The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) revealed that about 100 fake professors were discovered in the university system. Academics across the country expressed their surprise by asking for concrete evidence. However, according to a Ph.D. student at the Nasarawa State University, the revelation by the NUC Secretary may be targeting the hundreds of professors parading themselves in government offices who have not conducted any research or teaching in the last 20 years.

Nigerian universities have been accused of under-reporting the number of students and hiring professors already employed in other universities. They wanted to convince the National Universities Commission (NUC) that they have sufficient staff to meet master/student ratio requirements and maintain their program accreditation. Another issue raised in the NUC review process is the practice of sending lecturers to monitor activities in their own areas of study. This has led the lecturers to compromise on standards to favour their colleagues who may also then be sent to accredit programmes in their schools.

In an effort to enhance fairness and transparency in college admissions, the government announced an increase of the traditional admissions track based on the nationwide college entrance exam, while reducing the rate of the non-standardized admissions track – based on other factors such as school grades and extracurricular activities.

The Minister of Education announced that cheats selling their services to Australian university students would face two years imprisonment or fines of up to AU$100,000. Students who cheat will also be subject to their institutions’ own academic integrity policies and sanctions. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency will be empowered to request legal measures to force internet service providers and search engines to block cheating websites.

Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd has signed a memorandum of agreement with four universities in Indonesia to implement Dagang Net eScroll, a blockchain-powered web application for employers, graduates, universities and training providers to authenticate academic and training certificates. This application provides a unique signature and time-stamped certificate that can eliminate forgery, unlike traditional paper-based documents.

To fill the gap between demand and constant increasing supply, many players in the higher education sector live by the saying that ‘fake it if you cannot make it’. South of Punjab has been hit by fake education. In Alipur, a branch of a known college chain claimed to be affiliated with GC University, Faisalabad. Many students paid fees to get registered, however, the university website doesn’t recognize it as an affiliated college. The robbed students moved administration and made complaints. But the institutions are supported by the feudal lords in the area.

A professor at the University of South Africa (UNISA) gave a student plagiarised work of his research assistant who left UNISA. He helped him to fraudulently gain a master’s degree and eventually a Ph.D. He was given a written warning by UNISA valid 12 months.

After a surge in enrolment of international students, accompanied by a spike in cases of academic misconduct including plagiarism and using prohibited materials on exams, St. Clair College, in Windsor, created the position of academic integrity coordinator. Fanshawe College which had 852 academic offenses in 2016-18, with 907 the flowing year, plans to create a similar position.

110 offices selling forged degrees from non-Saudi universities have been identified by the Ministry of Higher Education. Prices for a fake bachelor’s or master’s degree can cost anywhere from SR3,000 to SR30,000 while a bogus doctorate can cost up to SR90,000 from an institution in the west. The degrees supplied by these diploma mills are issued by institutions that offer courses without approved standards or are simply issued by the transfer of money into an overseas account. Measures have been taken to detect such agencies.