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Fenglan School violated regulations and used false advertising to enroll more students than its legal capacity. 400 students were found to be “missing” in the local student registration system. According to a student, the school asked them to sign an agreement saying that students would take the standardized exam as a local teenage resident not associated with the school. As a result, the students would not obtain graduation nor take the college admission exam. Some private schools would also bribe local education officials in order to obtain student registration for these unqualified students.

A major Chinese education company has paid thousands of dollars in perks or cash to admissions officers at top U.S. universities to help students apply to American schools. According to eight former employees the company’s services didn’t end there. Employees engaged in practices such as writing application essays for students, altering recommendation letters and modifying grades on high school transcripts. The company’s success in gaining access to leading American colleges underscores how people on both sides of the Pacific are hungry to capitalize on Chinese students’ desire to study in the United States.

A Chinese university president was sentenced a lifetime in jail for taking bribes and embezzlement in a court in Southeast Jianxi Province on Tuesday, according to Xinhua. So far this year, 32 university officials have been accused of taking bribes or other. In November, eight school leaders, including the president of the elite Communication University of China in Beijing were removed from their jobs for corruption.

The recent confession to bribery by, the former admissions director for Renmin University, has called into question the integrity of the Chinese college admission system. The President has been mounting a campaign against corruption in China for more than three years, with higher education as one of the focal points. The ruling Communist Party’s antigraft agency has singled out 32 people working in higher education for investigations this year, with China’s education minister saying that corruption would not be tolerated in the education system.

The perception of academic autonomy and freedom in China has been distorted with many cases of misconduct reported. It is claimed that misuse of academic powers for illegitimate benefits such as money, honour, and even sex have occurred, yet only a small fraction has ever been officially verified or acted upon.

Corruption in admissions procedure, the sitting of exams and the allocation of scholarships is rampant in Chinese universities. One positive outcome of a recent plagiarism scandal is the design of a code of conduct for students and professors by Beijing's University.