YouTuber not allowed to start a ‘university’

Want to sell courses? Fine, but be sure not to call your little business a university. The ‘YouTube University’ has received a slap on the wrist from the Education Inspectorate and may have to pay a fine.

Making money by explaining how to make money. That seems to be the business model of Angela Brink, a young woman in her twenties who promotes her courses through social media. For over two years, she operated under the name YouTube University and did not immediately stop when she received a warning from the Education Inspectorate.

To prevent deception, the terms university and university of applied sciences have been legally protected since 2017. This also applies to the degrees associate degree, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate. Therefore, you cannot simply establish a university or issue diplomas, especially not if there is a fee involved.

Brink claims to earn around 100,000 euros per month with minimal effort and wants to charge other women to teach them how she does it. It does not sound very university-like, and that is because it is not.

Warning

After a warning from the inspectorate last September, she removed some references to her ‘university’, but not all. Following further warnings, she stepped up her efforts. The inspectorate believes that the violation has now been resolved.

However, there is still a video on TikTok where the YouTube University is mentioned in the description. On her salmon-coloured website, there is still a cap and a reference to ‘students’, but the links no longer work.

The term ‘university’ has thus been used for more than two years. The minister can now impose a fine of up to approximately 1 million euros or 10 per cent of the turnover (if that amount is higher). In practice, fines are usually much lower. Minister Eppo Bruins announced at the beginning of this year that he intends to increase the fines.