Report Reveals 100 Fake Universities (and wild chickens)
A blog post last year noted the case of a non-existent university in the USA. Now there is an interesting report on China’s Diploma Mills which has shown up a large number of fake institutions in the country:
As China’s notoriously difficult college entrance exam, the feared “gaokao,” continues to be mired in controversy, some Chinese may be tempted to skip higher learning and just obtain a diploma from one of Beijing’s several fake universities. Human resources managers looking to hire from China, be warned: If you see a school like Capital University of Finance and Economics, Beijing Economic and Trade Institute or Beijing Foreign Trade Institute while reading over a resume, they’re fake.
In China, these illegitimate schools are called “universities of wild chickens,” and refer to institutions that have deceptive names that are similar to real, well-known universities, the main difference being that the fake ones have no licensing that allows them to even accept students, let alone reward degrees. Still, that does not stop those students who scored poorly on their gaokaos from turning to these kinds of institutions to get a fake diploma.
Disappointing really and not good news for students. “Universities of wild chickens” does sound like a very appropriate name for these outfits though.
