The Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano (University of the People of Milan) is an

unaccredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

diploma mill using the word ''university'' in its name, located in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy.

Ambiguity of the name

The "Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano" is not to be confused with the

Università degli Studi di Milano The University of Milan ( it, Università degli Studi di Milano; la, Universitas Studiorum Mediolanensis), known colloquially as UniMi or Statale, is a public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe ...

, which is one of the most important accredited Italian universities, or with the "Università Popolare di Milano, it" (without "degli Studi"), a historical

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;'' ...

established in Milan in 1901, which is no longer active. The UPdSdM claims to be connected with the Università Popolare di Milano. In both cases, the name differs by just one word. Furthermore, the UPdSdM sometimes uses the name "Università Popolare di Milano", even in legal proceedings. The "university" also claims to own an unaccredited "Academy of fine arts of Milan" (), not to be confused with the historical and accredited Academy of Fine Arts of Milan.

Degrees

Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano was created in 2006 by Marco Grappeggia, also known as Marco Edgardo Grappeggia. The organization has no campus or staff, and issues

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s and even

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

s, based on life experiences. Not being accredited by the

Italian Ministry of Education The Ministry of Education, University and Research (in it, Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, italic=no or MIUR) is the ministry of the Italian government for the national education system, the Italian universities and ...

, it is not on the official list of accredited Italian universities. The issued degrees are orthomolecular and

naturopathic medicine Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of pseudoscientific practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as natur ...

holistic science Holism in science, holistic science, or methodological holism is an approach to research that emphasizes the study of complex systems. Systems are approached as coherent wholes whose component parts are best understood in context and in relation to ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

and criminal investigation,

cultural property Cultural property does not have a universal definition, but it is commonly considered to be tangible (physical, material) items that are part of the cultural heritage of a group or society, as opposed to less tangible cultural expressions. They in ...

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

, communication science,

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

and

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

, environmental engineering and

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

management engineering Engineering management is the application of the practice of management to the practice of engineering. Engineering management is a career that brings together the technological problem-solving ability of engineering and the organizational, admini ...

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

and

luxury goods In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast to n ...

, and others upon request. Moreover, Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano says that former

president of the European Commission The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively account ...

and former

Italian Prime Minister The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is ...

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Prim ...

received a degree from Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano, represented by Marco Grappeggia, in

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

. The date of the alleged commencement is undisclosed. However, Prodi doesn't mention Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano in his official biography, and the video is blurred, which makes it difficult to tell if the person is Prodi or someone else. Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano's "degrees" also used to be sold by SDL Centrostudi (SDL Study center), a multi-level marketing company that organized bogus

class-action lawsuit A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...

s — against

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

s that it accused of

usury Usury () is the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is ch ...

— for which its founders have been indicted for

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

Legal status

According to the in its website and the attached papers, the Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano claims to be an "international university" governed by international law but not Italian law; it could therefore issue degrees in Italy, valid in Italy, without having Italian accreditation. The explains that its degrees are valid because Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano is affiliated with the University of United Popular Nations (UUPN), a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

created by Grappeggia and his wife in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 2012 and allegedly operating in the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

as well. UUPN used to have two websites, www.uupn-edu.net and www.uupn.org, which are both inactive and seem to be superseded by www.uupn-edubf.org (in French) and www.unidep-edu.org (in Italian). The also explains that the African alleged university/corporation can issue degrees in the EU pursuant to the Lisbon Recognition Convention although neither

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

nor the Ivory Coast belongs to the group of countries that ratified the Lisbon Convention. In 2011, an Italian former politician, Sen. Guido Viceconte, stated that the degrees issued by the Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano must be recognized in Italy (and the EU); as a consequence, Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano gained popularity after operating under the radar for several years. Since 2012, Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano has received several cease-and-desist orders from the

, and has been convicted by a final judgment, but most of its websites still advertise the services and the degrees, which are chiefly sold online. In 2016, the Italian Competition Authority sentenced Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano for

false advertising False advertising is defined as the act of publishing, transmitting, or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally (or recklessly) to promote the sale of property, goods, or servic ...

the web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...

. The Italian Ministry of Education sent cease and desist letters in 2014 and 2016; in retaliation, Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano sued the Ministry of Education and the CIMEA ( Information Centre on Academic Mobility and Equivalence), claiming they were " slanderers". In January 2020, the Ministry of Education, together with the Council of agricultural technicians at the

Italian Ministry of Justice The Ministry of Justice of Italy ( it, Ministero della Giustizia) is a department of the government of Italy. Headquartered in Rome, it is headed by the Minister of Justice. Background In Italy, there is no strict equivalent of an Attorney Ge ...

