Director questioned about dubious US doctoral degree

Nguyen Ngoc An obtained a doctorate from a US university, but he cannot speak English.

VnnNews – Nguyen Ngoc An, Director of the Department for Culture, Sports and Tourism in Phu Tho province, obtained a doctorate from a US university, but he cannot speak English.

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Many people in Phu Tho province were surprised when, at a xoan (traditional opera) contest, An was introduced as “Dr. Nguyen Ngoc An”. Residents thought he only had a bachelor’s degree.

An stated that he received a doctoral degree after successfully defending his dissertation on “Cultural inheritance and the Development of the Economy and Tourism in Phu Tho Province.”

He went on to explain that he had been interested in this topic for a long time, but could only begin research when he was appointed as the Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The Economics Institute under the Ministry of Finance, he added, introduced him to Southern Pacific University (SPU), which in turn allowed him to study and granted him a Ph.D.

An studied at the university from February 2007 to September 2009, flying twice to the US for study (one week for each time). He listened to lectures via an interpreter, who also helped him defend his dissertation.

According to An, he mainly taught himself with SPU materials, which were written in Vietnamese, and CDs. SPU did not require postgraduates to speak English.

Saigon Tiep Thi reporters spoke with a leader of Phu Tho province about An’s PhD degree, who asked to remain anonymous. He confirmed that An’s degree is real, but remarked that problems existed. Under current regulations, postgraduates must have good foreign language skills to allow them to read study materials.

The reporters tried to discover the truth behind the degree and met with Nguyen Ngoc An. He confirmed that he studied at SPU, located in New York City. When asked to show his doctoral degree certificate, An refused.

“I studied at the university under the mode of distant learning via the Internet,” he maintained.

Saigon Tiep Thi has discovered that SPU was one of 50 universities that had to shut down in October 2003 after a verdict by a Hawaiian court. SPU degrees are not recognized in the US.

There is a real university with similar name, The University of South Pacific, in Fiji.

When reporters asked An where he studied, in Fiji or in the US, An responded that “Maybe the university where I studied in New York is just a branch.”

An revealed that the total cost of his degree was $17.000. When asked about his the number and origin of his study peers, he estimated that there were “Nine or ten people. They were from Hanoi and Thai Nguyen.” 

When asked for the web address for the official website of his university, An stated: “I don’t remember.”

Source: Sai gon tiep thi

Tags: In Phu Tho, In Phu Tho Province, Phu Tho, Phu Tho Province, The University, Tho Province, Physics games

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