In a serious escalation of concerns surrounding Loyola College, Chennai, a fresh formal complaint has been submitted to the University Grants Commission (UGC), Ministry of Education, University of Madras, and other authorities, including the French Embassy in Bharat. As per the Communemag, the complaint, filed by A.S. Santhosh, General Secretary of the Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF), alleges that Loyola College is conducting an unapproved international diploma program in filmmaking in collaboration with Don Bosco International Media Academy (DBIMA), Paris, thereby violating multiple provisions of Bharatiya education regulations and endangering the futures of participating students.
The program in question, “Diploma in Filmmaking (AI), France,” has been aggressively marketed by Loyola College as a prestigious dual certification course involving eight months of training at the institution’s Department of Visual Communications in Chennai, followed by a one-month final project in Paris at DBIMA. According to the information publicly available on Loyola’s official website as well as DBIMA’s own portal, this course is designed to issue two certificates: one from Loyola College and another from DBIMA, Paris. Students have reportedly paid ₹15–20 lakhs each to enroll in this program, lured by promises of international exposure and high-value certification.
However, the entire framework of the program now stands exposed as fundamentally flawed and potentially fraudulent. An official RTI response from the University of Madras (Ref: PIO/RTI/2024/219 dated 21st March 2025) confirms that no affiliation, approval, or official academic linkage exists between Loyola College and DBIMA. There is no university-level recognition for this diploma, nor has any foreign collaboration been registered or approved in connection with the course. This directly contravenes the University Grants Commission’s 2022 Regulations on Academic Collaboration between Bharat and Foreign Higher Educational Institutions. Under the UGC’s legal framework, such collaborations are strictly subject to institutional and regulatory approvals, which Loyola has evidently bypassed.
In particular, Loyola College has flouted key rules under these UGC regulations. It has failed to obtain approval from its own management and affiliating university for initiating the international diploma, thereby breaching Sections 4.1 and 4.2, which mandate prior consent from statutory bodies and relevant professional councils for foreign collaborations. More glaring is the violation of Rule 5.2, which stipulates that the partnering foreign institution must be listed among the top 1000 universities globally in QS or Times Higher Education rankings. DBIMA, Paris, does not figure in any such international academic rankings, disqualifying it from eligibility for such partnerships under Bharatiya law.
Beyond the academic violations, a deeper and more alarming concern raised in the complaint pertains to possible abuse of international student visa channels. Since the program lacks formal recognition and violates UGC norms, students who have been sent to France as part of this program may have obtained their student visas under false or misleading documentation. This opens the door to serious consequences: French immigration authorities could revoke student visas or initiate deportation, and affected students could face long-term restrictions or blacklisting for future visa applications to any country. The risk is not merely administrative; it is a potential life-altering event for these students, many of whom invested their savings and aspirations in a program that now stands on illegitimate foundations.
The financial and academic damage is equally staggering. Each of the seven students sent abroad in the first batch reportedly paid between ₹15–20 lakhs to Loyola College, assuming they were joining a legitimate, UGC-compliant international diploma. Now, with the RTI confirmation that no such program has been authorized or affiliated, these students face not only educational disqualification but also the threat of losing their financial investments and encountering immigration hurdles that could ruin their global career opportunities.
This development comes on the heels of another damning complaint filed by LRPF in March 2025, in which the organization demanded the revocation of Loyola College’s autonomous status over alleged academic fraud and repeated violation of affiliation norms. The latest revelation regarding the France diploma appears to be part of a larger pattern of unregulated and potentially fraudulent academic conduct by Loyola College, raising urgent questions about the institution’s governance and its adherence to Bharatiya higher education laws.
LRPF, in its current complaint, has demanded swift and exemplary action from UGC and the Ministry of Education. It calls for a formal inquiry into Loyola College’s conduct, immediate penal action under Section 14 of the UGC Act, and public notification declaring the program non-compliant with national academic regulations. The organization has also requested engagement with the French Embassy to safeguard the interests of the students, ensure proper visa status rectification, and initiate reimbursement for the affected candidates.
As the higher education community watches closely, this case stands as a critical test of regulatory enforcement. If unchecked, such unauthorized programs can erode the trust of students and parents, disrupt international relations, and tarnish Bharat’s reputation in the global education landscape.
