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A seven-month investigation revealed that a number of Chile's universities are illegally operating as profit-oriented businesses. According to a report conducted by a special investigation committee, eight universities violated anti-profiteering laws amidst findings of increased salaries among executives, circulation of finances between companies under the same private ownership and outsourcing of services as means of generating revenue.

A new government report on recruiting techniques in the for-profit higher education industry finds instances of college officials urging applicants to invent children and to hide their savings as a way to leverage more federal aid.

Three former professors at Oral Roberts University have sued the evangelical institution in Tulsa (Okla) filing a petition in state court that accuses the university's president of using university resources to back a local mayoral candidate and to pay for an extravagant lifestyle for his family. The university released a statement denying the allegations.

According to investigations conducted in Nicaragua, among the 3 500 teachers from autonomous colleges who actually collect a salary on a monthly basis, in reality only 1 945 of them are actually teaching. At least 555 individual salaries are therefore paid to fictitious teachers or to individuals falsely (fraudulently) using the names of teachers.

A federal grand jury in Kansas indicted a former college-basketball coach last month on charges that he arranged for his players to receive phony academic credit and stole $120,000 in Pell Grants. The former coach faces a total of 51 years in prison and over $1.5-million in fines if found guilty of all counts.

California State University back on probation: a basketball coach tries to arrange for a player to receive credit for courses he never took.

The professoriate is a gatekeeper, determining a student's first exposure to ethical standards, traditions. Many observers of contemporary academic culture have documented cases if irresponsible and unethical behavior within the professoriate. Examples include lateness for class, use of vulgarity in scholarly forums, showing favouritism among students, improper use of campus funds, plagiarism, sexual liaisons with students, failure to properly perform administrative duties, and, most basic, unwillingness to uphold the value of truth in teaching and research.

Nearly half of the medical-school faculty members who serve on boards charged with protecting volunteers in clinical research also serve as industry consultants, duals roles that raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest, according to a study published today in the journal Academic Medicine. The study found that 47% of the faculty members serving on university panels, also had consulted for industry within the past three years.