Just spend 20 thousand percent to reach the target school? Fake University Rooster University Enrollment Fraud Investigation Teacher | Higher Education | Wang Fang | Information | Conducting | Candidates | Universities | Enrollment
Comics/Li Xiaojun
The enrollment and admission work for ordinary universities in 2023 is about to begin. Recently, the Ministry of Education issued a reminder that some illegal elements, driven by interests, take advantage of the urgent psychology of candidates and parents to carry out fraud in enrollment and other aspects, seriously disrupting the order of examination and enrollment.
It is understood that a common situation for candidates to encounter enrollment fraud is: "accidentally" going to a fake university - as long as the educational institution is not listed on the Ministry of Education's public list, it is a fake university.
How do some candidates fall into recruitment scams such as fake universities and fake universities? Why are these enrollment scams constantly banned? How should we govern it? With these questions in mind, reporters from the Legal Daily conducted an investigation and interview.
Believing lightly and passing the exam is actually a self-study exam
Art exam students encounter illegal enrollment
Wang Fang, from Zhoukou City, Henan Province, is a fresh art student in this year's college entrance examination. She once thought she was lucky enough to get into a bachelor's degree, but now she may not even be able to get into a better college.
The matter will start from the end of last year. At that time, Wang Fang was quite anxious because she switched to the art exam direction relatively late and her grades in professional courses were relatively poor. When preparing to apply for the school entrance exam, she posted on multiple apps commonly used by art candidates for help. Soon after, she received a reply from a self proclaimed admission teacher from a certain university: talent display is not so limited, as long as it can be on the stage.
To obtain more information, Wang Fang added the social account of this admissions teacher. The teacher was very enthusiastic about her and strongly recommended Wang Fang to attend the student assistance class at her university, saying that "our school has a directing major, and this year is a good opportunity to expand enrollment by one thousand people.".
Wang Fang recalled to a reporter from the Legal Daily that she repeatedly confirmed with the admissions teacher whether the student assistance class was full-time? All received a positive response: "It is full-time and has a full-time undergraduate diploma and bachelor's degree certificate."
"I used to be skeptical, but during that time we often chatted like friends. They said they could directly take the quota for family relationships, but they couldn't spread it outside." Wang Fang said that her teacher was very concerned about her life and even encouraged her before the college entrance examination, saying that each teacher in the school had 5 internal quotas, and paying 400 yuan would ensure that she passed the school exam directly.
In January 2023, Wang Fang paid a fee of 400 yuan. The admissions teacher then told her that the initial review had been passed.
The reporter found through inquiry that the full name of the student aid class is the full-time self-taught undergraduate student aid class, which is a policy of the Ministry of Education aimed at students who cannot attend the unified undergraduate enrollment. It allows some undergraduate colleges with remaining teaching resources to open student aid classes. After admission, candidates will receive full-time teaching and management, but after completing the credits, they will be awarded a self-taught undergraduate degree, not a full-time undergraduate degree through unified enrollment.
But when Wang Fang discovered this problem, it was already too late. "After thinking that I had a good guaranteed school, I gave up taking the school entrance exam and went back to school to study cultural courses. Now, my scores in cultural courses are not ideal either. If I don't go to financial aid classes, I won't even be able to get into a better college," said Wang Fang. However, going to financial aid classes costs tens of thousands of yuan a year, and spending so much money can only earn me a self-taught degree. She felt like she was "deceived".
"Some private education and training institutions do not have the qualifications to conduct higher education, and the students they recruit must take the adult college entrance examination or higher education self-study examination to obtain academic degrees. However, they often use advertisements such as' guaranteed admission ',' admission ',' no classes', and 'no exams', or claim to have a full-time degree to recruit students in violation of regulations. Candidates should be vigilant and beware of being deceived," said Cai Hailong, Vice Dean of the Institute of Education Policy and Law at Capital Normal University.
Claiming to go to college after paying
Involving illegal enrollment fraud
Wang Fang's experience is not an isolated case.
Ms. Li from Jing'an District, Shanghai, told reporters about the experiences of those around her: in the past two years, her family had a high school student who did not perform well in the exam. However, surprisingly, her mailbox was quickly filled with "university admission letters". "From the names, these schools have a lot of connections. Later, we carefully verified that all of them were fake universities, and everyone was happy for nothing.".
According to public information, many candidates have encountered college entrance examination scams in recent years.
On a social networking platform, the reporter saw that many netizens roast that XX school was a "liar", claiming that paying money would help candidates to go to the ideal university. The reporter claimed to be a recent college entrance examination student from Hunan, with a score of over 330. They contacted the enrollment teacher of the school for consultation.
The other party informed that the score is a bit low and "it's too late". The undergraduate degree is "suspended", but it can guarantee a good public vocational college. "As long as you spend 20000 yuan, you can 100% attend a good vocational school." The other party gave two options: one is to ensure that 100% go to the target school, and the price is 20000 yuan; Secondly, it supports filling out applications and does not guarantee the quality of the school. The price is several thousand yuan. "Our main focus is on poor information. Which school is short of people? We can get you in, that's it."
When the reporter expressed regret about not being able to attend undergraduate programs, the admissions teacher said that it was possible to operate the "college to undergraduate program". There are also two options for college to undergraduate program, which require additional payment. "After college to undergraduate program, it becomes a full-time undergraduate program.".
