Corruption, funding shortages and an obsession with profit are plaguing the quality of university education in Cambodia, students say, driving them overseas in search of masters and PhD programmes.

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.

The financial management of the elite Institute of Political Studies in Paris has been strongly criticized in an official report that found evidence of exorbitant bonuses, absence of controls and waste of public funds. The report revealed a chaotic management that consisted more of "little deals between friends than a serious administration of public funds".

Once comprehensively surveyed, the magnitude and reach of fraud is becoming clear. For example, research suggests that the majority of applications from a number of large student-sending countries are either significantly embellished or outright fraudulent. As a result, tens of thousands of international students, having passed through visa and admissions systems, are enrolled all over the world based on school transcripts, financial support statements, recommendation letters or test scores that are untrue.

Bar-Ilan University was fined by the Council of Higher Education for admitting students without bachelor's degrees to graduate programs. The panel ruled that Bar-Ilan will be responsible for financing the undergraduate degrees of students who were enrolled in violation of the Council of Higher Education's guidelines.

According to an in-depth study entitled Effective Delivery of Public Services in the Education Sector, the progress achieved in Mozambique's education system in the last twenty years are is being threatened by diversion of funds, fraud concerning school admission and the awarding of building contracts, as well as by sexual extortion for good grades. The authors of the inquiry underline the urgent necessity to implement an anti-corruption legislation.

Continuous strengthening of internal financial control and a policy of zero tolerance for maladministration and corruption by the Ministry of Education has led to an unprecedented ongoing investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Strengthened measures at the ministry uncovered suspicious incidents where there was the possibility of rogue companies benefiting from ministerial procurement.

The Nigerian Minister of State for Education has discharged bribery allegations of 40 per cent (N6.8bn) kick-back from 4th quarter allocation of 104 Unity Colleges from principals of schools. The Minister claimed that the report was baseless and false.

The Kogi State Government claims to have uncovered 800 non-existing primary schools and at least 3,000 ghost teachers on its pay roll during a recent screening exercise. The Nigerian Accountant-general who informed journalists in Lokoja of this, said that such expenditures had been draining government coffers and that counteractive measures would be taken.

A number of universities have been falsifying graduate employment data to raise funds and attract students, according to a government investigation. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced that 28 universities across the country falsely reported the employment rate for their graduates.