§ Mr. StrawTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will place in the Library copies of all correspondence from and to the Middle States Association in respect of the proposed MBA course at Richmond college, or from third parties relating thereto.
§ Mr. MacGregorSubject to the agreement of the two sides concerned, I will send a copy of the relevant letter to the hon. Member.
The hon. Member's concern about this correspondence arises, I believe, from a misunderstanding of the significance of designation of this MBA as an award recognised for the purpose of the relevant section of the Education Reform Act 1988. That purpose is to end the trade in "bogus" United Kingdom degrees. Richmond college's MBA is an American degree. It has been designated because the college, which is based solely in this country, is a United Kingdom institution. Its MBA could thus be taken to be a United Kingdom degree: it could therefore innocently fall foul of the unrecognised degree legislation, and run the risk of prosecution under Section 214(1) of the Education Reform Act 1988. The college could not seek accreditation of the MBA through the Council for National Academic Awards or a United Kingdom university, which would have given it protection by making it a United Kingdom degree, because it would then have lost its accreditation from the American Commission of Higher Education of Middle States Schools and Colleges.