Texas orders Muslim university in Dallas to shut down
Texas officials have ordered a Muslim university in the Dallas area to shut down after accusing the school of illegally offering degree programs without state approval.
In a May 6 letter sent to TexAM University at Dallas, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board said that the entity "must immediately cease advertising, offering, and enrolling students in degrees or programs of study until it has applied for and been granted a Certificate of Authority."
The letter alleged that TexAM University at Dallas "is operating a ‘university’ that ‘offer[s] STEM degree programs’ both online and ‘at the Richardson campus.’"
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board wrote that, following a review, it found that TexAM is not compliant with Texas laws and regulations.
"TexAM’s advertising and postings via its website indicate that your entity publicly holds itself out as offering in the State of Texas STEM degree programs, including a master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence and admissions to bachelor’s degree programs in computer science, IT, cybersecurity, and health informatics," the letter read.
On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that he was suing TexAM University at Dallas for "unlawfully presenting itself as a university, offering degrees it is not authorized to grant, and misleading prospective students about its legitimacy."
In a press release, Paxton said that TexAM University at Dallas also "adopted branding and a name ‘confusingly similar’ to Texas A&M University."
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"TexAM has repeatedly disregarded Texas law, misrepresented its authority to grant degrees, and risked deceiving students about its legitimacy," Paxton said. "My office will not allow illegal, unaccredited degree mills to operate in Texas."
In their letter, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board said that by May 8, TexAM University at Dallas was required to sign an attached letter and return it to the agency confirming the entity had ceased its offerings.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Shahid A. Bajwa, founder and chairman of the board of trustees at Texas American Muslim Institute for Technology said, "We just learned that Attorney General's office has filed Lawsuit for non-compliance. They sued our Institute and personally me, along with two other Members/Directors of the Non-Profit corporation, for $1 Million. We fail to understand how the following facts of compliance were overlooked and not even mentioned in the Lawsuit. Still, we are ready to discuss and resolve any misunderstanding."
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Regarding the letter from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Bajwa said, "We have already complied with the instructions of THECB Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and sent by email in writing to them as required on May 11. The deadline was extended by THECB. We are not operating as a "University" and not using the name "University," and not offering Degree programs and degree courses, as required by them. We had not charged any Fee from the students."
He also said that the entity has taken down their website and social media accounts.
In terms of the similarity of the entity’s name to Texas A&M University, Bajwa said, "Texas A&M University has given us a deadline to comply and stop using our Brand Name "TexAM" as they suspected it's creating confusion, supposedly, due to some similarity. We are looking into it and will be able to communicate back to them accordingly."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and Paxton for comment but did not immediately receive responses.