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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the Texas American Muslim University at Dallas, arguing the Richardson school has been illegally offering academic degrees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chitose Suzuki\/TNS<\/p>\n
Texas Attorney General Ken\u00a0Paxton is suing the Texas American Muslim University at Dallas, arguing the Richardson school has been illegally offering academic degrees and “deceiving students.\u201d<\/p>\n
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On Monday, Paxton\u2019s office announced the lawsuit<\/a>, marking the latest legal challenge for the school, which advertised itself as the first university in the country to offer STEM degree programs with mandatory courses in Islamic studies. The school made headlines earlier this month after Gov. Greg Abbott said it was violating state law<\/a> by operating without proper authorization.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cTexAM has repeatedly disregarded Texas law, misrepresented its authority to grant degrees, and risked deceiving students about its legitimacy,\u201d Paxton said in a statement. \u201cMy office will not allow illegal, unaccredited degree mills to operate in Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n The school\u2019s founder told The Dallas Morning News on Monday that it stopped offering classes and ceased all operations last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n At Abbott\u2019s directive, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board ordered the school to cease advertising its programs and enrolling students earlier this month. The agency did not authorize the school to grant degrees, as required under state law.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Related: Gov. Abbott, higher ed agency order North Texas Muslim school to stop operations<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Shahid Bajwa, the school\u2019s founder and one of the plaintiffs in the suit, said officials complied with the coordinating board\u2019s May 6 order to halt operations<\/a> last week. The school\u2019s website and social media accounts have been deactivated.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not operating as a university and not offering degree courses,\u201d he said in a message Monday. \u201cThe THECB should have made the required announcement and \u2026 informed the attorney general\u2019s office.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board spokesperson RJ DeSilva confirmed Bajwa sent a letter to the agency on May 11, which said the school had \u201cceased operations and use of protected terms.\u201d<\/p>\n Texas A&M University System officials also recently threatened legal action against the school,<\/a> which branded itself as “TexAM University,” over alleged trademark infringement. University officials argued the school\u2019s similar branding could mislead the public into thinking there is a connection between the two institutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n