutions

The following information applies to "Knightsbridge University", "Green Hills University", "Arab Open University" and "Northwestern International University, Ltd.", which for some time had an address in Denmark, and it may also apply to other companies.

They are not officially recognised as Danish educational institutions. Furthermore, the "degrees" or other titles that they offer do not correspond to any qualification within the Danish education system.

In Denmark, publicly financed educational institutions receive their authority to award credentials from the Ministry responsible for the field of education in question. The companies mentioned are not publicly financed educational institutions.

Private institutions without public funding may operate legally without approval or accreditation by Danish authorities. However, if they want to make their students eligible for state study grants they must abide by an accreditation procedure. The companies mentioned do not have such approval for state study grants.

The university title is protected

In Denmark, the title of "universitet", the equivalent term in other languages and their abbreviations may be used only by universities under the Universities Act and by institutions authorised to use the title under other Danish legislation. Some educational and research institutions that are recognised by foreign law or international law, etc., are not covered by the ban.

The ban applies only where the term university is part of an institution's title or name, etc. and the institution is engaged in activities that are likely to be confused with education and university activities. For example, the ban will not affect a café with the name "University Café".

The protection of the university title is laid down in the University Act (section 33 a), which is administered by the Danish University and Property Agency.

This provision entered into force on 1 July 2010. However, institutions that were using the term university, etc., on 1 July 2010 and that are covered by the ban must cease using the term by 1 July 2015.