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The Justice Department has unsealed conspiracy and wire fraud charges against 25 people in the $114 million sale of 7,600 fake diplomas from three now-defunct South Florida nursing schools. According to an FBI agent, the investigation into the nursing certificates began in 2019. The certificates allowed untrained individuals to sit for national nursing board exams and at least 2,800 of them passed.

The central figure in the scam in which wealthy parents paid huge sums to cheat on standardised tests has been sentenced to three and a half years in Federal prison. The mastermind of the sprawling college admissions scam known as Operation Varsity Blues pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering, and conspiracy

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged the accounting firm, Ernst & Young, with cheating on ethics exams for Certified Public Accountant licensing and lying about it to investigators. Along with the $100 million fine, the firm will have to undertake extensive remedial measures to fix the firm’s ethical issues. Auditors say that SEC is investigating three other large public accounting firms for conflicts of interest.

Following the arrest of a lecturer at the University of Kigali over allegedly forging academic documents, Rwanda’s Higher Education Council (HEC) decided to withdraw recognition for PhD degrees obtained from the United States Atlantic International University. The university has an accreditation from a UK based independent international educational agency, however, dismissed by HEC, because it is not a government agency in charge of accreditation in the UK or elsewhere.

A former administrator from Houston Independent School District was sentenced to one year of probation for her involvement in the admission scandal that ensnared wealthy parents across the country. She was accused of taking bribes from the admission consultant at the center of the scheme in exchange for allowing someone to sit exams on behalf of their clients ‘children or correct their answers. 50 more people were arrested last year in the scheme, in which authorities say undeserving kids were admitted to top universities with bogus athletic credentials or fake test scores.

Six officials at the Apex School of Theology orchestrated a scam to fraudulently claim $12 million in Federal student aid. The scheme involved recruiting fake students, forging fake applications for financial aid, as well as plagiarizing schoolwork and diplomas. FBI called the conspiracy a “blatant abuse of a Federally funded program” and “an insult to all taxpayers.

The director of the Training Domain, an educational institution in Fort Meyers designed to improve students ‘employability skills, has been charged with 10 counts of wire fraud and one count of Federal Student Assistance (FSA) fraud. From July 2017 to April 2019, she assisted students in applying for financial aid but instead of using the loan and grant proceeds to hold classes and for other educational expenses, the director kept the FSA fund and split them with students. She also created false and fraudulent high school diplomas.

Universities in the USA use a variety of approaches to combat cheating, from advanced plagiarism detection software, legal action against companies offering paper-writing services to interviews with students suspected of contract cheating. In Canada, the Academic Integrity Council of Ontario brings together college officials twice a year to share best practices. Australia and New Zealand have similar legislation in place: prison sentences up to two years and heavy fines.

According to the New York City Councilman, teachers have been forced to pass students who do not do well on exams or who do not even show up to class regularly. Evidence of cheating and intimidation from principals was shared with the Department of Education and the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The T.M. Landry College Preparatory School in Louisiana is under federal investigation over its college admissions practices, transcripts with fake grades, non-existent school clubs and fictitious classes. Many students accused the founder of the school of abusing them and falsifying their transcripts. The court records reveal that he was accused of choking and dragging a student. In the investigation, the founder said that wall-sits and kneeling were used to motivate students and prepare them for the challenges of the real world.