Big Scandal! Chinese students are using fake credentials to get into the Top 20 U.S. colleges.

Chinese newspaper reporters investigate the truth behind some study abroad agencies "guaranteed admission" claims

"Unconditional direct admission to world's top schools", "No GPA required, no language test, no preparatory courses"... In advertisements, various overseas universities each have a price tag attached. On social platforms like Zhihu, multiple "guaranteed admission" agencies extended their olive branches to undergraduate student Zhou Luo. After comparing several offers, he chose the one with the lowest quote: 180,000 yuan, just within his budget.

The so-called "guaranteed admission" for studying abroad generally refers to certain methods used by some study abroad agencies, ensuring applicants have an almost 100% chance of receiving an acceptance letter from their desired institution.

Since 2021, Zhou Luo has received acceptance letters from several prestigious overseas universities. Reviewing his application materials, he was astonished to find that he, who had never set foot in the US, now suddenly "owned" an undergraduate transcript and degree from the US.

In recent years, advertisements for "guaranteed admissions" have frequently appeared on major social media platforms. Some international students vent online, complaining that many study abroad agencies quietly promote these "guaranteed admission" programs, claiming that money can ensure top university placements. What exactly is this "guaranteed admission" for studying abroad? How does the entire industry chain operate step by step? Through multiple interviews, reporters unveil the truth behind some study abroad agencies "guaranteed admission" claims.

Temptation

Simply pay, and you can "pick any school you want".

"Just getting admitted is enough." In the second half of 2020, as Zhou Luo's undergraduate studies in Germany were drawing to a close, he hoped to continue his master's studies in the UK. However, due to his unsatisfactory undergraduate grades, possibly not even receiving a degree, combined with missing application materials, he would likely face rejection from his desired institutions. Therefore, he turned his attention to study abroad agencies that boast a "100% success rate."

Prices for such "guaranteed admission" services range from tens of thousands to over a million yuan. Two factors enticed Zhou Luo: one, it would be hassle-free; and two, a sure admission. The agency promised that if he paid in full and provided personal details, they would offer an end-to-end service, and he could "pick any school."

A person claiming to be a representative from "AIS Education Agency" persuaded Zhou Luo, saying, "We started in the UK. We know teachers in the admissions office of universities like the University of Birmingham. With 'internal recommendations,' we can directly submit the application materials." At the time, Zhou Luo thought that if the agency could manage such "internal recommendations" and secure "legitimate" admission criteria, then the hefty agency fee was justified. Without much hesitation, he signed a contract.

It was later that Zhou Luo realized the agency didn't actually have any "internal recommendation" slots and had no connections within the University of Birmingham. Instead, they forged his application materials. Based on the principle of trust, the University of Birmingham accepted the agency's documents and issued an acceptance letter to Zhou Luo.

Originally, according to the process agreed upon between the two parties, Zhou Luo would not discover any of this. Apart from initially revealing an "internal" connection, the agency kept quiet about other operations. They managed all student email accounts and other related affairs. Students first paid a deposit, then another installment upon receiving an acceptance letter, and finally the remaining fee after obtaining a visa, only then receiving their personal application information. "They said, 'just focus on getting the offer. Don't worry about the rest.' To ensure students don't abandon the process halfway, they hold onto all account details as security."

At that time, Zhou Luo didn't sense anything amiss. Subsequently, he received acceptance letters from three renowned schools and happily transferred the money. After getting his visa and due to pandemic-related graduation delays, he started investigating his application account details. To his surprise, he was now "listed" as a top student at the Illinois Institute of Technology in the U.S., studying Business Administration and ranking in the top 15% of his class.

The forged degree and transcript felt like a ticking time bomb to Zhou Luo. He had already registered at the University of Birmingham, but due to fear of exposure, he hasn't paid his tuition and dares not attend. He learned that in 2022, a student at King's College London was expelled due to fraudulent admissions. "Being expelled is disgraceful. Agencies say universities won't check, but who can guarantee?"

After Zhou Luo shared his story on social media, seven classmates reached out to him. They, too, had enrolled in similar "guaranteed admission" programs with various agencies and shared similar experiences: an untouchable application account and a foreign academic history they never experienced.

What exactly is going on?

Investigation

The mysterious overseas undergraduate degree

In Zhou Luo's "guaranteed admission" experience, the most crucial element was this mysterious overseas undergraduate degree. How did he come to possess it? The reporter tried adding a "guaranteed admission" agency contact on WeChat.

