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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.

The "bad men" of today seem to get around. They also seem to have a certain weakness for schools and universities. According to 2011 survey data by Transparency International, globally, 35% of the population in 100 countries has no trust whatsoever in the integrity of their education institutions.

According to Babson Survey Research Group's last survey of online education programmes at colleges and universities, 6.1 million students took at least one online class in fall 2010 – a 10.1 percent increase over the previous year. But as the number of students in online courses increases, so too does the potential for cheating.

Once comprehensively surveyed, the magnitude and reach of fraud is becoming clear. For example, research suggests that the majority of applications from a number of large student-sending countries are either significantly embellished or outright fraudulent. As a result, tens of thousands of international students, having passed through visa and admissions systems, are enrolled all over the world based on school transcripts, financial support statements, recommendation letters or test scores that are untrue.