Students file lawsuit against Polish ‘diploma mill’ university

Students at a private Polish university accused of issuing diplomas in exchange for “financial and personal benefits” have filed a class action lawsuit against the institution, stating that they have been unable to sit final exams, transfer to other institutions or receive grades or diplomas.

In February, Poland’s Central Anticorruption Bureau alleged that the former Collegium Humanum, which was renamed the University of Business and Applied Sciences Varsovia in June, had engaged in “illegal trade in diplomas”, with fast-track MBA degrees issued in exchange for money, employment opportunities and other benefits.

The university’s founder and former rector, Paweł Czarnecki, was arrested, accused of issuing more than 1,000 diplomas in exchange for more than one million złoty (£193,000). Times Higher Education has contacted the University of Business and Applied Sciences Varsovia for comment.

Under the right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS), which lost power last year, legislation was introduced that required those sitting on state company boards to hold certain credentials, with MBA degrees among the options. Founded in 2018, Collegium Humanum reportedly issued MBAs to politicians and government officials, among others, enabling them to secure board seats and other high-ranking positions.

Brought under government administration while the investigation proceeds, the university subsequently suspended activities including setting thesis defence dates and issuing diplomas, Poland’s commissioner for human rights said in a statement.

More than 700 students attempting to withdraw from the institution were charged a fee amounting to a month’s tuition, the commissioner said, while more than 2,000 were asked to pay tuition for the months between the university entering government administration and the date they withdrew from their course.

In response, the commissioner said, the prosecutor’s office and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education agreed that “actions will be taken to accelerate the resolution of the problematic situation and to eliminate the negative effects on people interested in obtaining documentation related to the education process”.

To date, 50 students have joined a class action lawsuit against the former Collegium Humanum, said legal adviser Jolanta Molska-Jerin, representing the students, of the law firm Kancelaria Radców Prawnych Molska-Jerin & Wspólnicy. “The described problems affect not hundreds but thousands,” she told Times Higher Education. “Students are hesitant to join the proceedings due to concerns about being unable to obtain documents that would allow them to transfer to another university or being unable to take final exams.”

Graduates of the university have faced professional repercussions including “termination of employment due to failure to present diplomas despite completing studies, lack of promotion, pay cuts due to lack of qualifications, and demands from institutions supporting and funding students for repayment of funds provided for studies”, Ms Molska-Jerin said. 

“The current situation has also led to ostracism due to studying at a university that has lost public trust and whose diplomas are officially questioned, including by state institutions,” she added. “This results in reputational damage, with many students experiencing issues such as depression or general health deterioration due to ongoing stress and uncertainty.”

“The students who joined the lawsuit no longer hope to continue their studies but wish to obtain documents enabling them to study at other universities or the diplomas that were not issued to them despite passing final exams,” Ms Molska-Jerin said. “They seek to recover their expenses and receive appropriate compensation for lost time and the harm suffered.”

 emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com