Law & Politics
Former Students Sue NYU Over Singapore Art School ‘Educational Scam’
Complaints include breach of contract and false advertising.
Caroline Elbaor
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Citing themselves as victims of an “educational scam,” three former NYU Tisch Asia students have filed a class-action suit against New York University (NYU). The school, was which was located in Singapore, closed its doors after eight years of operation, in 2015.
The trio claims they paid sky-high tuition and fees—totaling between $100,000 and $165,000—while receiving low-grade education, especially when compared to their counterparts at the Tisch location on NYU’s New York City campus.
The lawsuit, which was filed in New York last month, includes several complaints, including breach of contract and false advertising.
“One of the professors did not know how to use a modern camera,” said one of the plaintiffs, according to Channel News Asia. Other complaints include the fact that students were taught outdated lighting procedures in cinematography classes, and that despite being promised a dramatic writing class with Singapore playwright Haresh Sharma at its helm, students were instead taught by a graduate of NYU Asia.
“When NYU decided to close Tisch Asia in 2012, it became abundantly clear to Tisch Asia students that they fell victim to an educational scam, that their program would never create a legacy,” say court documents. “And the hundreds of thousands of dollars they paid for education of far lower quality than provided by Tisch New York were not even remotely worth it.”
A representative for NYU, John Beckham, has quickly come to the university’s defense. In speaking with the New York Daily News, he described the suit as “wholly without merit,” adding that “we expect to prevail in court.”
“Many Tisch Asia courses were taught by New York-based faculty and all were taught by highly qualified faculty; students had excellent facilities and equipment; and graduates received a Tisch School of the Arts degree,” Beckham concluded.
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