No certificate. No authority. No degrees. Texas said enough.

A Dallas-area institution calling itself TexAM University, also known as Texas American Muslim University, has been ordered to cease operations by both Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

The reason is straightforward. The school never had legal permission to operate in the state of Texas or grant degrees of any kind.

On top of that, the Texas A&M University System hit the institution with a separate cease-and-desist over its “TexAM” branding, which the system says caused public confusion and violated its trademarks.

TEXAS A&M SYSTEM HITS TEXAM UNIVERSITY WITH CEASE-AND-DESIST

The A&M System is demanding the unaccredited Richardson school immediately stop using “TexAM” and similar branding, citing trademark violations and public confusion.

This follows Gov. Abbott’s cease-and-desist order… pic.twitter.com/hJqBGG7X1D

— The Dallas Express News (@DallasExpress) May 8, 2026

Think about that for a second. An unaccredited institution was advertising degree programs in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, computer science, IT, and health informatics to students in the Dallas area.

Students who presumably paid tuition. Students who thought they were earning real degrees.

And those programs came packaged with mandatory Islamic studies coursework.

All of it was operating outside the law.

RAIR Foundation USA reported on the state’s enforcement action and the background of the operation:

The enforcement problem started with authorization. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board letter, as described in the RAIR account, said TexAM had never received the Certificate of Authority required under Chapter 61 of the Texas Education Code and therefore could not legally grant, offer, or advertise degrees in Texas.

The school was publicly presenting itself as a higher-education institution with STEM programs, including artificial intelligence, computer science, information technology, cybersecurity, and health informatics. The same account says the curriculum also included mandatory Islamic studies, making the situation both an education-accountability issue and a religious-institution transparency issue for families.

The branding dispute created a second pressure point. The Dallas Express post said the Texas A&M System demanded that the Richardson-area school stop using TexAM and similar branding because of trademark concerns and public confusion, especially after Governor Abbott’s cease-and-desist order and the state’s broader scrutiny of the operation.

Let me put this plainly. In the state of Texas, if you want to call yourself a university and hand people diplomas, you need a Certificate of Authority from the coordinating board.

That is the law. It is not optional.

It is not a suggestion.

TexAM never obtained one.

That means every student who enrolled there, every family that wrote a tuition check, and every employer who might have looked at one of those degrees was being misled. Whether that was intentional fraud or breathtaking negligence, the result is the same.

People got hurt.

This is a rule-of-law issue. Texas has an education code precisely so that institutions offering degrees meet baseline standards of legitimacy.

When an operation skips that entire process and starts advertising STEM programs and mandatory religious coursework under a name designed to echo one of the most recognized university systems in the country, that is not a minor oversight.

The branding angle is its own problem. “TexAM” is clearly meant to invoke Texas A&M.

The A&M System recognized that immediately, and their cease-and-desist makes the concern explicit. Students and the public were being confused about whether this institution had any connection to the actual Texas A&M system.

It did not.

Now, I believe in religious liberty. People have every right to establish religious schools and teach their faith.

But religious liberty does not include the right to operate an unauthorized degree mill. It does not exempt anyone from the same educational standards that every legitimate institution in Texas has to meet.

Christian universities in Texas go through the same coordinating board process. They get their Certificate of Authority.

They submit to oversight. That is how it works for everyone.

Governor Abbott was right to act on this. The coordinating board was right to act on this.

And the Texas A&M System was right to protect its name.

The broader pattern here should concern every parent and every student in the state. If one unauthorized institution can set up shop in the Dallas suburbs, advertise high-demand STEM degrees, collect tuition, and operate for any length of time before the state catches it, that raises serious questions about how many others might be doing the same thing.

Accountability in education is not a partisan issue. It is a basic protection for families.

When someone hands you a diploma that is not worth the paper it is printed on, that is a real injury with real consequences for your career and your future.

Texas did the right thing here. The question now is what happens to the students who were enrolled and what, if any, further legal consequences follow for the people who ran this operation without authorization.

Scripture tells us in Proverbs 11:1 that “a false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.”

Selling degrees you have no authority to grant is a false balance. Accountability is the just weight.

I am glad Texas put its foot down. Every state should be this vigilant.

What do you think? Should there be criminal consequences for operating an unauthorized university, or is a cease-and-desist enough?

Leave your thoughts in the comments below.