As long as you give money, you can enter a world famous school?

Yangcheng Evening News reporters start with the truth about the "guaranteed admission" of some study abroad institutions

  Text/Photo by Yangcheng Evening News reporter intern Fu Jueming

  "Unconditional direct recording of the world's top famous schools", "GPA-free, language-free, preparatory-free"... In the advertisement, major overseas universities were labeled with price tags.

On social platforms such as Zhihu, a number of "guaranteed admission" agencies offered an olive branch to undergraduate Zhou Luo.

After shopping around, he chose the one with the lowest price.

180,000 yuan, just the price he can afford.

  The so-called "guaranteed admission" for studying abroad generally refers to the operation method by which some study abroad intermediaries can allow applicants to obtain the admission notice of the target institution with a probability of nearly 100%.

  Since 2021, Zhou Luo has received admission notices from many overseas famous schools.

Looking back at the application materials, he was stunned to find that he, who had never set foot in the United States, actually had an American undergraduate transcript and degree certificate.

  In recent years, "guaranteed admission" advertisements have been common in major social media.

Some international students complained on the Internet: Many study abroad institutions will secretly promote the so-called "guaranteed admission" program, claiming that spending money can win the title.

What is the sacredness of "guaranteed admission" for studying abroad?

How does the entire industry chain work step by step?

After multiple interviews, the reporter found out the truth about the "guaranteed admission" of some overseas study institutions.

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As long as you give money to the school, "just pick"

  "You can apply if you can." In the second half of 2020, Zhou Luo's undergraduate career in Germany is coming to an end, and he hopes to continue to study in the UK for a master's degree.

However, due to poor undergraduate grades, the possibility of not even getting a degree certificate, and the lack of application materials, the normal application will be "one-vote veto" by the target institution.

So he turned his attention to the "guaranteed admission" study abroad institution known as the "100% success rate".

  On the market, "Guaranteed Admission" programs are expensive, ranging from tens of thousands to millions.

But there are two things that make Zhou Luo's heart move: first, save trouble; second, make steady progress.

The intermediary promises that as long as they give enough money and provide personal information, they can provide "one-stop" service to the end, and "the school can choose at will".

  A person who claimed to be an intermediary teacher of Ace Education said to Zhou Luo: "We started in the United Kingdom. For example, there are Chinese teachers we know in the teaching department of the University of Birmingham. The trustee can directly pass the materials through 'internal recommendation'. At that time, Zhou Luo believed that since the intermediary could handle the "internal referral" and obtain the "normal" admission qualification, it was reasonable to charge the expensive intermediary fee.

Without hesitation, he signed the contract.

  Zhou Luo later learned that the institution did not have any "internal referral" places at all, let alone people inside the University of Birmingham, but directly falsified the application materials for him.

Based on the principle of good faith, the University of Birmingham trusted the materials submitted by the institution and issued an admission notice to Zhou Luo.

  Originally, according to the original process of the two parties, Zhou Luo would not have discovered all this.

Apart from initially revealing an "internal" relationship, the intermediary remains tight-lipped about other specific operations.

Students' mailboxes, accounts and other affairs will be handled by them throughout the whole process. During the whole process, students need to pay the deposit first, make a second payment when they get the admission notice, and make up the balance after getting the visa, and finally they can get the personal application account number. View information.

"They said that you only need to get the offer (admission letter), and don't care about the rest. For fear of students running away, they should take the account number in their own hands as a guarantee."

  At that time, Zhou Luo didn't notice anything wrong.

Afterwards, he received admission notices from three prestigious schools one after another, so he happily remitted the money.

After getting the visa, he postponed his graduation due to the epidemic and was unable to study on the spot, so he began to study the matter of applying for an account.

After a check, I found that I had "became" a top student at the Illinois Institute of Technology in the United States, majoring in business administration, and ranked in the top 15% of the class.

  The fake degree certificates and transcripts are like a time bomb, which makes Zhou Luo feel scared.

He has already registered for admission to the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, but because he is afraid of "exploding thunder", he has not paid the tuition fee and dare not study.

As far as he knows, in 2022, a student at King's College London was ordered to drop out of school for "guaranteed admission" fraud.

