Swedish Court Orders |Refund for Useless Degree

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A court has ordered a Swedish college to refund tuition fees to an American student for giving her a poor economics education.

The Vastmanland court ruled Tuesday the Malardalen University's two-year program "Analytical Finance" that Connie Askenback attended from 2011 to 2013 "had no practical value."

The court noted Sweden's Higher Education Authority in 2013 had expressed criticism of the program, and ordered the college to pay her back her tuition fees of 170,182 kronor ($20,544) plus interest.

In a statement, Askenback called it "an important vindication."

Marie Eriksson, head of the central Sweden college, said administrators now will "consider the implications of this verdict."

The 14,000-student college said on its website that Analytical Finance graduates would get "competitive qualifications for obtaining an attractive position" in the business world.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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