Abbott orders Richardson’s TexAM University to stop advertising, enrollment

Gov. Greg Abbott ordered TexAM University in Richardson to stop advertising and enrolling students, a sharp warning for anyone in Collin County who may have paid for a degree that the school was not authorized to issue.

The cease-and-desist requires the institution to halt advertising and enrollment by May 8 after state officials said it was operating without accreditation or legal authority to grant degrees. For students who signed up in good faith, the order raises an immediate question: whether the education they paid for will carry any recognized value beyond the school itself.

That kind of action can leave local families facing more than disappointment. Students who enrolled in a program tied to an unaccredited school may find their credits rejected by other colleges, employers skeptical of the credential, or loans and tuition payments harder to justify if the degree cannot legally be conferred. In a region where students move between Richardson, Plano, Frisco and the rest of Collin County for work and school, a school’s paperwork matters as much as its pitch.

The safest move before spending money on any program is to verify accreditation and degree authority first, not after classes begin. Ask the school for written proof of its accreditation, confirm that the credential it offers is actually permitted under state law, and check whether the program is recognized by the accrediting body it claims. If a school cannot answer those questions clearly, that is a warning sign.

Abbott’s order makes that warning concrete in Richardson. For anyone considering a tuition payment, a lease, a loan, or a transfer plan, the central issue is no longer whether the school can advertise a promise. It is whether the institution has the authority to deliver a degree that will stand up outside its own doors.