The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has arrested 59 staff of public and private universities between 2017 and 2022 for bribery, abuse of power, false claims and other financial offences. One of the cases involved a director of a public university recently, allegedly receiving a car as an inducement to help a company obtain a tender worth about RM1.6 million, while a university professor was also arrested over alleged false claims involving a research fund of RM66,000.

The Anti-Corruption Commission has charged five members and an executive director of the North South University (NSU) board of governors with abuse of power, increasing their allowances to ten times the approved rate, and buying luxury cars at the expense of students. For more than a decade, NSU has offered several Bachelor of Business Administration programmes without University Grants Commission approval. According to an investigator, NSU was allowed to enrol 50 students in approved BBA programmes, but it enrolled about 2,700 students in one semester.

Instead of following the national regulations for granting honorary academic titles, the State University of Jakarta decided to pass its own rules. While politicians want academic titles to boost their public image and reputation, they are concerned about their careers rather than the university itself. “Usually, after the title-granting ceremony, funds or projects come in from the grantee’s office,” said a senior lecturer.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s investigation reveals that 10 national universities in South Korea allegedly misappropriated KRW9.4 billion of students’ tuition fees. The funds were intended to cover student guidance programmes and safety activities carried out by professors and staff during lunch hours, after work or on weekends. Employees at one of the national universities overstated the number of such activities by changing locations and clothes earning KRW1.2 billion.

The National Accountability Bureau has opened an investigation against the Higher Education Commission(HEC) Chairman for corruption, irregularities, mismanagement and appointment of consultants. Dozens of consultants were hired based on the high salaries of directors, some of whom were not only retired but also fresh graduates. According to University officials, the alleged HEC chairman was bullied for trying to mend a broken system.

An audit conducted at Yonsei University In Seoul revealed 86 cases of irregularities including unfair admissions, evaluations, and recruitment issues, as well as allegations of misappropriation of university funds by professors who used the university ‘corporate cards’ to pay for nightclub entertainment and golf. Twenty-six staff and faculty members are subject to disciplinary action, and eight cases have been filed for violations of regulations including allegations of misconduct or embezzlement and violations of private school laws.

Many senior educations officials have been arrested or disciplined for abuse of power for personal gain. Investigations revealed that the results of more than 200 students from the three provinces who took their exams had been modified. Dozens of students from the best universities were expelled or voluntarily dropped out of school after their results were corrected.