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The “proliferation” of essay mills over the past 5 years has led to an increase in the number of plagiarism cases. Last year, 338 cases were reported by universities in the North, with the majority of cases at Aberdeen University and Robert Gordon University. 1,000 essay mills companies are currently operating across the UK. Some are allegedly involved in exploiting graduates overseas where they are forced to work 12-hour shifts producing essays for as little as $1 an hour.

According to the director of Higher Education Resource Services South Africa (HERS-SA) paper, 41 (50%) of women had experienced bullying in higher education workplace. Several South African institutions, including the University of Cape Town (UCT), the University of Venda, and UNISA, have been in the news over claims of bullying, amid other controversies. At UCT, the Vice-Chancellor was accused of bullying by 37 UCT academics and staff members. Research also shows that some victims are bullied because they observed and spoke up about corruption, or even worse when they were forced to be part of corrupt processes.

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.

The head of South Australia's Independent Commissioner against Corruption launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct and malpractice on the part of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide after he resigned for health reasons. The university had previously projected revenues of more than A$1 billion (US$705 million) for this year, but these have been replaced by projected losses of A$100 million.

The principal of Zakir Husail Delhi College has been promoted to his current designation through dubious and fraudulent means. To meet the eligibility to the post of principal, he plagiarized his work, copied full papers of other authors without mentioning or giving credit. A letter of complaint signed by several academic council members has sent to University Grants Commission.

Transparency International Zimbabwe reports that many students are put under pressure to have sex for good grades, but when they bravely report this, justice is often hard to achieve. Sextortion in which sex, rather than money, is the currency of the bribe is not yet legally recognized as a form of corruption most universities in Zimbabwe do not have a clear policy for identifying and addressing such cases. There is no legal framework that recognizes sextortion as a form of corruption, and the police also have a limited understanding of it.

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.

The University of Lagos has suspended a lecturer who was caught on film propositioning and sexually harassing an undercover BBC reporter. Several students in the film also made allegations of abuse against the lecturer. The university said it was "highly embarrassed" by the allegations and pledged to do "all that is necessary" to investigate and combat the "menace" of harassment at the institution.

In Russia and Ukraine, discussion of sexual abuse is not welcomed. Nevertheless, faculty and staff are involved in exploiting and abusing students in many different ways like offering positive grades in examinations in exchange for sex. It is not only students who suffer from sexual harassment but also faculty and staff recruitment. Promotion is influenced by bribes or sexual favours as well.

A report revealed that hundreds of university students had been disciplined or expelled for making sexually explicit, homophobic or racist comments on social media. In order to improve online safety for staff and students, Universities UK has published guidance for its members on how to tackle harassment including cyberstalking, trolling and sexting.