A group of Saudi students claim that they have been preyed upon by a fake university functioning in an upmarket district in Jeddah. The management of the fake university has succeeded in luring hundreds of students by promising them everything under the sun including bachelor degrees in rare specializations, the students allege. Muhammed Al-Tewaini, one of the victims who enrolled in the fake university, said the US university based in London has a website through which it ensnares unsuspecting students, pointing out that the university maintains an office in one of the upmarket districts in Jeddah to collect tuition fees from students. He said that the office serves as a connection between the university and students completing admissions formalities and arranging all academic matters, pointing out that by means of this office the university collects a very large amount of money in tuition fees. Al-Tewaini said the fees are determined according to the course; thus, students enrolled in the bachelor program are charged less than those enrolled in the master's and doctoral programs. He said that he was surprised by the superficial standard of the subjects taught by the so-called university and added, “It was too late when we found out what was really going on, as the university's registrar in Jeddah then denied any relationship with the university. We then learned that the degrees the university awards are unrecognized.” Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, another student, said, “We were surprised to find out that the university is not accredited by either the United States or the British Consulates in Jeddah as it is not actually accredited in either of those countries. When the students found out that the university was not accredited, they asked for a refund of their money, but their request was denied, said Al-Tewaini. The university's president in the Kingdom, who is a well-known academic, denied the students' allegations that the university was fake pointing out that the degrees the university awards are recognized worldwide. He also denied that he had promised the students that the university and its degrees were recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education and the government of Saudi Arabia.
