Editor's note: The following article was translated and edited from an article that first appeared on youth.cn. The article discusses the evolution and spread of Diploma Mills that sell academic credentials to fake foreign universities in China.

Since a widely publicized scandal in 2007, where in Tang Jun (the former president of Microsoft China) was exposed for faking his academic credentials, the Chinese public has witnessed case after case of well-respected government officials and successful business entrepreneurs becoming caught up in so-called "Diploma Mill" scandals. While Diploma Mills—unaccredited organizations that award diplomas with substandard or no academic study—were once generally considered a Western (U.S.) problem, in recent years the focus has shifted to China, which was recently referred to by one scholar as the new "goldmine for Diploma Mills".  

The origin of Diploma Mills in the United States

Of the 691 Diploma Mills recently exposed by the U.S. Department of Education, nearly half of them were located within the United States. Similarly, of the 1,503 schools listed in a 2010 report, 855 of them (56%) were within the United States. Why exactly are so many of these Diploma Mills located in the U.S.? Simply put, it's because in the United States, the right to establish a college or university comes from the state rather than a federal government, and consequently, states have dealt with the issue of Diploma Mills with varying degrees of intensity. For instance, in California and Hawaii—two of the most lax states—the only legal threshold to become an educational institution is that the "school" must rent a PO Box address to be used as the school's state address.

To say that there is often times a lack of procedural "red tape" in the United States is a bit of an understatement. According to what one reporter was told by an intermediary company that dealt with the registration of universities in the U.S., the entire registration process only costs about 1,000 USD, and at least in some cases/states, you don't even need to be a U.S. citizen to register a school; all you need is a photocopy of your credentials (whatever those may be), a sample of your signature and the name you wish to call your school.

In May 2004, the CBS television program "Good Morning America" reported that a "substantial" number of U.S. government officials, Pentagon personnel, nuclear power plant engineers (Ed. note: Homer Simpson, anyone?), bio-weapons experts and staff in other government agencies obtained fake degrees from various Diploma Mills in the U.S. Likewise, in 2005, investigators discovered that at least 135 White House staff had purchased fake diplomas from one of several hundred Diploma Mill workshops. What's more, apparently many of these people were actually reimbursed for their fake degree programs, after filing it as an "on-the-job training" expense. As more and more of these types of scandals have come to light in recent years in the U.S., Diploma Mills have turned their attention to the overseas markets, most notably China.

Burgeoning demand for fake diplomas in China

Southern Weekend (南方周末) has previously reported that in recent years, Chinese seeking to bolster their academic credentials have quickly become the main source of business for many U.S.-based Diploma Mills. Xue Yong (薛涌), a Chinese academic living in the U.S. put it bluntly: "I attended a U.S. university, spent 15 years in the U.S. teaching after that, and have heard all about people purchasing fake degrees, although most of the reports I've heard recently have come from Chinese news."

The reasons for purchasing a fake degree are numerous. It is thought that there have been quite a few Chinese who, much like Fang Hongjian (from the classic Chinese novel "Fortress Besieged" (围城), wasted their time studying abroad, failed to obtain a formal degree, and ultimately decided to just buy a fake degree so that they could find a high paying position in government or industry upon returning to China. For Party and government officials, diplomas are widely taken into consideration for promotions. For them, holding fake diploma from a foreign institution is more-or-less on par with holding a real diploma from a CP school, in so much as it opens up a lot of opportunities in official circles. For example, it was recently reported that Xu Zong (许宗), the former mayor of Shenzhen, obtained his MBA from the International East-West University in Hawai'i, now infamous for being one such Diploma Mill. As for business entrepreneurs, since they are often "their own boss", diplomas play more of a decorative role, mainly used to impressive clients, investors and fellow businesspeople alike. Such is the case of Tang Jun's fellow alumna, Yu Jinyong (禹晋永), who received his MBA from Pacific Western University in Hawai'i (another well-known Diploma Mill), and went on to become the chairman of Generation Investment Group Co., Ltd. With such a seeming demand for fake degrees here, it's no wonder that George Brown, an expert on subject in Australia, has referred to China as "a goldmine for Diploma Mills".

As many experts have previously noted, another major reason that Diploma Mills have seen such popularity in China in recent years is because Chinese MBA programs got a comparatively late start. It was only in 1991 that several Chinese universities first began rolling out MBA pilot programs, and by 2001, only 62 Chinese universities featured MBA programs—relative to the massive market demand for such programs, they have consistently been in dangerously short supply. In 2002, approximately 8,000 students were enrolled in MBA programs at Chinese universities, despite more than 50,000 applying for them (a 1:7 ratio). And in 2012, of the more than 624,000 Chinese who took the entrance exam for graduate programs, 1 in 12 was applying for one of the coveted MBA programs (still a 1:3.2 ratio). In this context, it's really not all that surprising that there's such a strong market for foreign Diploma Mills to set up fake MBA programs in China.

In talking with Southern Weekend, one educator mentioned a list of "students" at various Diploma Mill MBA courses in China that he'd seen. Among them, more than 60% were now employed in mid- or senior management positions at state-owned enterprises or state institutions, while 20% were government officials in various ministries and bureaus. And according to his statistics, among the senior leadership positions at the state-owned large- and medium-sized enterprises, 85% of the directors, managers and chairmen had a junior college or higher education—however, those with genuine degrees were less that one fifth. Many fake degree holders would likely tell you that they're so busy keeping up with the gruelling pace of professional socializing, that they simply don't have the time to commit to studying, yet, if they're ever to receive a promotion, some sort of advance degree is necessary. No doubt, many officials have been secretly thrilled to see Diploma Mill MBA courses begin showing up in China in recent years, as they can finally bolster their academic credentials without all the hassle of studying English for hours on end or taking a leave of absence from their post to engage in full-time study. As for the issue of their diplomas not being officially accredited, apparently it's not that big of a deal as long as they can convince their organization's personnel department to "recognize" it.

Diploma Mills become cash cows in China

In 2010, New Express Daily, a Chinese newspaper based out of Australia published a brochure from one such Diploma Mill located in Guangdong Province, which openly discussed the "market price" for their fake degrees: "An M.A. costs between 30,000-80,000 RMB depending on the subject, while a PhD is normally more than 100,000 RMB. If you have the money, we can get you whatever degree you want." Similarly, a student brochure distributed by a Canadian Diploma Mill set up in in Guangzhou states that tuition for one of their 15-week courses is approximately 80,000 RMB, and that there are currently more than 500 students already enrolled. Using these figures, we can roughly calculate that this 15-week course has netted the Diploma Mill more than 40 million RMB from tuition, and roughly calculated, it's likely grossing more than 100 million RMB per year! And this is just one of what is likely thousands of similar operations spread through China.

In 2011, Beijing police uncovered a stockpile of "fake foreign diplomas" and set up a Diploma Mill sting operation, in which they exposed more than 200 Chines business executives. According to one of the Diploma Mill employees caught in the sting operation, there were more than 100 fake foreign diploma companies operating in Beijing alone, and that the Diploma Mill industry in China employed tens of thousands more in countless other companies stationed in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other big cities throughout the country. As for the distribution of all of those profits, the individual stated that "of the money taken in from enrolment fees, the recruiters take about 40%, while about 20% goes to foreign Diploma Mill schools, 20% goes to the course teachers and our company takes the final 20%." With more than 10 years operating in china, it seems that this underground industry has formed a complete supply chain.

Source: d.youth.cn
 

Related links
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Chinese PhD Dissertations: Many Citations, Little Innovation

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Keywords: China diploma mills China fake degree scandal fake academic credentials China