Washington Post to buy Intercollege?
The Don | 23.01.2005 21:22 | London | World
FED UP waiting for parliament to decide on whether to allow local colleges to be accredited as universities, Intercollege is considering selling a big stake in the college to an American consortium, believed to include the Washington Post.
Nicos Peristianis, the dean of Intercollege was not available to confirm the reports but the college director Nicos Nicolaou confirmed that discussions were going on. “I am not involved myself but I believe the Washington Post is part of a group doing this,” he told the Cyprus Mail. The agreement would be the first of its kind in Cyprus.
All private higher educational institutions in Cyprus, other than the Cyprus University, are currently considered colleges according to tertiary education law. The term 'university' can only be used if the Education Minister is satisfied that the institutions fulfil certain criteria. But the criteria had never been specified which left a gap in the law.
Proposed legislation allows private institutions to submit proposals, with the objective of proving they fulfil the set criteria necessary to graduate from colleges to universities.
The law is still with parliament and the criteria has still not been established although the situation at present allows private institutions to award graduate and postgraduate degrees without being given the opportunity to be recognised as universities
Intercollege offers Degree programmes accredited by local European and American Accreditation Bodies.
Locally, Intercollege has 57 academic programmes accredited by the Cyprus Council for Educational Accreditation (SEKAP), the accrediting arm of the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture.
It is also an extension campus of the University of Indianapolis, which is accredited by the North Central Association (NCA) to offer undergraduate and graduate degree programmes from the School of Business and the College of Arts and Sciences at Intercollege.
“The accreditation issue has been under discussion for years,” said Nicolaou. “Parliament has promised to reach a decision before the next academic year.”
In statements published in Phileleftheros Peristianis said he would prefer not to use the word “selling” but preferred to call the move “a cooperation with a foreign investor”.
But he said no final decision would be made until he has met President Tassos Papadopoulos.
"We want to hear the position of the government with regard to in the prospects for growth of third-level education in Cyprus,” said Peristianis. He said if the government was ready to accredit the private colleges, the deal would likely not go ahead.
If in the event it did, Peristianis said Intercollege would seek guarantees that the American consortium would not exercise any control over academic issues, although he mentioned that it intended to invest in some new programmes such as a medical school.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2004
All private higher educational institutions in Cyprus, other than the Cyprus University, are currently considered colleges according to tertiary education law. The term 'university' can only be used if the Education Minister is satisfied that the institutions fulfil certain criteria. But the criteria had never been specified which left a gap in the law.
Proposed legislation allows private institutions to submit proposals, with the objective of proving they fulfil the set criteria necessary to graduate from colleges to universities.
The law is still with parliament and the criteria has still not been established although the situation at present allows private institutions to award graduate and postgraduate degrees without being given the opportunity to be recognised as universities
Intercollege offers Degree programmes accredited by local European and American Accreditation Bodies.
Locally, Intercollege has 57 academic programmes accredited by the Cyprus Council for Educational Accreditation (SEKAP), the accrediting arm of the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture.
It is also an extension campus of the University of Indianapolis, which is accredited by the North Central Association (NCA) to offer undergraduate and graduate degree programmes from the School of Business and the College of Arts and Sciences at Intercollege.
“The accreditation issue has been under discussion for years,” said Nicolaou. “Parliament has promised to reach a decision before the next academic year.”
In statements published in Phileleftheros Peristianis said he would prefer not to use the word “selling” but preferred to call the move “a cooperation with a foreign investor”.
But he said no final decision would be made until he has met President Tassos Papadopoulos.
"We want to hear the position of the government with regard to in the prospects for growth of third-level education in Cyprus,” said Peristianis. He said if the government was ready to accredit the private colleges, the deal would likely not go ahead.
If in the event it did, Peristianis said Intercollege would seek guarantees that the American consortium would not exercise any control over academic issues, although he mentioned that it intended to invest in some new programmes such as a medical school.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2004
The Don