However, the reporter found on a third-party commercial search platform that this "XX school" belongs to a private non enterprise unit, with a business scope of "secondary vocational education and vocational training". What the admissions teacher said clearly goes beyond the business scope filled out in the enterprise registration.
"In order to attract students, some private universities have contracted the enrollment agency rights to intermediary agencies. They recruit students under the banner of universities, use information asymmetry, confuse the educational identity of private universities, and illegally issue or forge academic certificates." Cai Hailong said.
He analyzed that this is actually a false promise. Candidates first enter vocational colleges for three years to study, and after obtaining a vocational degree, they are authorized by the provincial education administrative department to be evaluated by qualified schools. They then go to ordinary higher education institutions to study for two years, and after passing the defense, they can obtain a bachelor's degree. However, this is also based on the completion of a certain degree, reaching a certain level, and passing the assessment, which cannot guarantee passing.
Regarding this, Chu Chaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences, said, "The business scope exceeds the registered scope, or some training institutions and adult education institutions participate in it through self-study exams, which involves illegal enrollment and fraud issues."
Enrollment scams continue to be rampant
The living space is shrinking
The reporter noticed that laws and regulations such as the Education Law, the Higher Education Law, and the Provisional Regulations on the Establishment of Ordinary Higher Education Institutions strictly regulate the establishment, organization, and activities of higher education institutions. So, why are the enrollment scams of fake and fake universities constantly being banned?
Regarding this, Associate Professor Zhou from the School of Education of Renmin University of China analyzed in detail that as a special form of fraud, fake universities use the information asymmetry between parents and students and the lucky mentality of spending money to attend good schools to commit fraud.
In Cai Hailong's view, in reality, there are still a considerable number of people who are unable to receive formal higher education. With the rise of diplomatism, some employers are increasingly emphasizing the role of academic degrees in personnel appointment and promotion, further intensifying the competition for high-quality higher education resources, which invisibly provides soil for the survival of fake universities.
Not long ago, relevant platforms released a list of 392 fake universities in China, which has attracted high social attention. Chu Chaohui pointed out that in 2022, the gross enrollment rate of higher education reached 59.6%, and the storage space for fake college students is decreasing. "My basic judgment is that there are not many fake universities currently operating in China, and there are not as many operating ones as listed."
Beijing Qianjin University is on the list of fake universities. When the reporter checked the website of Beijing Qianjin University, it was found that only one homepage can be opened, and clicking on options such as school news can no longer open it.
According to Chu Chaohui's analysis, fake universities often adopt two methods: one is to lure students and parents with incentives, and some institutions offer preferential admission by reducing their scores; There is also a type of gray edge ball, which is typical of China University of Posts and Telecommunications impersonating Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. Most parents and candidates can distinguish the second situation, but often find it difficult to distinguish the first situation. Coupled with an urgent desire to pass the exam and get into a good university, they may be deceived.
Cai Hailong believes that there are few specialized laws and regulations that regulate the enrollment and admission work of higher education institutions, which is also one of the reasons why fake universities continue to implement enrollment scams. The Ministry of Education formulated and promulgated the "Interim Measures for Handling Violations in Enrollment of Ordinary Higher Education Institutions" in 2014. However, this is a departmental regulation with a lower level of effectiveness, and its scope of application is limited to enrollment in ordinary and adult universities. In practice, the regulation of fake universities is limited.
Platform screening for false information
Strengthen supervision and strict investigation and punishment
How to deal with false university enrollment scams that seriously infringe on the rights and interests of candidates?
"Due to the profound cultural tradition of receiving higher education in our country, it is necessary to strengthen legal education, so that the public can understand the basic rules of university settings and how to obtain effective higher education information." Zhou elaborated that from the perspective of governance, efforts should be made to strengthen the investigation and criminal punishment of fraudulent behavior. At the same time, from the high school stage and the registration of the college entrance examination, relevant information should be promoted, and the education system and legal regulations should be included as part of the "moral and legal curriculum" to popularize knowledge and achieve full coverage of the channels for obtaining college entrance examination information.
"The Internet platform spreads too fast, and the trust foundation of netizens is not the information itself, but the platform." Chu Zhaohui believes that the Internet platform should take responsibility, and if it is determined that the information is false, it should be deleted in time. At the same time, preliminary screening of relevant information should also be carried out, at least to eliminate obvious false information.
The reporter searched for "China University of Posts and Telecommunications" on a search engine, and the first link that appeared was Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, which showed that it was a fake university located in Beijing.
Chu Chaohui agrees with this and points out that it is necessary to improve the discernment ability of parents and candidates. If fake universities can be effectively identified, then there will be no market for fake universities. The government should also actively take action and impose strict penalties and supervision on those responsible for obvious deceptive behavior.
"Our country's higher education system is diversifying, and receiving higher education through various forms and channels is originally a good thing. However, if there is a lack of unified and standardized management and necessary transparency in the enrollment process, it will lead to the breeding of enrollment scams in this increasingly abundant higher education resource." Cai Hailong said.
Cai Hailong believes that the handling of enrollment scams should be differentiated based on the nature and severity of their actions. Admissions agencies and completely fake universities should be resolutely banned. For education and training institutions with legal qualifications or off campus teaching points authorized to engage in higher continuing education, due to the legality of their non degree education training or student assistance activities, their false enrollment behavior often stems from false propaganda and false promises made to recruit students. It is necessary to strengthen the supervision of the enrollment and educational behavior of such institutions to ensure that they operate in accordance with the law.
