The B.C. government is shutting down another private post-secondary school for overseas students in Vancouver. Lansbridge University is the second educational facility owned by Vancouver businessman Michael Lo to be ordered closed in the past few months.

Last fall, Lo's Kingston College was shut down for illegally offering degrees, which prompted some foreign governments to warn their students about going to school in B.C.

At that point, B.C. Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell ordered an inspection to see if Lansbridge University was meeting provincial standards.

"The inspector that I sent in said that they were not meeting these requirements, and we have very strict requirements, if you are going to call yourself a university in British Columbia.

"They didn't meet the requirements that they had said they would, so I am closing them as of May 1."

Coell noted that Lansbridge had had two years to meet those standards, set out in the province's Degree Authorization Act.

They include the school's advertising of its programs, the information it supplied to the degree-quality assessment board, financial security and students' financial obligations.

A liaison officer will help the 100 students at Lansbridge transfer to other schools.

New regulations coming

Coell also said his ministry is working on new regulations for the province's 500 private colleges and universities.

NDP critic Rob Fleming said it may be too late, as the deregulation of the sector has already damaged the province's reputation overseas.

"Unfortunately, every degree that is issued in B.C. has to come under the microscope, and has come under the critical eye of governments like China and India," said the Victoria MLA.

"You know, our ability to attract international students has been put in jeopardy by the deregulation experiment."