BOSTON (Legal Newsline) — A Chinese man is suing UMass-Amherst, alleging it tricked him into thinking a degree from there would be recognized by his home country.
Haifeng Chen filed a complaint Oct. 19 in Suffolk County Superior Court against Shorelight-UM Global LLC, doing business as UMass Amherst Global (UMAG), Shorelight Education and University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), alleging fraud and other claims.
Chen, a Chinese national and former student and graduate of UMass, claims when he was not accepted into the defendants' Master of Science full residency program in November of 2018, the defendants encouraged him to enroll in their "1 + 1 Program" option, which did not require full-time residency in the U.S.
He claims he was told the program would be verified by the Chinese Ministry of Education and that he would earn the same Masters of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering degree as offered by UMass Amherst and that the program had classrooms in both Beijing and Shanghai.
Chen further claims he paid $50,681 in tuition, began coursework in the Spring of 2019, graduated in May of 2020 and returned to China to seek employment. He alleges the Chinese Ministry of Education informed him his degree did not qualify for verification due to the remote coursework and that he was fired from his job in China.
Chen seeks monetary relief, interest, trial by jury and all other just relief. He is represented by Tristan Colangelo of Kerstein, Coren & Lichenstein LLP in Wellesley.