University of Hong Kong makes police report over suspected fake student admissions
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The University of Hong Kong said it had identified “a small number” of students who submitted fake documents in their applications.
PHOTO: THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG/FACEBOOK
Follow topic:
The University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) business school has made a police report about suspected fraudulent student admissions and warned students not to risk gaining entry through illegal means.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the report came after an internal investigation by the school.
“After internal investigations, the HKU business school has reported to police suspicious cases regarding the submission of fraudulent documents during the admission process,” the school was quoted as saying on May 31. It gave no further details.
On May 20, a person posted on LIHKG, a Hong Kong-based forum website, claiming to be graduating from the university soon. In simplified Chinese, he said the qualifications he submitted for the admission process had recently been checked again by the university.
The student further claimed that an agency had earlier guaranteed an admission offer from the university by using fabricated academic transcripts.
On May 21, the university said it had identified “a small number” of students who submitted fake documents in their applications.
It added that it would revoke admissions and cancel registrations of students if it found enough evidence of misconduct.
“According to the law, making, using and possessing a false instrument are serious crimes,” HKU said on May 31.
“We urge students and their parents to remain vigilant and abide by the law. It is not worth taking grave risks to gain entry to top academic institutes through illegal means.”
Additionally, the school denounced agencies that claimed to offer “guaranteed admissions”, and those “profiting from fabricating application materials”.
SCMP reported that the incident involved postgraduate students.
The publication quoted a Hong Kong police spokesman as saying that the investigations started after the reports were received, with no arrests made so far.
Screenshots posted on Xiaohongshu – a popular Chinese social media platform – showed the university telling some business students that the academic credentials submitted in their postgraduate applications were not authentic, SCMP reported on May 31.
HKU also required that the students present contracts signed by agencies that helped them prepare and submit their admission applications, so that the school could report them to the police, it added.
HKU, Hong Kong’s oldest tertiary institution, ranks 35th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2024. It is sixth in the publication’s Asian University Rankings.
