In the media

The World Economic Forum estimates that corruption costs the global economy $2.6 trillion annually or about 5% of global GDP, prompting governments to explore digital tools for its eradication. Digital platforms and technologies like automation, blockchains, and AI can reduce opportunities for misconduct. However, the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) warns that technology could exacerbate the digital divide between wealthy and poorer nations.

A Swedish credential evaluator estimates that 10–15% of workers in fields like economics and engineering hold fake degrees or qualifications from unrecognized schools in certain countries. He highlights that credential fraud, a $7-billion-a-year industry often tied to organized crime, involves falsified diplomas, transcripts, and certificates. In a report last year, he called for stricter laws and clear penalties to combat fraudulent credentials and protect academic integrity.

A study from the University of California reveals rankings may be distorted by the business activities of the ranker, including selling consulting, analytics and other services to universities. Findings show that Russian universities using services provided by QS, a major ranking company, have increased their positions in the QS World University Rankings regardless of improvements in the quality of their institutions.

A survey on plagiarism conducted by Copyleaks collected responses from 31,000 colleges and 20,000 high school students worldwide. The study shows that the largest increase in plagiarized submissions was recorded in the Netherlands, with 26% of cases before COVID compared to 45% after the pandemic, i.e. a total increase of 19%. This was followed by France (37% before vs. 49% after, i.e. - a 12% jump), closely followed by India (42% before vs. 53% after; i.e.- an 11% jump). The UK, Canada and Germany all saw a 4% increase in plagiarism cases.

The Josephson Institute, which conducts a survey of high school students every two years, reports that while 50% of students admit cheating, 93% are "satisfied with their own ethics and character". A professor at Rutgers University also suggests that half of their students cheat at least once a year. To demonstrate a united global front against cheating, Member institutions from the International Centre for Academic Integrity participate in the 5th annual Day of Action Against Contractual Cheating.

Corruption is “a pernicious undercurrent” in every country, writes a researcher at International Higher Education at Boston College. In Armenia, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine, instructors face the dilemma of either ignoring cheating or taking the risk of dismissing students whose fees sustain the university. One study in Russia found that 72% of students in public universities had plagiarized from the internet. In India, the “survival of many small private universities depends on payments to government officials, recruiters and visiting committees, and fees paid by non-attending students”.

Cheating among students has reached unprecedented levels worldwide from academic misconduct among Britain's Russell Group universities from 2014 to 2017; ongoing cheating among student-athletes to enter or to stay at universities in the United States; unauthorized exam assignment sharing in Switzerland; contract cheating in Australia to plagiarism in many Eastern European countries. If universities just declare their integrity but do not practice it, they might not be able to expect it from students.

According to a report published by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the International Quality Group, corruption in higher education vary between countries but it highlights unethical, inappropriate, and illegal practices. Some examples include university leaders and professors with fake or undeserved doctoral degrees impacting on the governance of some Russian universities, ‘ghost advising’ or absenteeism by senior academics, delegating their responsibilities for teaching or supervision to junior colleagues or research students, is widespread in Kosovo, or students and teachers sexually harassing, threatening or harming academic teaching staff in Uganda.

The government-funded apprenticeship 3aaa was placed into immediate administration, putting 4,500 apprenticeships at risk, after the Department for Education pulled all of its funding from the firm following the police investigation of fraud. The DfE’s Education and Skills Funding Agency allocated more than £31m to 3aaa last year for apprenticeships and adult learning schemes.

The International Monetary Fund has unveiled a new blueprint for tackling the global scourge of corruption, conceding that its approach to the issue has been “uneven” in the past. The new policy isn’t perfect, but, if implemented, could represent an important step in throwing the IMF’s weight behind global fight against corruption. While these steps are welcome, by framing corruption exclusively in economic terms, the new policy overlooks the way in which corruption’s corrosive social impact has far-reaching economic implications. For example, it does not direct IMF staff to analyze or document governments’ social spending, such as on health and education.