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The Polish government has introduced measures to combat corruption in the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR), including increasing oversight by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Reports of misuse of funds and irregularities in grant allocation have prompted investigations and led to changes in the NCBiR's operations. Additionally, efforts are underway to ensure transparent and equitable financing of universities, with plans to increase funding for science and higher education.

A global surge in fraudulent research papers, exceeding 10,000 retractions last year, has become an international scandal. Originating in China, the issue has spread to other regions, with "paper mills" producing fabricated studies. Bribes to editors and infiltration of fraudulent agents exacerbate the problem. Major publishers are taking action, but financial incentives for researchers to publish persist. The escalating prevalence of sham science is eroding the foundation of trustworthy scientific knowledge, prompting calls for systematic solutions to address this growing threat to the integrity of research.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed concerns about organized crime exploiting lax oversight in England's unregulated colleges, potentially profiting from student loan fraud amounting to £60 million. The report highlights instances of fraud and abuse at private higher education providers offering courses in collaboration with mainstream universities. Some providers allegedly enroll students with little interest in completing courses to access government-backed maintenance loans, leading to substantial financial gains through tuition fees and franchising fees.

In the book "Corruption in Higher Education: Global Challenges and Responses," 34 experts shed light on various corruption issues in higher education: contract cheating and outsourcing assignments; ambivalent hiring processes; fake universities that take various forms, from profit-driven schemes to students buying degrees without fulfilling obligations; corruption research involves scholars, administrators, and agencies, united against academic corruption. Future steps include integrity theory development, examining secondary education's impact, leveraging technology, avoiding social group stigmatization, and fostering global cooperation.

At a press conference, the Minister of Higher Education admitted to violating government rules by participating in a January meeting that approved a NOK2.6 billion (US$257 million) contract with an ammunition manufacturer. This contract later expanded to NOK4 billion. He also faces allegations of nepotism for appointing a longtime friend to the board of the Norwegian Institution for International Affairs in 2021.

A survey of 2,000 university students and 500 employees conducted by the Center for the Development of Youth Activism (CROA), found every fourth student has had an encounter with corruption - such as paying for a better grade. In addition to bribes and coerced textbook purchases, some students were pressured to join political parties and extorted for sexual favours. CROA is not only passing on the complaints to universities for a follow-up investigation, but is also planning anti-corruption training for professors, staff, and students. And it is working to include conflict of interest in universities’ codes of ethics.

Six Iranian and Azerbaijani nationals have been arrested for stealing and selling questions and answers from the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) that foreign students take for admission to universities in the United States and Turkey. The suspects allegedly charged the “buyers” between $2,000 and $3,000 for the questions provided in their network called “quarantine houses”. While searching the addresses where the suspects were arrested, Turkish police found SAT admission papers, official test question books and a host of digital evidence.

A forger spotted in 2019 by the Ministry of Higher Education has been charged with forgery, counterfeiting and sale of official documents, fraud and money laundering. Since 2015, he had been selling fake diplomas by the thousands at €200 each. With the complicity of a taxi-ambulance driver who photographed patients' documents, he bought pre-paid cards under these false identities, which were then paid for by electronic transfers by the purchasers of the false diplomas via their own pre-paid cards.