"Currently, our program can offer unconditional admission to world-renowned universities without the need for IELTS or preparatory courses." As soon as the connection was made on WeChat, Ms. Chen, who claimed to be from AdmitWrite's marketing department, eagerly greeted the reporter. "We'll register students with an undergraduate degree from a U.S. institution, aiding them in their subsequent applications. The advantage of this U.S. degree is its flexibility; any major, any grade, and because of the four-year English-taught environment, it even exempts language tests. Coupled with some enhancements in soft backgrounds like internships/research, we can then apply to top world universities."

She then showed the reporter a list of programs. The list spanned schools in the UK, U.S., Australia, Canada, Singapore, and even Hong Kong and Macau, with the highest fees associated with institutions like Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and Stanford. Their postgraduate program costs start at 1 million yuan. Compared to the UK and U.S., Australian and Canadian institutions seemed relatively "affordable", typically ranging from tens of thousands to around two hundred thousand yuan.

According to Ms. Chen, their agency collaborates with six institutions in the U.S. They match students to these universities based on the level of the institution they want to apply to next. All the degrees are provided directly by the registrar's office of the collaborating institutions. "In theory, any transcript can be generated. The documents are entirely 'solid'."

However, while emphasizing the "solid" nature of the documents, Ms. Chen noted that this degree only supports background checks until graduation. After that, this "guaranteed admission special edition" degree will be "immediately scrapped". Another agency consultant, Kyle, further explained, "Every background check costs money. The registered degree is only for this master's application. Whenever the master's institution inquires, whether by email, phone, or requesting transcripts, the U.S. undergraduate institution will respond."

Another education agency, Soth Education, also "registers" overseas degrees for the application but in a slightly different manner. Their representative, Elena, mentioned that they first submit the student's actual grades to the school, then, depending on the situation, redesign the diploma and transcript after securing a spot by paying the institution. "We typically select universities from the top 50 in QS World University Rankings and insert their academic record, fully supporting background checks."

When the reporter mentioned having no internship or research experiences for the application essay, Elena seemed unfazed, "We can have a research professor from an Ivy League school assist by submitting evidence of a research project to the institution you're applying to." The reporter further asked if they could genuinely participate in the research project. Elena seemed surprised, "Are you interested in actually studying? We don't need you to participate; we just need the proof."

Is any of this true? On Soth Education's official website, the reporter saw that their elite team had enlisted several "former admission officers" from renowned universities. However, upon comparing photos, the reporter discovered that the "former associate director of admissions from Northwestern University" was actually a British oncologist, and the "former director of admissions from Yale University" was, in fact, a professor at Yale's School of Management. When the reporter reached out to the professor from Yale, he stated: "I have never held that position, I have never been involved in Yale University admissions, and this organization has absolutely nothing to do with me."

Meanwhile, the reporter also reached out to top-ranked institutions like UCL and the University of Leeds to verify any "internal recommendations". By the time of publishing, UCL hadn't responded, while the University of Leeds said they had passed the inquiry to the relevant team.

Mr. Sun, who has been in the study abroad service industry for over ten years and was one of the first to expose the "guaranteed admission" sector on "Zhihu", has been contacted by over 50 "guaranteed admission" students seeking help in verifying and advocating for their rights. He explained that there are two methods of acquiring overseas undergraduate degrees: collaborating with private institutions abroad to generate "real fake materials", or the agency forging the academic records themselves. "Often, the latter is packaged as the former, as it's challenging for individuals to verify the authenticity of student records."

Worth noting is that these students, with their "new" degrees, have no visa or entry/exit records. Even a meticulously forged imitation would not stand up to scrutiny. "If schools start checking, regardless of whether the academic records support background checks, students will face expulsion," Mr. Sun emphasized.

Proliferation

The "dark hand" extends to collaborative programs.

In addition to applications for overseas postgraduate programs, the "guaranteed admission" agencies have not overlooked another lucrative market – undergraduate applications.

If one aims to apply to overseas undergraduate institutions, they need a high school diploma. Looking globally, one international curriculum has caught the eye of these "guaranteed admission" agencies - the Canadian high school OSSD program.

The reporter learned that currently, Canada does not have a unified national curriculum, with each province being responsible for its own education matters. The OSSD (Ontario Secondary School Diploma) is a high school diploma program in Ontario, Canada. To obtain the OSSD certificate, students must complete 30 credits, 40 hours of community service, and pass the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. Why has the OSSD become a "golden springboard" for study abroad agencies?

"The OSSD curriculum itself is not problematic. It's just that opportunists have seized upon the fact that this international curriculum does not have a global standardized exam," said Mr. Shen, who has been in the study abroad service industry for 20 years. The biggest feature of the OSSD is its flexibility, with a grading system consisting of 70% ongoing assessment and 30% final evaluation. It emphasizes continuous learning for students, minimizing the uncertainties stemming from test performance. As an international curriculum, it also supports the conversion of credits between different educational systems, allowing students to switch from other systems to the OSSD. However, based on these features, some see the curriculum as fertile ground for speculation, leading to grade inflation and academic fraud.

