The rector of the Moscow State University of Culture and the Arts is alleged to have handed out 130 "false" law degrees between 2001 and 2004 in exchange for bribes worth RUR300,000. Estimates of how much students pay teachers and academics in bribes every year range from RUR250m to RUR300m.

Reported instances of bribery and corruption increased sharply last year on campuses throughout Russian Federation. More than 1,000 incidents of bribe-taking and related abuses by administrators and professors were confirmed in 2001, an increase of 32 percent over the 2000 levels.