, issued an official statement saying the Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano's degrees are invalid in Italy (''nota'' MIUR 13 January 2020, prot. n. 646) and the organization is not allowed to offer degrees. In 2019, Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano took a legal action against the Ministry for University Instruction and Research and against the accredited Niccolò Cusano University, requesting that its award of Masters Degrees should be accepted on the grounds that the Ministry had ignored a

certified email Certified email (known as ''Posta elettronica certificata'' in Italy, or ''PEC'' in short) is a special type of email in use in Italy, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Germany. Certified email is meant to provide a legal equivalent of the traditional ...

and therefore

tacit consent A silence procedure or tacit consent or tacit acceptance procedure (French: ''procédure d'approbation tacite''; Latin: '' qui tacet consentire videtur'', "he who is silent is taken to agree", "silence implies/means consent") is a way of formally a ...

should be assumed. In 2021, the court affirmed that Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano is not a university in Italian law, and that its degrees are not legally valid there. It dismissed the appeal, requiring the appellant to defray the Ministry's costs in defending the action.

Addresses and websites

Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano has repeatedly changed its address and/or website. It has declared itself as having branches in Milan, Ostia (Rome),

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

and Loreto, but the addresses are unknown. Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano has also stated, using the name ''Università Popolare di Milano'' as a "brand" , that it has a journalism school in

New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

, though it is unclear where it is precisely located.

Yorker International University

The president of the institution, Marco Grappeggia, is also founder and president of the Yorker International University, which is supposed to be based in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, but actually operates in Milan, Italy, using the same address as the Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano and even the same email address. The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization and the

New York State Education Department The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the supervision for all public schools in New York and all standardized testing, as well as the production and administration o ...

made it known that Yorker International University was never accredited. However, Yorker International University used to issue degrees in Italy through Paulo Freire University, a private university located in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

that was going to be accredited in 2002. Since the Nicaraguan university had (and still has) no authorization to issue degrees in Italy, those degrees are invalid.

Rectors of the Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano

Giuseppe Catapano

According to the

Italian Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies ( it, Camera dei deputati) is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical funct ...

, the first rector Giuseppe Catapano has been arrested for

and

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

Marco Grappeggia

The founder, current president/director, and former rector Marco Grappeggia (also known as Marco Edgardo Grappeggia) claims to hold a PhD from

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...

in New York City although

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

stated he never graduated or received a certificate; he uses the Italian title of "

prof. Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

" even though he is not a professor according to the Italian Ministry of Education, and claims to be a member of the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's state ...

, the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

, the

American Marketing Association The American Marketing Association (AMA) is a professional association for marketing professionals with 30,000 members as of 2012. It has 76 professional chapters and 250 collegiate chapters across the United States. The AMA was formed in from th ...

, and the Government Accreditation Association of Delaware, an accreditation mill. He also claims to have served in the

Italian special forces The Italian Special Forces include special forces units from several branches of the Italian Armed Forces: the ''Esercito Italiano'' (Army), the ''Marina Militare'' (Navy), the ''Aeronautica Militare'' (Air force) and the ''Arma dei Carabinieri'' ...

and to have received awards and/or commendations from

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguans, Nicaraguan revolutionary and politician serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator of the ...

and US military

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

Nicola Crozzoletti

Gianni Neri

, the current rector is Giovanni or Gianni Neri. In his personal website, he declares himself to be a university professor "as stated in the CINECA MIUR search engine", that is to say the database of the Italian Ministry of Education. Although it is true that the Ministry's database contains a "Giovanni Neri", the entry refers to another Giovanni Neri who actually teaches

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

at the

University of Messina The University of Messina ( it, Università degli Studi di Messina; Latin: ''Studiorum Universitas Messanae''), known colloquially as UniME, is a state university located in Messina, Sicily, Italy. Founded in 1548 by Pope Paul III, it was the world ...

. (The magnificent rector) declares his area of expertise as criminology, criminal justice,

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

comparative law Comparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law (legal systems) of different countries. More specifically, it involves the study of the different legal "systems" (or "families") in existence in the world, including the ...

and business law, and that he is "authorized to practice as a lawyer before the Italian supreme courts" (plural). He also declares himself to be a member of an (otherwise unknown) "American Association of Professional Criminologists" in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. In Italy, Giovanni Neri is mostly known as the former host of an amateur TV show about

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

and

heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...

in the Rome area, together with guitarist Richard Benson.

Notes

References

External links

* {{official website For-profit universities and colleges in Europe Unaccredited institutions of higher learning Distance education institutions based in Italy