The training institution was exposed to have run away after raising over 100 million yuan in online courses in China and obtaining a foreign diploma from the University of Vulcan in Spain | Wang Qi | training institution
Recently, consumer Wang Qi from Heilongjiang reported to the Pengpai Quality View Complaint Platform that at the end of 2021, he signed up for the "one-year MBA program recommended by Shanghai Xuewei Education Technology Co., Ltd." at the University of Wukang in Spain. The other party promised not to go abroad during the epidemic, but to take online courses in China to obtain a master's degree. However, after he finished his classes and successfully took the exam, the study abroad institution lost contact, and the promised master's degree became empty talk.
Afterwards, Wang Qi learned through a statement released by the University of Vulcan in Spain that Xuewei Education had engaged in forgery and alteration of admission notices, did not provide any student materials to the school, and did not pay the relevant fees. Most rights protection students did not actually have registration information in the school's database.
According to a previous report by Xinhua Daily Telegraph, according to incomplete statistics, the incident involved over a thousand students and tuition fees exceeded 100 million yuan.
Wang Qi later learned that his admission notice was forged by Xuewei Institution
Paid over 40000 yuan in fees, but the agent ran away
According to Wang Qi, in October 2021, he saw the account of Xuewei International Research Institute operated by Shanghai Xuewei Education Technology Co., Ltd. in Tiktok, which released a lot of information about master's study abroad. After he filled out the relevant information, a teacher named Zhu from Xuewei Education Tianjin Branch added his contact information and recommended him to the one-year MBA program at the Catholic University of San Antonio in Spain. "She said that due to the epidemic, we didn't need to go abroad to obtain a degree certificate, and there were no English requirements. This was also quite cost-effective for us, so we signed up."
Subsequently, Wang Qi signed a master's enrollment contract and a doctoral reservation contract with Xuewei Education Tianjin Branch, with a total cost of 45000 yuan. Wang Qi said that he had not received the admission notice for a long time after signing the contract. The teacher from Xuewei Education told him that Spanish students need to be admitted on schedule, and only gave him a pre admission notice.
What surprised Wang Qi even more was that the classes he taught were not only recorded but also taught by Chinese teachers. "I asked the people at Xuewei, and they said it was because Xuewei has obtained authorization from the school to hire teachers to teach in China, but the courses are all certified by Spanish universities. You only need to complete the courses and write your thesis to obtain your graduation certificate."
With doubts in mind, Wang Qi conducted an investigation and said, "At that time, on the official website of Wukang University, it can be seen that Xuewei Education was their cooperative company, and teachers from Wukang University also attended the opening ceremony of Xuewei Education, which made me feel quite real." Wang Qi said that as soon as he started his master's program, Xuewei Education asked him to sign a doctoral degree reservation contract under the pretext of having activities, and repeatedly urged him to pay the final payment for pursuing a doctoral degree. "A doctoral degree requires tens of thousands of yuan, and I think the master's degree hasn't been completed yet, so I haven't paid it."
After more than a year of online classes, in January 2023, Wang Qi completed all the course content, also completed the exam, and entered the preparation stage for her graduation thesis. However, it was at this time that he learned from other students that there was a problem with Xuewei Education and there was a risk of "running away". "This student paid earlier than me, but he did not receive his graduation certificate by the agreed graduation time, and no one contacted him for further matters, so he felt that this matter might not be right.".
After learning about the situation, Wang Qi contacted the teacher from Xuewei Education who had previously contacted him, but the other party said that the company was working hard to resolve the issue and asked him to be patient. In February, Wang Qi found that all the teachers who had previously contacted him had lost contact.
The University of Vulcan in Spain has released a statement stating that the university is also one of the victims.
The school claims that they are also victims and need to register again to pay fees for enrollment
Xuewei Education suddenly lost contact, causing Wang Qi's curriculum to come to a standstill, with no one following up or connecting with the school, which also means that he cannot obtain his graduation certificate.
Wang Qi said that after the incident, students began to organize rights protection. In March of this year, the Ministry of Foreign Cooperation of the University of Vulcan in Spain issued a statement, stating that due to a series of events triggered by the financial crisis of Xuewei Education, the University of Vulcan in Spain has also suffered serious damage.
The University of Vulcan in Spain has issued an email to all students who have registered for courses at Xuewei Education, stating that the school has been in contact with Xuewei Education since its financial crisis, but no progress has been made. Currently, it has decided to suspend all cooperation with Xuewei Education and its branch education. At the same time, the school promises to seek appropriate solutions for the affected students.
