Some 30 master students caught using false credentials to enroll in HKU Business School

Some 30 master students have been caught using false documents for their enrollment into the Business School of the University of Hong Kong as the number is expected to rise to 80 or even 100, according to the school’s dean Cai Hongbin. 

In an interview with mainland-based Caixin News, Cai said since the school has launched a full probe in May, it was found that the false academic qualifications and transcripts were mostly from overseas tertiary education institutes. 

He also said all the involved students are Chinese and the agencies which helped fabricated the false qualifications are located in mainland China or overseas. No local education consultancies are involved. 

Cai said the Business School will tighten the process of verifying students’ academic qualifications by requesting them to additionally submit authentications from third-party platforms like the China Higher Education Student Information (CHSI) website or the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE). 

The school will also conduct interviews with some of the students on top of requesting them to provide their graduation certificate for their bachelor degrees and relevant transcripts, he noted. 

Cai pointed out that some of the students didn’t know the agencies would falsify academic documents and thought they would only help re-package students’ education background or write reference letters. 

In one case, the agency counterfeited a transcript with the “top student” award and a graduation certificate from New York University to help the applicant enroll in the Business School without the applicant knowing. 

The falsified documents were later submitted to HKU during the school's verification of the students’ education background, with Cai saying that the school almost couldn’t tell the documents were fake. 

Apart from agencies that hid the counterfeiting from both the school and students, some of the students and parents knew about or even actively participated in it, Cai said. He added that the school is now mulling how to handle the matter. 

Cai also said cases of successful enrollment through falsified academic credentials were not only found at the Business School and the school plans to integrate its findings into a full report for other universities to take reference.