NUS will expel students with fake academic credentials, NTU will take disciplinary action

The National University of Singapore (NUS) has put up an advisory stating that if any student, past or present, are found to have gained admission through fraudulent means, such as through the presentation of fake or fabricated academic credentials, they will have their candidature terminated or conferred degree revoked.

Meanwhile, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) was quoted by The Straits Times as saying that it will take disciplinary action against any students who breach its code of conduct, including by the means of falsification, fabrication and facilitating academic dishonesty.

The warnings were given in response to posts on Chinese social media platforms, such as Xiaohongshu, offering services for either a "guaranteed" or "fast track" spot for applicants in their postgraduate degree programmes.

Agencies offering "direct admission" found on Xiaohongshu

In its advisory, NUS said it was aware of "purported" study agencies offering assistance with the application process and other admission requirements.

NUS added, "The agencies will typically employ fraudulent and deceptive means such as fabricating academic qualifications and other credentials, and including these fake documents in application packages to mislead universities."

The Straits Times reported that checks on Xiaohongshu found several of these agencies offering "direct admission" to NTU and NUS.

At least one agency, Zhongsheng International, was found to be offering such a service for about RMB300,000 (S$54,310).

Neither university works with study agencies

Both NUS and NTU also said they do not work with any study agencies for admissions purposes.

In the case of NUS, it was quoted as saying that it works with other universities and institutions awarding academic qualifications to conduct verification checks.

The university is also currently enhancing its systems with secure authentication software to verify credentials.

Meanwhile, for NTU, students with overseas credentials must obtain an official verification report from one of the university's approved credential verification agencies.

For students with credentials from universities in China, this includes the China Qualifications Verification and China Higher Education Student Information and Career Centre.

Any application found to be containing a falsified document will be rejected, NTU added.

Thus far, the number of fraudulent applications "remains low", NTU said.

As for NUS, it noted that it is seeing "increasingly intense competition" in gaining admission to its postgraduate programmes thanks to its "exceptional and high-quality" educational experience.

Top image from @Karana Putra Nugraha and @Takehanx on Google Maps.