"Dropping out of school is not a glorious thing. The institution says that the university will not verify it, but who can guarantee it?"

  When Zhou Luo shared his story on social media, seven classmates approached him one after another.

Those who signed up for the "Guaranteed Admission" program at different institutions have a similar experience: an untouchable application account, and a foreign education they have never studied.

what on earth is it?

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The mysterious overseas undergraduate degree

  Among Zhou Luo's "guaranteed admission" experience, the most important thing is this mysterious overseas undergraduate degree.

How did it come about?

The reporter tried to add a "guaranteed admission" intermediary to WeChat.

  "Our project can now record world famous schools with zero conditions, no IELTS, and no preparatory courses." As soon as WeChat was added, Ms. Chen, who claimed to be the AdmitWrite study abroad marketing department, began to greet reporters enthusiastically: "We will register students with an undergraduate degree from an American university. A degree in order to apply for the next school. The advantage of this US-based degree is that there are no restrictions on majors and grades, and because it is taught in English for four years, it can also be exempted from language exams. Coupled with some soft background improvements, such as internship/ Scientific research, etc., after the overall packaging, you can apply to world-renowned schools.”

  Then, she showed reporters a project sheet.

On the table, the schools you can apply for cover the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, Singapore, and even Hong Kong and Macau. The highest fees are Oxford University, Cambridge University, Harvard University, and Stanford University. The fees for postgraduate programs start at 1 million yuan.

Compared with the United Kingdom and the United States, the fees of Australian institutions and Canadian institutions are more "affordable", and the prices are usually between 100,000 yuan and 200,000 yuan.

  According to Ms. Chen, the institution has six partner colleges in the United States that can provide students with academic qualifications, which are divided into high, medium and low grades, and are matched according to the grades of the schools that the students apply for in the next step. Official transcripts and degree certificates will be issued directly by the Office.

"Theoretically, you can open as many transcripts as you want. The materials are all 'excellent'."

  However, while claiming that the materials are "excellent", Ms. Chen pointed out that the degree can only support background checks until the student graduates. After graduation, this "specially guaranteed admission" degree will be "immediately scrapped".

Kyle, its institutional consultant, further explained: "Every time you go back to the school, you need to spend money. The registered degree is only applicable to this master's application. As long as the master's school requests it, whether it is email, phone call, or send a transcript, the US undergraduate degree The colleges will respond accordingly.”

  Another study abroad institution, South Education's "Enrollment Guarantee" program, also uses "registered" overseas education as an application method, but the method is slightly different.

Elena, a staff member of its institution, said that they will first submit the students' real grades to the school, pay the money to lock the places after evaluation by the school's admissions officer, and redesign the degree certificates and transcripts depending on the situation - "We generally choose QS World University. The top 50 schools will give you degrees from these colleges and fully support background checks.”

  When the reporter said that he did not have any internship and scientific research experience to write in the application document, Elena seemed to be familiar with this: "We asked the scientific research teacher of the Ivy League colleges and universities to help him to submit the proof materials of a scientific research project to the application you want to apply for. The school is enough." The reporter further asked whether she could actually join the scientific research project, Elena seemed surprised: "You want to study specifically? We don't need you to participate here, we can just prove it."

  Is all this true?

On the official website of Soth Education, the reporter saw that its elite team has recruited a lot of "former admissions officers of famous schools".

However, comparing these photos of the "former admissions officer", the reporter found that the "former deputy director of admissions at Northwestern University" was a British doctor specializing in oncology, and the "former director of admissions at Yale University" was actually a member of the Yale School of Management. famous professor.

To this end, the reporter contacted the professor at Yale University by email. The professor said: "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. (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.) Never held that position, never involved in admissions at Yale, this organization has nothing to do with me.)”

  At the same time, the reporter also sent emails to University College London and the University of Leeds, which were ranked at the top of QS, to verify whether there was indeed an "internal push".

UCL had not responded by press time, and the University of Leeds replied: "The query has been referred to the relevant team for further notice."

  Mr. Sun, who has been engaged in the study abroad service industry for more than ten years, is the first overseas study consultant who exposed the "guaranteed admission" industry on "Zhihu". At present, more than 50 "guaranteed admission" students have contacted him to help verify their rights.

