Degrees from Lebanese private universities: the Ministry of Higher Education suspends study at three universities and recalls its cultural attache in Beirut for investigation (2021)

In November 2021 Lebanese, Kuwaiti and Gulf media reported that Lebanese private universities had sold postgraduate degrees to Iraqi students, many of whom studied remotely during the pandemic; the figures given were 27,000 degrees, USD 5,000 for a master's degree and USD 10,000 for a doctorate. Iraq's Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research suspended the study of Iraqi students at three Lebanese universities, the Modern University for Business and Science, the Islamic University of Lebanon and Jinan University, saying they did not meet academic standards. Its spokesman said the cultural attache in Beirut, Hashem al-Shammari, had been called to Baghdad for investigation, because following students abroad was at the core of his duties. An Iraqi official told AFP that the figure of 27,000 was not reliable and that about 6,000 of the 13,800 Iraqi students in Lebanon were at the three universities. Lebanese media reported that the Islamic University dismissed its president and four heads of department. Al Jazeera reported doubts about higher degrees obtained abroad by senior officials; no official finding against a named official is on record.