The controversy centres on DTMD, which stands for Digital Technologies in Medicine and Dentistry. The school promoted part-time courses for professionals seeking specialisation, promising graduates an academic master’s degree upon completion.
However, as uncovered by investigations from German magazine Der Spiegel, DTMD had no official authorisation to confer such academic titles. Under Luxembourgish law, only recognised higher education institutions can award degrees such as Bachelor, Master, or Doctorate.
Instead, DTMD merely held an authorisation from the Ministry of the Economy to provide professional training, which is not equivalent to official university programmes.
Concerns about the legitimacy of DTMD’s academic titles first reached the Ministry of Higher Education in 2020. At the time, the response from the relevant minister, Stéphanie Obertin, was clear, as she underlined that the school had no right to issue diplomas under the titles Bachelor, Master, or Doctorate.
According to the legislation at the time, terms such as 'university', 'bachelor', 'master', or 'doctorate' were not protected, after which the law was adapted.
This legal change came into force on 15 September 2023, almost exactly three years later. The school was subsequently notified that it could no longer refer to itself as a university. Nevertheless, DTMD reportedly continued to issue invalid diplomas.
Obertin explained that her services had to wait until they got supporting evidence, which only happened in March or April this year. The ministry then filed a complaint with the public prosecutor, as the school was continuing to issue invalid diplomas.
Der Spiegel illustrates the impact of the scandal with the example of a woman who, alongside her work as a dentist, spent two years attending seminars in Frankfurt. In the end, she received a Master of Science in orthodontics that, in her own words, was “worth no more than a piece of toilet paper”, yet cost her €31,000.
For those affected, it remains unclear whether they will ever recover their money.
