A business school at Hong Kong’s oldest university is investigating whether some applicants used fake documents to enrol in its master’s programmes after identifying “a small number” of cases and several agencies suspected of supplying the papers.
A spokeswoman for the University of Hong Kong’s business school on Tuesday also warned that those caught using fake documents would have their admission offers rescinded, their enrolment nullified and would be reported to police.
The incident came to light on Monday when a screenshot shared on Reddit-like forum LIHKG showed an online post written in simplified Chinese from someone claiming to be a soon-to-graduate, who said the qualifications he submitted for the admission process had been recently checked again by the university.
The student claimed that an agency earlier guaranteed them an offer from the university through the use of fabricated academic transcripts.
According to the post, the university previously allowed applicants to submit academic transcripts by mail, but now required them to come directly from other institutions, with up to 300 students having their qualifications checked.
The university’s business school said it had identified “a small number” of cases involving suspected phoney admission documents, as it “unequivocally condemned” acts of dishonesty and reaffirmed its zero-tolerance policy towards academic misconduct.
The school added that it had also discovered certain agencies, including those offering “guaranteed” admission, were involved in fabricating application materials.
“While we understand that securing a place in a top graduate programme is not easy, it is regrettable that this competition has attracted individuals who resort to deceitful means in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage,” the spokeswoman said.
“We have taken immediate action and are conducting a thorough investigation into this matter.”
She said the school would implement disciplinary and legal measures as required by the university and the law if any cases were confirmed.
“If any agencies are found to be complicit, we will cooperate with the relevant legal authorities to ensure they are held accountable,” she added.
According to the school’s website, tuition fees for one -year master’s programme cost about HK$360,000 (HK$46,100) to HK$462,000.
Some courses also stipulate that applicants are not generally required to undergo an admission interview and only need to upload the necessary supporting documents.