In recent years, leveraging its non-examination-oriented advantages, the OSSD curriculum has gained ground in China, making significant market inroads. The pandemic has further accelerated a boom in agencies offering OSSD online courses. However, there's a huge variance in the quality of these courses, with many agencies lacking the capabilities and quality to implement full-time remote learning. "Before the pandemic, the curriculum required students to go to Canada for their final year. But post-pandemic, students can complete the three-year OSSD course in China, and many have started making quick money off of this," said Mr. Shen.

In 2020 and 2021, to address difficulties faced by some international students during the pandemic, the Ministry of Education decided to temporarily allow some joint-program institutions to increase their enrolment, offering domestic study opportunities to those originally planning to study abroad but hindered by the pandemic. This policy intended to facilitate convenience has become a shortcut for some study abroad agencies' "guaranteed admission" schemes.

After obtaining the OSSD transcript and Ontario high school diploma, students can proceed to apply to overseas universities. Using the admission letters from these foreign universities, they then take advantage of the Ministry of Education's facilitation policy to apply to joint-program institutions in China. However, after graduating from these cooperative institutions, students can only obtain the degree certificate from the overseas partner.

"Our agency offers 'guaranteed admission' for the '4+0' undergraduate training model for joint-program prestigious universities," a representative claiming to be "Li, a college planning advisor from Zhejiang Education," told the reporter. Different cooperative institutions or programs can be applied to, with varying fees. For example, one university's joint program starts at 250,000 yuan. "If you enter the University of Nottingham Ningbo through the national college entrance examination and graduate smoothly, you will receive degree certificates from both the University of Nottingham Ningbo and the University of Nottingham in the UK. With our program, you only get the degree certificate from the University of Nottingham in the UK."

Currently, some universities have noticed the "guaranteed admission" scams. In August 2021, the University of Nottingham Ningbo issued a warning about fraudulent "guaranteed admission" for its independent recruitment. The university mentioned reports of fraudsters claiming they can secure admissions to the university's independent recruitment regardless of grades, swindling money from students and parents. The statement reminded students and parents to be vigilant and emphasized that they had never authorized any agencies or individuals to offer "guaranteed admission."

The reporter also recently inquired about the "guaranteed admission" matter from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen). The person in charge of the admissions office stated that there is no such "guaranteed admission" program. "If candidates encounter such issues, they can contact the admissions office of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen)."

Boundaries

How can stricter regulations be enforced?

The "guaranteed admission" map is expanding, yet agencies suspected of forging admission guarantees are currently in a regulatory gray area.

"We don't have the authority to supervise whether study-abroad agencies are fabricating application materials," said a staff member from the External Cooperation and Communication Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education when contacted by the reporter. Due to the abolition of the administrative approval for study-abroad agency qualifications, study-abroad institutions can only be managed from a market supervision perspective. "We can only remind students to choose cautiously and to consider whether any application 'shortcut' is legitimate."

The reporter also consulted the Sichuan Provincial Department of Education's International Exchange Center, where AdmitWrite is located. Its staff also stated that study-abroad agencies fall within the commercial sphere and should be checked according to market operation principles, and they would not intervene in advance.

However, when the reporter contacted the market supervision departments in the locations of the mentioned study-abroad agencies, the relevant staff stated that they do not have the authority to supervise the forgery of materials by study-abroad agencies. Personnel from the Chengdu High-tech Zone Market Supervision Consumer Complaint Hotline suggested that the complainants dial the 12345 Citizen Service Hotline, which would assign other departments to handle the situation. The Xixia District Market Supervision Department in Nanjing informed the reporter: "Not all market behaviors fall under market supervision. We can only check if study-abroad agencies are suspected of false advertising. If an agency violates the Advertising Law, we will administer administrative penalties. As for whether the application materials are suspected of irregular operations, that is not within our jurisdiction. It's best to consult the education department."

The reporter learned that in 2017, a decision by the State Council abolished the qualification recognition for self-funded study-abroad agencies. That same year, a model contract for self-funded study-abroad intermediary services was implemented. Many industry insiders believe that this means the study-abroad industry has fully entered market-oriented operations. But currently, it seems there is a blind spot regarding who supervises the application materials of study-abroad intermediaries.

