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The financial management of the elite Institute of Political Studies in Paris has been strongly criticized in an official report that found evidence of exorbitant bonuses, absence of controls and waste of public funds. The report revealed a chaotic management that consisted more of "little deals between friends than a serious administration of public funds".

A third of French universities are "illegally" charging students for services that should be covered by statutory fees, claims Unef, France's biggest student union.

According to teacher estimates, 20% of assignments are copied and pasted from other sources. Anti-plagiarism charters should be systematically signed by both universities and students, but nothing can beat the eagle eye of the lecturer.

Students, lecturers: who are the plagiarists? Has the Internet revolutionized cheating? How can we combat this phenomenon, which over the last five years has taken on exponential dimensions.

The alleged peddling of diplomas to Chinese students has puzzled the universities implicated, which are now concerned over the effect of aspersions on the international renown of French tertiary training. Two inquiries – one judicial and one administrative – were opened up following complaints alleging that deals were done in which Chinese students were awarded diplomas in exchange for large amounts of money.

Several hundred Chinese students enrolled at the Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) at Toulon University, are thought to have bought their degrees. The preliminary inquiry begun on 26 March into "bribery, bribe-taking, and fraud" is investigating practices thought to have started four years ago.