Search Page

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has taken strict action against 21 fake universities discovered across the country, including seven in Delhi. The information about these fake institutions came to light through public protests, student complaints, and references from states, Union Territories, and even local authorities. The UGC has issued warnings against these universities and published their names on its official website.

Four abandoned buildings have made a Gwalior primary school teacher a millionaire. His permanently closed private nursing and education colleges allegedly sold bogus degrees to hundreds of students each year, without running courses or giving them practical training in hospitals. An investigation showed Gwalior has become a hub for issuing nursing degrees in cheap private colleges affiliated to state universities and accredited by the Nursing Council.

The Gombe State High Court sentenced a retired secondary school principal to two years imprisonment for fraud and running of illegal institutions. Between 2009 and 2015, he defrauded candidates of over N3.8 million in the guise of offering them admission into his three illegal higher institutions.

San Diego Ashford University, and its parent company, Zovio, have been fined US$22.37 million for fraudulent admissions tactics that left some students in serious debt and without degrees. According to San Diego Superior Court judge, the college has made bogus claims about career outcomes, costs and financial aid to lure vulnerable students to enrol in the online university programmes.

Cameroon’s Minister of Higher Education revealed that the private American University in Central Africa, recruiting students for its programmes is a clandestine university. In 2020, the Minister ordered the African Regional Training Centre for Labour Administration, the Pan African Institute for Development and the Bamenda University Institute of Science and Technology to desist from awarding Bachelor’s degrees and suspend all Master's and Doctorate programmes for non-compliance with the conditions of the accreditation granted to them.

In 2018 the Higher Education, Science and Innovation Department had successfully prosecuted 40 fake institutes. However, by the end of 2021, the number of institutions offering fake bachelor’s and doctoral degrees has increased. During an awareness campaign on bogus colleges, officials will address the dissemination of information related to these higher education organisations.

Nigeria’s National Universities Commission (NUC) had discovered fake institutions in Benin awarding PhD degrees after students completed bogus studies in less than one year. According to NUC, academic projects and theses were sold for about NGN3,000 (about US$7.32) per copy, and sexual harassment was prevalent. Many of these fraudulent institutions are run by Nigerian proprietors who target students from Nigeria, where public universities struggle to accommodate a high number of qualified students seeking admission.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered the shutdown of illegal campuses of private universities across the country. Preston University and Al Khair University has set up illegal campuses in Karachi and Lahore and students approached the Higher Education Commission (HEC) because these universities were not issuing degrees. The Court directed the HEC to award degrees to the students who had passed out from illegal campuses through some special arrangement and implement these policies throughout the country.

El ministro de Educación Superior sudafricano expresó su preocupación por el creciente número de instituciones falsas que conceden doctorados honoríficos, en su mayoría a celebridades, entre ellas una empresaria y personalidad de la telerrealidad y un artista local. El ministro pidió al Consejo de Educación Superior que investigue y asesore sobre las medidas apropiadas en todos los casos denunciados de estos títulos honoríficos falsos.