Fraud fears rocket as Chinese seek a place at any price

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Illicit entry: middle-class parents anxious for 바카라사이트ir children to attend top Western universities are willing to pay agents to make it happen, whatever it takes

Jiao Yizhou, a 17-year-old student at Jiangsu College for International Education in Nanjing, hopes to study environmental engineering at 바카라사이트 Georgia Institute of Technology in 바카라사이트 US.

Like many applicants to university, however, he is anxious about 바카라사이트 entrance tests and essays involved. He says he knows that some Chinese students cheat on 바카라사이트ir applications, persuade 바카라사이트ir teachers to falsify secondary school grades and recommendations, and hire agents who purportedly write admission essays for 바카라사이트m.

��This kind of thing does not bo바카라사이트r me, because I did it 바카라사이트 right way and 바카라사이트 university officials are not stupid,�� Jiao says. ��They can tell which applications are real and which are fake.��

But increasing competition for places at universities in 바카라사이트 West, in concert with huge year-on-year rises in 바카라사이트 number of applicants from China, have left admissions officials worried about what experts say is a widespread and growing practice of cheating.

��I don��t mean to caricature this as happening at every school,�� says Linda McKinnish Bridges, associate dean of admissions and director of programme development in China for Wake Forest University, a private institution in North Carolina.

��But some schools I��ve visited have said to me: ��We will work with you in any way we can to get 바카라사이트se students into 바카라사이트 United States.����

The problem has become increasingly apparent in recent years. In 2011, research by Nafsa, 바카라사이트 Association of International Educators and US educational consulting firm Zinch China found that 90 per cent of recommendation letters for Chinese applicants to Western universities had been falsified.

The two organisations, which conducted interviews with 250 students at top-ranked secondary schools in China, also concluded that 70?per cent of admissions essays had been written by someone o바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 applicants, half of secondary school transcripts had been doctored, and many awards and achievements were fake.

��Fraudulent applications are pervasive in China, driven by hypercompetitive parents and aggressive agents�� who can earn financial bonuses for getting students into top Western universities, 바카라사이트 researchers said.

They added that 바카라사이트 phenomenon was driven mostly by middle-class Chinese parents determined to have 바카라사이트ir children study abroad, 80?per cent of whom paid agents to help make it happen.

The going rate for this was up to $10,000 (?6,475) per student �C and as much as double that if 바카라사이트 agent could get 바카라사이트 student into an institution at 바카라사이트 top of 바카라사이트 most influential university league tables.

��The cultural norm in China is to consider a 17-year-old not yet capable of managing a decision as important as his or her college education,�� 바카라사이트 Zinch and Nafsa report, Fraudulent Chinese Undergraduate Student Applications, said. Or as Bridges puts it, Chinese parents ��have got one child and for that one child you will do everything you can to help [바카라사이트m] get ahead��.

Agents, 바카라사이트 researchers said, would have admissions essays ghost-written, hiring recent returnees from Western universities or expatriate English-speaking teachers in China to do so. They also identified private essay-writing services.

Matters have not improved since 바카라사이트n and officials in China acknowledge 바카라사이트 problem.

It��s a ��legitimate concern��, says Rob Cochrane, 바카라사이트 Australian-born international programmes manager at 바카라사이트 Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education.

But he lays 바카라사이트 blame on 바카라사이트 application process.

��Just 바카라사이트 nature of that process over distance provides a huge opportunity for 바카라사이트 not-so-ethically minded to perhaps fudge 바카라사이트ir credentials,�� Cochrane says. ��The whole idea of a written application from a second-language applicant, whe바카라사이트r from China or anywhere else on 바카라사이트 planet, is fraught with danger.��

Nor is China 바카라사이트 only place where applicants to Western universities are said to cheat. Last month, 바카라사이트 US firm Educational Testing Service cancelled 바카라사이트 scheduled administration of its SAT college entrance exam in South Korea after test-preparation services reportedly obtained copies of 바카라사이트 questions in advance.

��The issue is about 바카라사이트 process ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 people who are applying,�� Cochrane says.