He introduced to reporters that there are two specific methods of operation for overseas undergraduate degrees: one is that the institution cooperates with overseas private colleges and universities to issue "real fake materials" for applicants, and the student information is set up in the school's file; the other is It is the institutions themselves falsifying the academic qualifications.

"It's more that the second situation is packaged as the first situation, because it is difficult for individuals to verify the authenticity of student files. Even many students don't know that their undergraduate degrees are packaged counterfeit." Mr. Sun said.

  It is worth noting that students with "new" academic qualifications do not have visas, no entry and exit records, and even a decent "Li Gui" cannot stand scrutiny.

"Students will be ordered to drop out of school regardless of whether their academic qualifications support background checks," Mr. Sun emphasized.

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"Black Hand" reaches out to cooperative education

  In addition to the application of overseas graduate students, the "guaranteed admission" institutions have not let go of another "fat" - undergraduate applications.

  If you apply for an overseas undergraduate institution, you need a high school degree.

Looking around the world, there is an international curriculum that has entered the field of "guaranteed admission" institutions - the Canadian high school OSSD curriculum.

  The reporter learned that at present, Canada does not have a unified national syllabus, and the educational affairs of each province are the responsibility of the provincial education department.

OSSD (Ontario Secondary School Diploma) is a high school diploma program in Ontario, Canada.

Students need to take 30 credits, complete 40 hours of community service, and pass the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test to get the OSSD diploma.

So, why did OSSD become the "golden springboard" in the eyes of overseas study institutions?

  "There is no problem with the mechanism of the OSSD course itself, but speculators have seized the fact that this international course does not have a global unified examination." Mr. Shen, who has been in the study abroad service industry for 20 years, said that the biggest feature of the OSSD course is flexibility.

It adopts the evaluation method of 70% normal grades + 30% final evaluation, pays attention to students' process learning, and avoids the uncertain factors caused by students' unsatisfactory performance in exams to the greatest extent.

Since it is an international course, it also supports the transfer of credits between courses of different education systems, and students can transfer from other systems to the Canadian OSSD course system at any time.

However, based on these characteristics, the curriculum system has become a hot spot for speculation in the eyes of some people, and the phenomenon of "watering off" grades and academic fraud emerges one after another.

  In recent years, relying on its own advantages of non-exam-oriented education, OSSD courses have taken root in China and entered the market in a big way.

The epidemic has prompted a large number of institutions to provide OSSD online courses, but the teaching qualifications of the courses are mixed, and many institutions do not have the implementation plan and teaching quality for implementing remote full-time teaching.

"Before the epidemic, the course also required students to go to Canada in the last year. But after the epidemic, students can complete the OSSD course in China for three years, and many people start to make quick money." Mr. Shen said.

  According to reports, in 2020 and 2021, in order to deal with the difficulties of some students studying abroad during the epidemic, the Ministry of Education decided to temporarily allow some cooperative educational institutions and projects to expand enrollment, and provide domestic support for students who originally planned to study abroad but were prevented from going abroad due to the epidemic. school opportunities.

This is a convenience policy, but it has become a "shortcut" for some overseas institutions to "guarantee admission".

  After students get the transcripts of OSSD courses and Ontario high school qualifications, they can start to apply for overseas colleges and universities, and then take the admission notices from overseas colleges and universities, and use the convenience policy of the Ministry of Education to turn to apply for domestic cooperative universities.

However, after applying for admission to a cooperative university with an overseas university admission notice and graduating, the student can only get the degree certificate of the overseas partner.

  "Our institution conducts 'guaranteed admission' for the undergraduate '4+0' training model of cooperatively-run famous schools. A university in Shanghai, Sino-British International College, a university in Wuhan and a university in the United Kingdom jointly organize a bachelor's degree education program in art and design and other cooperative education institutions/projects Anyone can apply, and the fees vary. For example, the fee for a cooperative education project of one of the universities starts at 250,000 yuan." A "Ms. Li of Higher Education Planning" who claimed to be from Zhejiang Hong Education introduced to the reporter: "But we can only operate in a single For example, you are admitted to the University of Nottingham Ningbo through the college entrance examination. After you successfully graduate, you will get a degree certificate and a graduation certificate from the University of Nottingham Ningbo, as well as a degree certificate from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. We only have a degree certificate from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.”