Due to ambiguous regulations, some students who fall into this trap opt to protect their rights through legal means afterward. The legal document database "Weico Xianxing" indicates that in the past five years, there have been 938 lawsuits involving study-abroad agencies in China, with 639 cases in the past three years. About 90.88% of the cases involved amounts less than 500,000 yuan. The most frequently cited provision in these cases corresponds to Article 509 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, which requires parties to observe the principle of good faith.

After purchasing the "guaranteed admission" service, can students get their money back? Yang Shuyuan, a lawyer from Tianjin Huiguang Law Firm and a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in the UK, who often handles such cases, said that if the agency provides fake diplomas, transcripts, or uses improper means, the contract would be invalid and can be annulled through litigation. "If the contract service fee is too high, there is a chance of winning the lawsuit. About 70% of cases have achieved partial refunds."

However, Yang Shuyuan points out that there is a problem with "enforcing the verdict." If the opponent is a shell company, they can quickly dissolve the company after receiving the payment. Even if the student wins the lawsuit, it's still challenging to recover the money.

Another challenge in "guaranteed admission" rights protection is the cross-border forgery of overseas diplomas.

Ma Xinguo, Director of the Corporate Criminal Compliance Department at Guangdong Tiansui Law Firm and an international arbitrator in the Republic of Belarus, told the reporter that if the overseas diploma is forged, the agency would be suspected of fraud and other illegal activities. Students might be expelled from their overseas institutions if their forged diplomas are discovered. "If the agency genuinely has partner institutions overseas and can provide proof for students who haven't actually attended high school overseas, one should consider whether this violates the relevant laws of that country."

For students who have been defrauded and lost their opportunity to study, Ma Xinguo suggests reporting to the police and actively defending their rights. "For agencies suspected of fraud, you can report to the local police. If it's a foreign agency, you can report it to the Chinese embassy or consulate in that country, which can coordinate with local law enforcement. For violations that don't yet constitute a criminal offense, you can initiate civil litigation or arbitration for compensation in China."

Voices

Don't believe the lie of getting into prestigious schools with low scores.

Chen Zhiwen, a member of the Expert Group of the National Education Examination Steering Committee of China, believes that the essence of "guaranteed admission" reflects some parents' utilitarian view of education. "If children are constantly exposed to the desire for quick success and instant benefits, it's difficult for them to maintain their integrity," said Chen Zhiwen.

In recent years, there have been numerous incidents of students being expelled due to falsification for guaranteed admissions. In 2018, seven Chinese international students were expelled from the State University of New York at Stony Brook for submitting fake transcripts during their graduate applications. In 2019, a student surnamed Wang was expelled from Columbia University for falsifying materials during his 2016 application.

"Entering a university is not the ultimate success," Jiang Xin, the Operations Manager at INTO Education Group's UK headquarters, pointed out. "Students with 'guaranteed admission' who end up in institutions that don't match their abilities, might not receive adequate academic support and care. This could lead to poor academic performance. We both believe and hope that all students can uphold principles of academic integrity to avoid situations where they submit false grades or are advised to leave due to unsatisfactory performance."

In response to repeated integrity issues, universities are intensifying their scrutiny. In December 2021, the University of Edinburgh issued a restriction policy specifically for OSSD students, setting certain requirements for the institutions they attend, teaching methods, course credits, and transcript submission methods.

At the same time, industry regulation is accelerating. In December 2021, the China Education Think Tank Alliance Study Abroad Education Research Center (hereinafter referred to as "Xue Meng") established the National Study Abroad Education Industry Standard Service and Credit System Construction Alliance, with over 300 industry institutions joining so far. Xu Qingzhi, the executive director of Xue Meng, stated that they are actively establishing industry standards. "We also have a blacklist of the industry, and 50-60 institutions have been listed. We will periodically make this list public."

In conclusion, everyone is sending the same message: parents and students shouldn't believe any lies about "taking shortcuts for guaranteed admissions" or "getting into top schools with low scores."

Now, Zhou Luo, who has severed ties with "guaranteed admission", has finally obtained his degree through his own efforts. He resubmitted his application materials through legitimate and compliant study-abroad channels, waiting for a genuine admission letter.

When asked why he initially chose to believe in "guaranteed admission", another student, Xu Zijie, who also enrolled in the "guaranteed admission", left a comment: "It must have been vanity."

(At the request of the interviewees, Zhou Luo and Xu Zijie are pseudonyms in the article.)

Editor: Wu Jiahong

Source: Jinyang Net

This is a report summary compiled by EduOutlook China based on research and editing of news and data in the field of international education in China. Subscribe to us to receive a new report every day.

（This article was translated by AI. If there are any grammatical or content errors, please contact us. Thank you for subscribing.）