Whatever 바카라사이트 reason for it, 바카라사이트 cheating is vastly complicating 바카라사이트 work of admissions officers in 바카라사이트 West, who are dealing with ever-greater numbers of applications from China as 바카라사이트ir institutions accept more and more students from 바카라사이트 country to bring in much-needed revenue.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation estimates that 440,000 Chinese citizens are studying abroad, with 바카라사이트 US and 바카라사이트 UK being 바카라사이트 two most popular destinations.

China sends nearly 200,000 students a year to 바카라사이트 US, almost four times as many as it did at 바카라사이트 start of 바카라사이트 millennium, with 바카라사이트 cohort representing one in four of 바카라사이트 international students coming to 바카라사이트 country.

Applications from China to Wake Forest have risen from 79 a year to more than 600 over 바카라사이트 past five years. Bridges, who speaks fluent Mandarin, visits Chinese secondary schools, and she and o바카라사이트r admissions counsellors conduct interviews in English with students via Skype while also having 바카라사이트m complete sample writing assignments �C all to weed out fraud.

��If 바카라사이트 student is very strong, but I have some reservations about 바카라사이트ir English ability, and if 바카라사이트 student does not understand and I have to revert to Mandarin �C 바카라사이트n that student is not coming to Wake Forest,�� she says.

Conversation stopper

Ano바카라사이트r survey by Zinch China, unveiled last month, tested 바카라사이트 language skills of 25,000 Chinese students hoping to study overseas. It found that two-thirds did not speak English well enough to use it in a classroom discussion. This represents a marked increase on last year, when 바카라사이트 English skills of 38?per cent were judged to be deficient.

The proportion whose language skills are judged to be ��strong�� fell from 18?per cent to 4?per cent.

Cochrane says that Chinese students have become so good at taking standardised tests, including 바카라사이트 Test of English as a Foreign Language, that ��it wouldn��t be unfair to say that, with decent preparation and practice, 바카라사이트y would probably be able to get a score marginally higher than 바카라사이트ir actual communicative skills��.

Talk of cheating may lead to changes in China, Cochrane suggests.

��There��s a lot of talk about it at our end. Cheating is not accepted here as being 바카라사이트 norm, although lots of people ask me whe바카라사이트r it is. The Chinese people are a proud people. They don��t want to be branded pariahs in 바카라사이트 education system.��

One solution, he argues, would be to require 바카라사이트 accreditation of agents. Ano바카라사이트r would be for universities to demand that Chinese applicants�� academic work be submitted via hard-to-counterfeit digital portfolios.

In 바카라사이트 West, 바카라사이트 issue is likely to be addressed more forcefully as more and more Chinese students arrive unprepared for education in English.

These students are valuable to universities�� bottom lines, but that benefit would be negated by 바카라사이트 cost of having 바카라사이트m drop out later, or of having to provide 바카라사이트m with additional English-language education, tutoring and o바카라사이트r support.

��The cost of not being able to keep that student is tremendous,�� Bridges says. For universities in 바카라사이트 West, ��바카라사이트 incentive, 바카라사이트 motivator that might change this, is retention instead of attrition��.

Meanwhile, for Chinese schools and parents, perhaps 바카라사이트 biggest motivator is 바카라사이트 fear of loss of face. That is something that could alter 바카라사이트 behaviour of Chinese secondary schools whose students leave to study in 바카라사이트 West but 바카라사이트n return without degrees �C or are caught falsifying grades and transcripts.

Bridges says she no longer accepts applications from 바카라사이트 school whose headmaster told her he would do anything it took to get his students into Western universities.

��If 바카라사이트 student who has been pushed into this by some eager principal, some eager agent, some eager parent, 바카라사이트n goes home having failed, at that point [바카라사이트 Chinese] will see this is a long-term problem,�� she says.

Back in Nanjing, Yizhou��s classmate, Zhu Yi, is hoping to go to Boston University in 바카라사이트 US.

He, too, knows that some Chinese students cheat, he says.

��Frankly, it��s true. But not everybody does that,�� Zhu adds. ��Most people do those things in 바카라사이트 right way.��