AllTop Viral!

Five current and former UCLA students have been accused of running a substantial international cheating ring at UCLA. These students helped at least 40 students––all Chinese nationals––gain admission into the prestigious school by taking the TOEFL, the English proficiency exam, for them. The scam’s ringleader, Liu Cai, was caught because he charged 39 exams to his own credit card.

The same kind of cheating scheme happened at the University of Iowa in 2016, where 30 students were caught cheating their way into the school. There are likely dozens––if not more––such scandals waiting to be uncovered since there are plenty of test-by-proxy services offered to Chinese students in particular.

A Stanford sophomore, Yusi Zhao, was expelled after the university discovered that her application contained falsified sailing credentials, which in turn were linked to a $500,000 payment to the school’s sailing program.

The Stanford Daily has further reported that the bribes went far beyond the $500,000 payment. Her family, Chinese nationals, paid a total of $6.5 million to get her into Stanford. The girl’s father, Tao Zhao, is a co-founder and chairman of multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company Shandong Buchang. The amount is the largest sum discovered by the investigation into college admissions fraud––so far.

Chinese citizens are drawn to prestigious U.S. universities because they bestow tremendous social capital. Unfortunately, the credibility of all U.S. higher education is at stake in these cheating scandals. If universities wish to maintain their reputations, they must get ahead of these.

More education.