Azerbaijan International University

Azerbaijan International University

Azərbaycan Beynəlxalq Universiteti
Type	Private
Active	1997–2010
Rector	Elshad Abdullayev
Location	Baku, Azerbaijan
Campus	Urban
Colors	Green and white
Nickname	ABU
Website	www.abu.az

Azerbaijan International University (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Beynəlxalq Universiteti) was a private university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Founded in 1997, it had more than 6000 students and 268 faculty. Graduate programs included Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacology, Economics, Education, Law etc.

The university granted bachelor's, master's and Ph.D degrees. It was a corresponding member of International Personnel Academy of UNESCO (Kiev) in 1999. The president of University Dr. Elshad Islam Abdullayev was awarded the Gold Medal of UNESCO "For his achievements in the field of education." On 30 August 2010, the Ministry of Education issued a decree annulling the license of the Azerbaijan International University.

In 2006, the Attorney General's Office announced it had received reports of corruption taking place in the Azerbaijan International University which marked the beginning of a four-year-long criminal case. An official of the Ministry of Education announced on 24 June 2008 that law violations had been detected following an investigation and seven programs of study had been shut down. In May 2008, the student football team of the university was excluded from the all-state amateur student football championship for submitting forged student transcripts and identification cards for the players who in fact were not registered students of the Azerbaijan International University. In August 2008, the then Minister of Education Misir Mardanov voiced concerns over the functioning procedures of the university, namely its alleged student admission in contravention of the official state admission examination. Head of the State Students Admission Commission Maleyka Abbaszadeh confirmed that a preliminary investigation revealed 118 bachelor's students who had been admitted first-hand by the university in one year alone without being put through a unified state exam. Two high-ranking employees of the university responsible for student admission were charged with bribery. They admitted in court that they had accepted bribes from prospective students ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 US dollars to admit them in the university. The university was barred from admitting new students in 2009 and 2010, due to the "results of the past investigations." Finally on 30 August 2010, the Ministry of Education issued a decree annulling the license of the Azerbaijan State University. All remaining students were transferred to nine other institutions. Rector Elshad Abdullayev disagreed with the Ministry's decision, claiming that the university had received a four-year license in 2007 and that it could not have been simply revoked, but only expire.