Anti-corruption agency to review universities’ admissions

Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency will be asked to review admissions procedures at Hong Kong’s publicly funded universities, the Hong Kong government has said, following the launch of an investigation by the University of Hong Kong (HKU) into the submission of suspected fraudulent materials during its admissions process.

The admission procedures of the city’s eight publicly funded universities will be scrutinised by Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Hong Kong Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said in a written reply to questions from Hong Kong legislators on 26 June the ICAC would be invited to participate in reviewing admissions procedures, provide opinions, and formulate internal anti-corruption guidelines and other measures to ensure the fairness and integrity of the admissions system.

Choi noted that falsifying or furnishing fraudulent academic qualifications was a serious offence in Hong Kong, liable for a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment.

On 22 May, HKU Business School confirmed it had discovered that some intermediaries assisted students in forging documents, and had reported the matter to police.

HKU Business School Dean Cai Hongbin said in an interview with Caixin, China’s financial and business news daily, that some 30 masters' students had so far been found to have used false documents in their applications, and with ongoing investigations the number could rise to 80-100.

Cai said on 4 July the fake qualifications scandal involved some ‘illegal agencies’ and added the school would step up checks on applications. He noted most of the problematic documents involved universities outside Hong Kong and mainland China.

Cai added: “The school hopes to summarise its experience in this investigation and publicise the means of these ‘illegal agencies’ in forging documents so other universities in Hong Kong can plug the loopholes while admitting students.”

Without mentioning HKU by name, Choi pointed to “a very small number of cases” where applicants allegedly submitted fraudulent documents when applying for admission, responding to concerns raised by legislators that this could affect the university's international reputation.

Choi said that Hong Kong’s universities “will take decisive disciplinary actions upon discovery of such violations, including rescission of admission offers or expulsion, and will refer such cases to the relevant law enforcement agencies and visa-issuing authorities for follow-up action as appropriate.

“In addition, the universities have been paying closer attention to the recent [cases of] untrue information, abetting and other illegal activities”.

She added: “Facing intense competition for admissions, universities have always established stringent admission procedures and mechanisms to ensure fairness and impartiality in selecting the best candidates.”

Suspected admissions fraud

The case of possible admissions fraud came to light in May when HKU sent out emails to 200 postgraduate students who had enrolled in September 2023 at its business school, asking them to provide additional transcripts “for further review”.

While the email described it as an “annual exercise for final checking”, HKU alumni said such checks do not normally occur so late in the academic year.

HKU’s Faculty of Business and Economics, which includes HKU Business School, has 5,458 masters students enrolled, making it the university’s faculty with the largest number of students.

It also has the highest proportion of non-local students – from overseas and mainland China – at undergraduate level. This academic year, non-local students made up almost 70% of enrolled masters students, according to HKU figures. Of these 91% are from the mainland.

HKU Business School said in a statement in May it attracts over 20,000 postgraduate programme applicants annually.

“The intense competition has led to high admission standards, but unfortunately, it has also attracted suspected illegal agencies who provide fraudulent documents to help applicants secure admission qualifications through fraud,” the statement read.

It reaffirmed its “zero-tolerance policy towards any form of academic misconduct”.

The statement explained: “In the event that any cases are confirmed, we will implement all necessary disciplinary and legal measures as mandated by the University and the law.

“This may include rescinding admission offers, nullifying enrolment and referring cases to legal authorities. If any agencies are found to be complicit, we will cooperate with the relevant legal authorities to ensure they are held accountable.”

‘Guaranteed’ admissions advertised

Social media in both China and Hong Kong has been abuzz with netizens questioning how one of Asia’s top universities failed to detect the fraud at the time of admission.

Netizens said they have spotted a large number of study abroad agency ads on Chinese social media claiming to “guarantee admission" to overseas universities including Hong Kong. Some proclaim in large characters: “No college entrance examination”, “No language test”, “No score consideration”.

One agency advertised its service fee for admission to Hong Kong’s top three universities – HKU, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – as CNY400,000 (US$55,000), while for lower-ranked Hong Kong City University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University it was CNY350,000 (around US$48,000).

Some advertise “guaranteed admission” to postgraduate programmes, claiming “no background checks” to Hong Kong’s top eight universities, which are highly popular with mainland students.

Some ads claimed that students could be admitted with high scores, exempted from TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and IELTS (International English Language Testing System) tests, and “guaranteed 100 % acceptance”.

Such ads have proliferated since Hong Kong announced last year that the quota of non-local undergraduate students from overseas and mainland China at Hong Kong’s public universities was set to double from 20% to 40% beginning from the 2024-25 academic year, although there is no cap on postgraduate enrolment in Hong Kong universities.

A Shanghai-based agent, speaking to University World News on condition of anonymity, said so-called “guaranteed admission” actually meant helping students to falsify information, or even cheating by using substitutes to take tests.

He added that the use of fraudulent academic records was mainly for applications to masters programmes. For applications to undergraduate programmes academic results are sent directly to universities via an official system under the Ministry of Education in Beijing, and are not submitted by the applicants themselves.

“But these few unscrupulous agents make use of the fact that it is not as easy to verify mainland students’ qualifications that are obtained overseas,” he said.

Requirements for English language proficiency tests such as IELTS or TOEFL “can be waived by the university in Hong Kong if the applicant has a degree from an overseas institution taught in English, so this is a popular route”, he said.

He suggested that visa records, provided alongside additional proof of such qualifications obtained overseas, would be a way to tighten up verification of overseas qualifications.

According to the Chinese online news portal Sohu, one study agent even claimed a "long-term and stable cooperative relationship" with the “HKU funding committee” and that by donating a large sum “for scientific research” to a laboratory, they could get some students “directly admitted” by “internal means”.

‘Unfounded’ claims

HKU said in a statement in March it was aware of social media posts stating that applications for admissions “can be made on behalf of others” and that direct admission with low scores is possible without the need for standard scores, IELTS, TOEFL, an undergraduate background and other requirements.

HKU said such claims were “absolutely unfounded”.

The statement added: “The University of Hong Kong has not commissioned any intermediary agency in the mainland to recruit or admit students, nor does it have a so-called ‘internal recommendation’ mechanism for professors to recommend non-local students for admission.

“If a student is found to have falsified his-her academic qualifications, he-she will be expelled from HKU in accordance with its regulations.”

This article was updated on 4/07/2024 to reflect remarks by the dean of the HKU Business School on the number of cases found.