On May 2nd, the school released a statement on its official website titled "Answers to Questions Related to the Xuewei Incident". It is claimed that Xuewei Education has engaged in forgery and alteration of admission notices, using the school's reputation to defraud Chinese students of fees without providing any student materials and paying relevant fees to the school. As a result, most rights protection students currently have no information in the school's database.
After verifying with the school, Wang Qi realized that the "pre admission notice" he had received earlier was actually forged by Xuewei Education, and after paying a fee of 45000 yuan, Xuewei Education did not submit his application materials to the University of Wukang in Spain.
In response to this situation, the University of Vulcan in Spain stated in a statement that if the information is not in the school's database, regardless of whether the student has completed the course, they will need to re register for payment, complete the relevant course, and obtain a certificate and transcript.
According to the school's requirements, Wang Qi needs to pay an additional registration fee of 1600 euros, and the credits obtained from courses and exams taken over a year ago are not recognized. He also needs to take another 6-8 months of master's courses and pass the thesis defense. This made Wang Qi very angry, not only because the fees he had previously paid were wasted, but also because he had invested more than a year of time and energy in vain.
For the future teaching mode, the statement states that the master's program lasts for 6-8 months, and graduation can be achieved after passing the course and thesis defense. There are six courses in total, taught in English and conducted through a combination of recorded and live broadcasts. The assessment method is an online multiple-choice exam. A written defense can be conducted, and a PPT can be produced.
On July 12th, Pengpai News contacted Mr. Xia, the person in charge of the China office of the University of Vulcan in Spain. He said that the school is currently handling the aftermath and has provided solutions to the students. If the students still have problems, it is recommended to report them to the police for handling. Regarding the issue of Xuewei Education, he stated that it is not within his job responsibilities.
Xuewei headquarters is empty, involving over a thousand students
According to the official website, Xuewei International Research Institute was founded in 2003 and is "committed to solving the social problems of corporate executives and entrepreneurs pursuing their master's degree while working through international MBA products that do not require joint exams or study abroad. Currently, Xuewei Campus is located in 15 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, with a teaching service team of over 300 people."
According to a previous report by Xinhua Daily Telegraph, the suspension of classes by the institution has involved students from multiple regions. According to incomplete statistics, it has involved over a thousand students and tuition fees of over 100 million yuan.
According to a search by a reporter from Pengpai News, as early as September 2022, some students claimed to have registered for the MBA program at Brooks College in the United States through Xuewei Education. However, after more than half a year, Xuewei Education has repeatedly failed to register due to school holidays, the pandemic, and other reasons. Afterwards, the students searched online and found out that the Brooks College in the United States they applied for had already ceased operations as early as 2008.
What infuriates Wang Qi and other students is that Xuewei Education has been falsifying admission notices since 2021 and has been conducting false admissions, resulting in more people being deceived. The surging journalists saw that on February 28 this year, Xuewei Education also released a Student Notice on its official WeChat official account "Xuewei IMBA", saying, "Due to the epidemic, the operation of Xuewei International Research Institute has been affected recently, and some offline campuses have been closed, but at present, some core teams continue to operate and provide services."
According to business information, on June 15, 2023, Shanghai Xuewei Education Technology Co., Ltd. was registered as a debtor by the People's Court of Xuhui District, Shanghai. Four debtor information showed a total amount of over 150000 yuan, and the legal representative Zou Weihai was also restricted from high consumption by the People's Court of Xuhui District, Shanghai on June 25 this year. Xuewei Education Tianjin Branch was included in the list of abnormal operations by the Market Supervision Administration of Nankai District, Tianjin on March 7th this year.
The reporter from Pengpai News has made multiple attempts to contact the contact numbers of various branch schools published on the official website of Xuewei International Research Institute, but no one has answered.
In addition, on July 17th, staff from the Xuhui District Market Supervision Administration in Shanghai stated that Xuewei Education has been included in the list of abnormal business operations and monitored. "However, the company is currently empty and unable to find a responsible person, making it difficult to handle the situation. It is recommended that students report the case to the police."
Wang Qi said that he had also reported a case to the local police station, but the police claimed that the company had gone bankrupt and had not been accepted. He told Pengpai News that some students have collectively gone to the Xuhui District Public Security Bureau in Shanghai to report to the police, and have been investigated by the Xuhui District Economic Investigation Bureau. Regarding this, the reporter from Pengpai News has contacted the Economic Investigation Bureau multiple times but has not received a response.