  At present, some colleges and universities have noticed the "guaranteed admission" fraud.

In August 2021, the University of Nottingham Ningbo China issued a statement on vigilance against the "guaranteed admission" fraud of self-enrollment.

The school stated that it had received reports that some criminals claimed that they could “ensure admission” to the University of Nottingham Ningbo, regardless of their grades, and took the opportunity to defraud students and parents of money.

In the statement, the school reminded parents of students to pay attention to the screening: "Our school has never carried out a 'guarantee project' on self-enrollment with any social training institutions or individuals through authorization or other forms."

  A reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News recently asked the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) for confirmation on the matter of "ensure admission". The person in charge of its admissions office said that the "ensure admission" program does not exist.

"If candidates encounter similar problems, they can contact the Admissions Office of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen)."

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How does regulation hit the ground running?

  The "territory" of "guaranteed admissions" is expanding day by day. However, the overseas study institutions suspected of fraudulent admissions are still in a gray area of ​​supervision.

  "We do not have the authority to supervise whether the application materials of overseas study institutions are fraudulent." The reporter called the Foreign Cooperation and Exchange Office of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education where Soth Education is located. Its staff said that due to the cancellation of the administrative approval for the qualifications of overseas study agencies, the overseas study institutions could only Managed from the perspective of market regulation.

"We can only remind students to choose carefully and consider whether any application 'shortcuts' are reasonable and legitimate."

  The reporter also consulted the Sichuan Education Foreign Exchange Center where the AdmitWrite study abroad institution is located. Its staff also said that the study abroad institution belongs to the commercial category and needs to be verified in accordance with the laws of market operation, and they will not intervene in this regard in advance.

  However, when the reporter contacted the market supervision department of the above-mentioned overseas study institutions, the relevant staff said that they had no right to supervise the fraudulent materials of overseas study institutions.

The personnel from the market supervision and consumer complaint hotline in Chengdu High-tech Zone said that the field of studying abroad may involve the jurisdiction of the Education Bureau and the Social Security Bureau. It is recommended that the complainant call the 12345 citizen service hotline, and other departments will be assigned to handle it.

A staff member of the market supervision department of Qixia District, Nanjing City told reporters: "Not all market behaviors are included in the scope of market supervision. We can only check whether overseas institutions are suspected of false propaganda. If the institutions violate the Advertising Law, we will impose administrative penalties on them. As for whether the application materials are suspected of illegal operations, this is not within our jurisdiction, and the education department should be consulted."

  The reporter learned that in 2017, the "Decision of the State Council on the Third Batch of Cancellation of Administrative Licensing Items Designated by the Central Government" canceled the qualification of self-funded study abroad intermediary service agencies, and also required "education, industry and commerce departments to be within the scope of corresponding responsibilities. Strengthen interim and ex post supervision, and investigate and deal with illegal acts in accordance with the law." In the same year, the "Model Text of Self-funded Study Abroad Intermediary Service Contract" formulated by the Ministry of Education and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce was officially implemented.

Many industry insiders believe that this means that the study abroad industry has fully entered into a market-oriented operation.

But at present, who will supervise the application materials of study abroad agents, it seems that there are still some blind spots.

  Due to vague supervision, some students who "entered the pit" chose to protect their rights after the fact through legal means.

According to the legal document database "Weike Xingxing", in the past five years, the number of cases involving study abroad agencies in my country has reached 938, of which the number of cases in the past three years has reached 639, and 90.88% of the cases involved an amount of less than 500,000 yuan. The most cited clause in the case corresponds to Article 509 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China: "The parties shall follow the principle of good faith, and perform obligations such as notification, assistance, and confidentiality according to the nature, purpose and trading habits of the contract."

  After purchasing the "Guaranteed Admission" business, can students still get their money back?

