SMC name change to Signum Magnum College - Free MBA?!

[bjcheung77]

There was a post on the sister board, SMC seems to have 'upgraded' their brand and changed names...
Interesting, I think the signup has to come from SMC and not directly from Transknowlogy...

I recall reading and researching SMC previously, they had no accreditation I believe...
Having said that, they seem to have updated everything and now accredited by Malta!

Here's their 'freebie' link: https://smceducation.com/free-mba/
Their accreditation link: https://smceducation.com/government-accr...e-college/

Am I reading that correctly? They've got some things showing 'properly' online.
But the links to the Transknowlogy points to a price, not a 'freebie'. More research needed...

You can search on this and the sister board for more info on SMC Education / Swiss Management Center
Link: https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?thr...ege.62830/

[armado]

Are they change the accreditation to Malta, not related to Swiss anymore ?

[bjcheung77]

Well, they never really had Swiss accreditation, the Swiss accreditation was like ENEB, recognized as a course provider but wasn't recognized by the Ministry of Education. Last year, they've upgraded and became accredited in Malta... Post #16 of this older thread that got bumped up: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Very-Cheap

[lincolnlawyer]

The freebie sounds like a propio to me, except for some reason they managed to bring in individual courses from RA institutions in the US to make the credits seem more legitimate.

I don’t know how I feel about this - this sounds like the HAU MBA where the institution is accredited but the program is not. If Maltese regulations require individual programs to be accredited, this would be a red flag as Malta isn’t exactly known for being a part of the titulo propio tradition…

[MrPanda]

Programs in Malta are required to be accredited:

"List of Licensed Providers and Accredited Programmes
In accordance with Subsidiary Legislation 607.03 Licensing, Accreditation and Quality Assurance, MFHEA is to maintain a register of accredited further and higher educational institutions in Malta. This register includes details information of the education providers licensed by MFHEA
The register shall also give information on the accredited programmes offered by the licensed institution. The register will consist of both homegrown courses which are courses provided by licensed education providers accredited through MFHEA and shall also include foreign awarded programme provided by licensed providers."

https://mfhea.mt/list-of-licensed-provid...rogrammes/

The Free MBA is not accredited:

"Is the Transknowlogy MBA accredited?


While the programs includes courses for credit from leading universities, including IESE, University of Colorado (Boulder), Univerista Bocconi, University of Illinois, Copenhagen Business School, and University of Minnesota, the program itself is not an accredited degree program. Courses of the program are for credit and may be transfered to other institutions."

https://smceducation.com/free-online-mba/

[bjcheung77]

Yes, the Transknowlogy MBA is not accredited, I think they're just doing a 'sample/simple Mini MBA' type of thing to get people interested in their joint programs.  Even though SMC indicates there are no charges or fees for the partnership, but I think if you just go Transknowlogy directly, there is a cost involved as per their webpage...  I'm still curious about their other programs though, from Bachelors to PhD level, would those be considered 'accredited' in Malta, fully by the government.

I did a search on Malta Qualifications Database and they do show up properly as "Full".  Having said that, the date shows as ending 08/2024...  
I wonder if they're going to update that or not, be diligent and only apply after it's updated. See below for link to search and details by copy/paste:
Link: https://qualifications.mfhea.gov.mt/#/in...earch=true

Licensed Institutions
Signum Magnum College (SMC) (prev. SMC Education Group)
License Number:
2019-014
Name of Head:
Dr Aleksandar Novakovic
License Category:
Higher Education Institution
License Status:
Full
License Period:
08/2019 - 08/2024
Website:
https://smceducation.com/
Office Address:
Signum Magnum College (SMC), Portomaso Business Centre, Portomaso, St Julians, Malta , PTM 01
Comments:
Referred to as SMC Education Group Limited until October 2021. Referred to as SMC Education Group until 18th March 2023.

[cacoleman1983]

Programs in Malta are required to be accredited:

"List of Licensed Providers and Accredited Programmes
In accordance with Subsidiary Legislation 607.03 Licensing, Accreditation and Quality Assurance, MFHEA is to maintain a register of accredited further and higher educational institutions in Malta. This register includes details information of the education providers licensed by MFHEA
The register shall also give information on the accredited programmes offered by the licensed institution. The register will consist of both homegrown courses which are courses provided by licensed education providers accredited through MFHEA and shall also include foreign awarded programme provided by licensed providers."

https://mfhea.mt/list-of-licensed-provid...rogrammes/

The Free MBA is not accredited:

"Is the Transknowlogy MBA accredited?


While the programs includes courses for credit from leading universities, including IESE, University of Colorado (Boulder), Univerista Bocconi, University of Illinois, Copenhagen Business School, and University of Minnesota, the program itself is not an accredited degree program. Courses of the program are for credit and may be transfered to other institutions."

https://smceducation.com/free-online-mba/

This is interesting.  The Transknowlogy MBA sounds like a propio degree because it is offered by SMC education but the program itself is not recognized by the country's ministry.  Foreign credential evaluators will likely evaluate this degree in the same way as ENEB or give it an unaccredited program designation.   They named it how they did because it is designed to be a transfer credit program.