My letter to Barcelona Reporter - written anonymously for fear of reprisal - is a follow-up to an article which appeared on the Erasmus Magazine website on 10/01/2006: ‘Campus turned out to be just one tiny room’ | http://www.erasmusmagazine.nl/default.aspx?artID=2463. The article refers to the experiences of a Roger van Daalen, a student at the Barcelona Business School (BBS). The article begins:

“EUR student Roger van Daalen was almost taken for a ride by a Spanish Business School that offers worthless diplomas for lots of money.

Roger van Daalen: “I’m in my last year of business studies and want to do a master’s abroad. As I like Spain I decided to look for a business school there. Through the internet I came across the Barcelona Business School (BBS). It looked reliable, and even the RSM was mentioned on the website of the organization that approved the BBS.”

Van Daalen decided to book a ticket to Barcelona to visit the institute in November before paying the €10,500 tuition fee (for one year). The day before his departure he decided to look into what the course offered and Googled the name of the director of the BBS, Freddy Kirschstein. He came across websites on which Kirschstein was accused of fraud. Van Daalen: “Then I realized that there was something fishy about the Barcelona Business School.””

Another website/blog, Cyborg's Contemplative Corner, also has information relating to Freddy Kirschstein: ‘Information Pertaining to IIPM’ | http://thalassamikra.blogspot.com/2005/10/information-pertaining-to-iipm.html. The article, an ‘exposé’ if you like, says:

“A number of blogs have pointed out that the websites of the International Management Institute, the Barcelona Business School, and the European Business Management School look suspiciously similiar. Well one reason is the fact that all of these websites are designed by the same man. His name is Thierry Kirschstein and this is his website.

Not only that the Dean of the International Management Institute and the Director of the Barcelona Business School are the same person, someone by the name of Freddy Kirschstein. He also happens to be the Dean of the Global Business Academy, also based in Antwerp. This Global Business Academy also features in the list of websites designed by Thierry Kirschstein.”

I am writing in a personal capacity to let others know of my own experiences at BBS. Forgive me for the length of the letter.

I am a student at BBS from a developing country and have been appalled at the situation here. Having already paid my tuition in good faith, I have little choice but to see the BBS program through to completion. All instructors are part-time, few are well-prepared, many are clearly incompetent. The school claims it offers five specialties, but actually is barely able to provide coursework for two. The school website, I feel, is grossly misleading. The first sentence of the opening webpage states, "As one of Europe’s leading, privately held international business schools, Barcelona Business School is internationally renowned for our practical approach to contemporary business and management education." BBS is not "renowned" for anything and is largely unknown even in Barcelona, where what reputation it has - I’ve heard - is terrible. It is hardly one of Europe’s leading international business schools. The entire "campus" consists of two classrooms and a computer room in an old residential building. There is only one full-time staff person to manage the entire school of about 70 students. The lack of anything approaching proper administrative staffing results in a situation of perpetual managerial chaos.

The school is not accredited by any internationally recognized accreditation body. Although the school’s owner claims to be interested in obtaining accreditation, all student inquiries about the status of accreditation efforts are met with evasion. All MBA classes are three hours long and meet once a week for five weeks and are supposed to be equivalent to a 15 or 20 week class in a normal MBA program. This is utter nonsense. The short time allotted for each subject barely makes possible the most superficial coverage of highly complex issues with the result that even a well-intentioned instructor cannot hope to do justice to the material that should be covered.

I believe the school operates in violation of many Spanish laws. For example, the school does not even employ a full-time receptionist to answer the telephone or receive visitors. Instead, the owner gives modest discounts on "tuition" to full-time students to work as a receptionist and do other work. In other words, the students receive no salary, no income is reported and no contractual protections exist for cooperating students. Hours and rate of discount are unilaterally set by Mr. Kirschtein and are often very unfair to individual students. From what I have gathered from talking to the part-time instructors, there are no written contracts, instructor payment is highly erratic and unpredictable and, as a student, I can see for myself that instructor turnover is very high. The best teachers soon discover that Mr. Kirschtein, the owner, has no interest whatsoever in maintaining academic standards, and quickly leave. Many of the remaining instructors are clearly unqualified to be teaching any subject at the MBA level and typically have no real expertise in the subject they are teaching. Many classes are a complete waste of time, in my opinion, and contain virtually no substance whatsoever. The computers in use at the school are underpowered, extremely out of date and do not function well most of the time.

Many students from developing countries are exploited by Mr. Kirschstein and treated little better than indentured servants. If they cannot pay tuition, they are asked to assume time-consuming and onerous workloads that greatly interfere with their studies. If they object to the arrangement after they have agreed to do some work for the school, Mr. Kirschtein threatens to revoke their student status and report them to Spanish immigration. The situation is out of control.

Mr. Kirschtein runs BBS like his own private empire. He issues edicts to students and instructors without any consultation, changes course schedules without notice: I find him to be haughty, boorish, inaccessible, rude and condescending. He brooks no criticism, even if meant to be constructive, and is known to be extremely vindictive and harsh in the treatment of students who object to his gross mismanagement of the school.

It is primarily for this reason that I must submit this email anonymously for if I were to give you my real name, Mr. Kirschtein would have me thrown out of the school as soon as he discovered my identity. Losing my enrolment at BBS, I would then lose my eligibility for my student visa and would have to leave the country. Thus, in writing you this email, I am taking a great risk.

Mr. Kirschtein must be exposed. I am not alone in having these sentiments. Most of the students here are totally fed up with his mercantile, money-oriented, selfish management of what we thought was supposed to be a genuine educational institution. The others, however, are afraid to come forward for fear of Mr. Kirschtein’s retaliation. As I said earlier, the man is obsessively vindictive and has already retaliated against other students who took a stand against his misrepresentations and abusive management.

My family and I have made great sacrifices in my home country to save the money to come to Barcelona and attend this school. We thought it was a genuine business school with accreditation. We are not rich like many BBS students who come here to pass a nice time in Barcelona. So, imagine my disappointment and shock when I came here and discovered the "school" consists of a couple of rundown, poorly maintained rooms in an old building on an obscure side street in Barcelona. His would have been bearable if the classes had been worthwhile, but with only a few exceptions they are generally a complete waste of time and money.