Federal agency suspends accreditation for The European University

The Federal Education and Science Supervision Agency has suspended academic accreditation for The European University at Saint Petersburg.

The agency has yet to give the exact reasons for the suspension, but it says the decision is based on the results of an audit it conducted.

The suspension of The European University at Saint Petersburg's accreditation is joined by series of other suspensions affecting the Tomsk Economics and Law Institute, the Amur Institute of Agroeconomy, and the High School of Performing Arts.

The European University at St. Petersburg was founded in 1994 with the active support of the first Mayor of St. Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak. In the late 1990s, the university received a grant from the Soros Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation. In 2015, these foundations were labelled as “undesirable” by the Russian government.

Even with the withdrawing or suspension of state accreditation, organizations may continue to operate and issue their own documentation. However, these documents will not be recognized by the Russian state.

Over a period of two years, Federal Education and Science Supervision Agency head Sergey Kravtsov oversaw the suspension of 800 university licenses due to violations of educational standards and legislation.

Update: European University has issued statement clarifying that its accreditation was suspended as a formality, following the discovery of several violations in the school's procedures (including its admission rules, teaching materials, and so on). The university has one month to correct the violations, after which time it expects to regain its state accreditation. It calls the suspension “common practice.”