Private educator faces new questions
Janet Steffenhagen

Vancouver Sun
October 16, 2006

Authorities launch fresh probes into businessman's university and ads for Nigeria school

The province has launched two more investigations into the private-education empire of prominent businessman Michael Lo -- this time focusing on his new Lansbridge University in Vancouver and false advertisements about a new high school planned for Nigeria.

The investigations by the B.C. Advanced Education and Education ministries coincide with a regulatory body's inquiry into Kingston College, another Lo holding recently accused of illegally offering degrees in B.C. from the unaccredited American University in London and Armstrong University in California.

Kingston College's registration was suspended earlier this month until the Private Career Training Institutions Agency (PCTIA), which sets standards for career-training institutions, completes its investigation and makes a report, expected this week.

The schools are part of the Kingston Education Group, owned by Lo and his partner Queenie Tin, and offering online and traditional education opportunities in Canada and around the world, catering mainly to Asian students.

Until the Kingston College investigation began earlier this month, Lo was on the PCTIA board and was head of quality assurance. He was also an organizer for the B.C. Liberals and a member of an influential committee that advises Premier Gordon Campbell on Chinese community issues.

The government rescinded his appointment to the PCTIA board, and Lo resigned as political adviser.

The controversy about Kingston Education Group, which Lo purchased in 2001 from an Ottawa software company, is a concern to B.C.'s public university professors, who earlier called on the government to suspend Lansbridge's operations until the Kingston investigation is complete.

"We simply cannot understand why the B.C. government is allowing Michael Lo to operate any educational business in this province," Robert Clift, executive director of the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of B.C., said Sunday.

"The man has demonstrated that he does not meet the basic tests of credibility and character we expect of an educator. Yet the government allows him to continue to operate a high school and university in this province."

Kingston College came into the spotlight in early October when four students from India complained they had enrolled in 2002 and 2003 and spent $15,000 on tuition based on a promise they would finish their program with a master's degree from American University in London (AUL) or Armstrong University in California.

They completed their studies months ago but were told in September that Kingston had severed ties with AUL.

When the students subsequently discovered that Kingston was not authorized to offer such degrees in B.C., they complained to PCTIA and provided copies of their correspondence with the college to The Vancouver Sun.

The province says it warned Kingston College twice -- in 2001 and in 2004 -- to sever ties with AUL, which isn't an accredited university and has been fined in the United Kingdom for misleading students.

In an interview, Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell said he thought Kingston had complied.

The investigation into Lansbridge, meanwhile, began after two students complained about the university's handling of scholarships and refunds, a ministry spokesman said. He refused to give details, citing confidentiality concerns.

Lansbridge is one of a handful of private universities with specific approval to offer degrees in B.C. An additional nine universities have approval until April 2007, at which time they are to be reassessed.

The Education Ministry said last week it does not have concerns about two high schools that Kingston Education Group operates in China -- Grand Canadian Academy in Nanjing and Maodun High School in Tongxiang. Both have ministry approval to teach the B.C. curriculum and award graduates a B.C. certificate known as the Dogwood.

But spokeswoman Corinna Filion said the ministry is investigating a Kingston advertisement on the Internet -- which had disappeared by Sunday -- for a school in Lagos, Nigeria. The advertisement said the school has "all the requirements" to meet B.C. Education Ministry standards and issues Dogwood certificates upon graduation.

In an e-mail response to a Sun inquiry about the ad, Filion stated: "There is no school in Lagos certified by the ministry to offer Dogwoods. The ministry is investigating this ad."

John Silver, the Kingston contact listed in the advertisement, could not be reached Sunday for comment.

Kingston Education Group isn't the only private post-secondary institution creating concerns for the government. Last March, B.C. officials warned Rutherford University to stop advertising itself itself as a B.C. university or face the consequences. The institution replied two months later that "it does not now, nor will it in the future, solicit or enrol students in B.C.," the ministry said.

Yet as of Friday, Rutherford was still promoting itself as a B.C. university on its website and inviting students to visit "the university's administration offices in Richmond, British Columbia."

The ministry did not respond to questions Friday about the contradiction. As well, the ministry said it commenced legal proceedings in August 2004 against Vancouver University Worldwide on the grounds it does not have legal authority to operate as a B.C. university. But a university spokesman said the action appears to be dormant.

Clift said it is "blatantly obvious" that laws governing post-secondary education are incapable of protecting students.

"Unless the government moves to deal with this deficiency in the spring sitting of the legislature, we might as well just hang out a sign inviting the degree mills to come and rip off British Columbians," he added.

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