Knightsbridge University - Controversies

Controversies

There are a number of incidents reported in the news that involve use of Knightsbridge University degrees.

In 2000, Coleman Nyathi, an official of the South African province of Mpumalanga, was forced to resign after it was revealed that he had lied about his citizenship and that his academic credentials, including his Knightsbridge University doctoral degree in business administration, were "mail order" distance learning degrees from unaccredited institutions. Officials said that Knightsbridge and other universities where Nyathi had obtained degrees are not accredited in South Africa, so his degrees are useless in the country.

In another incident in 2006, Michael Meegan, the head of the Irish charity ICROSS in Africa, received negative attention when it was revealed that his claimed PhD in medical anthropology was not from an accredited university, but was from Knightsbridge University, described in the press as an institution "which trades from a Danish post office box." The situation was revealed after he applied to collaborate with Duke University on a proposed grant of $2.5 million from the US National Institutes of Health for a study of home care of HIV/AIDS, but did not disclose the source of his doctoral degree. He was dropped from the grant proposal when Duke learned that he did not hold a recognised degree.

In another incident in 2007, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis ( IUPUI) discovered that the university's Chief Engineer and Fire Protection Services Manager, Tom Hulse, had used a bachelor's degree from Knightsbridge to qualify for his job, which he had held since 2001. Interviewed by reporters, Hulse admitted knowing that his degree had no standing in the US. He said: "We know it's not an accredited school. It's not a secret." IUPUI expected to treat the case as an ethics violation.