Yang Shuyuan, a member of the Royal Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a lawyer from Tianjin Huiguang Law Firm, who often handles "guaranteed admission" cases, said that the content of the guarantee contract involves the provision of false academic qualifications, transcripts, and the use of improper means. The content of the contract seriously violates the principles of public order and good customs. , should be an invalid contract, and can be refunded through litigation.

"If the contract service fee is too high, there is a chance of winning the case. The proportion of cases where partial refunds are made is about 70%."

  However, Yang Shuyuan pointed out that there is a problem of "difficulty in enforcement" in such cases: "If the other party is a leather bag company, the company can be cancelled soon after receiving the money. Even if the student wins the case, it is still difficult to recover the money."

  Another difficulty involved in “guaranteing admission” rights is the transnational fraud of overseas academic qualifications.

  Ma Xinguo, an international arbitrator of the Republic of Belarus and director of the Corporate Criminal Compliance Department of Guangdong Tiansui Law Firm, told reporters that if the overseas academic qualifications are forged, the institution will be suspected of fraud and other illegal and criminal activities. Even if the student successfully applies for an admission notice from an overseas university, If you are found to have forged academic qualifications while studying abroad, you will also face the risk of being expelled.

"If the institution is indeed as stated, it has multiple partner institutions overseas and can issue certification materials for students who have not actually studied in overseas high schools, then consider whether it violates the relevant laws and regulations of the country."

  For students who have encountered a guarantee situation and been defrauded and lost the opportunity to study, Ma Xinguo suggested that students report the case to the public security organs and actively protect their rights and interests.

"If the institution is suspected of fraud crimes, it can report the case to the domestic public security organ. If it is a foreign institution, it can report it to the Chinese embassy and consulate in the country where it belongs, and they will coordinate the local law enforcement agencies to crack down on the crime. For institutions that violate the law but have not yet constituted a criminal offense, A civil lawsuit or arbitration can be filed domestically for claims.”

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Don't believe the lie of getting a low score in a prestigious school

  Chen Zhiwen, a member of the expert group of the China National Education Examination Steering Committee, believes that "guaranteed admission" essentially reflects the utilitarian education view of some parents.

"If a child's eyes and ears are all eager for quick success and quick success, it will be difficult to consciously tighten the string of integrity." Chen Zhiwen said.

  In recent years, it is not uncommon for students to be dropped out of school due to false guarantees.

In 2018, seven Chinese students were expelled from the State University of New York at Stony Brook for submitting false transcripts when applying for graduate studies.

In 2019, a student surnamed Wang was expelled from the school for falsifying the materials he applied to Columbia University in 2016.

  "Entering university is not the end of success," said Jiang Xin, operations manager of INTO Education Group headquarters in the United Kingdom, "If 'enrolled' students go to schools that do not match their own strengths, they will not get good academic support and student care. The transition and adaptation will lead to poor academic performance. We both believe and hope that all students can adhere to the principles of academic integrity and avoid false grades or dismissal due to poor grades after admission.”

  For the "frequent rollover" of integrity, the review of colleges and universities is also constantly strengthening.

In December 2021, the University of Edinburgh first issued a restriction policy for students applying for OSSD courses, and made certain requirements in terms of institutions, teaching methods, course credits, and transcript submission methods.

  At the same time, the regulation of the industry is also speeding up.

In December 2021, the Overseas Education Research Center of China Education Think Tank Alliance (hereinafter referred to as "Xuemeng") established the National Overseas Education Industry Organization Standardization Service and Credit System Construction Alliance. Currently, more than 300 industry organizations have joined.

Xu Qingzhi, executive director of Xuemeng, said that Xuemeng is actively establishing industry standards.

"We have also established an industry blacklist, and 50-60 institutions have been included in it, and the list will be announced to the public from time to time in the future."

  All in all, all parties are sending the same signal: parents and students should not believe any lies such as "taking shortcuts to ensure admission" and "low scores to elite schools".

  Today, Zhou Luo, who has broken with the "guaranteed admission", has finally obtained her degree certificate through her own efforts.

He re-submitted the application materials according to legal and compliant study abroad channels, waiting for the arrival of a real admission letter.

  When asked why he chose to believe in "guaranteed admission", another student Xu Zijie who had signed up for "guaranteed admission" left a sentence: "It should be vanity."

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