The US-based Dickinson State University has been accused of being a "diploma mill" after local authorities recently discovered it was admitting unqualified international students and awarding them degrees even though they didn't finish the courses. No less than 95 percent of these students are reportedly from China.
Documents also reveal that the scandal-ridden university has established cooperative relationships with 19 Chinese universities, some of which have good reputations. China's Ministry of Education has dispatched a team of specialists to the US for further investigations.
According to the information available at this stage, the case seems to be pretty severe. Dickinson State has admitted 816 foreign students since 2003 to its international courses and 410 have graduated with diplomas, yet only 10 have actually met the graduation requirements. "Diploma mill" is indeed a fit title for it.
However, unlike other diploma scandals, which mostly involve faked or fraudulent colleges, Dickinson State University is recognized by authorities in both the US and China and is supported by the state of North Dakota. This is how its malpractice could go undetected.
But were Dickinson State's Chinese partners also unaware of this?
They have established quite a number of joint projects and courses with the university, and some Chinese students involved in the scandal were actually sent there through these joint courses. But were these projects and courses approved or under any authority's supervision?
The Dickinson State scandal has exposed a loophole in overseeing our cooperation with foreign academic institutes. We do have regulations that can shield our students and colleges away from faked overseas colleges.
But the law isn't effective in tackling the misbehavior of a recognized foreign university. And while the primary target of the current investigation is Dickinson State, it shouldn't be confined to there, but should also expand to those Chinese institutes involved, as we need to make sure that our universities weren't part of the scheme.
The Beijing News