The existence of companies that take Chinese students' exams on their behalf and write their essays on their behalf
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Suspicions of at least 30 Chinese international students taking exams on behalf of others have emerged at the University of Iowa in the United States, causing a stir. Reuters, which investigated the proxy exams, revealed the existence of companies that target the increasing number of Chinese international students in the United States, offering services ranging from writing homework and essays on behalf of others to taking exams on their behalf and even fraudulently obtaining admission to universities.
This industry helps Chinese cheat their way into & through US colleges
http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/college-cheating-iowa/
Many Chinese students studying at the University of Iowa in the United States, far from their homeland in China, are attending university despite being unable to adapt to the different language and culture. Companies that solicit these Chinese students via email and chat, offering services such as completing homework and essays for them and taking exams on their behalf, are rampant. According to Reuters, which interviewed Chinese students directly, the services of these companies are an attractive offer that is hard to refuse for students struggling to adapt to the language and culture at American universities.
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Services such as proxy exams, essay writing, and online class attendance are being sold as courses averaging about $1,000 each. The University of Iowa, which is investigating students using these services, has not disclosed the names or nationalities of the students, but Reuters, which was able to contact a person involved in the university's investigation, said all of the suspects are Chinese.
Students who use proxy exam services and are the subject of university investigations will be expelled from their universities. In the United States, when international students are expelled from their universities, their student visas are revoked and they may be ordered to leave the country, which can lead to the perverse outcome of them returning to China after studying abroad.
Chinese students who use agencies that arrange essay writing and proxy exams have been found not only at the University of Iowa but also at other American universities, and those who are found face severe disciplinary action. There are also agencies that target not only Chinese students but also students of other nationalities and Americans, but due to the high demand for Chinese people to study abroad, there seem to be many agencies that specialize in Chinese students.
One Chinese student, while enrolled in the University of Iowa School of Law, paid $1,200 (approximately 130,000 yen) to a company called UI International to take his midterm exam in his place. In an interview with Reuters, the student explained his reasons for using the service, saying, 'At first, I didn't even consider having someone else take the exam for me. However, I started to worry about the exam because I was always getting poor grades on assignments. My family was very strict and had very high expectations of me for my grades at university. Also, my mother was ill, so I didn't want her to worry about my grades. So I asked a company to take the exam for me. I now realize that it was a mistake.'
Another Chinese student used a service introduced by a friend to have someone else attend classes and take tests in his place. He paid the huge sum of $2,400 (approximately 260,000 yen), but his cheating was discovered by the university and he was expelled. The student is currently looking for another school, but it is unclear whether there are any that will accept him.
By Christopher Wolfe
The websites of companies that provide essay writing services and proxy test-taking services are filled with sweet promises such as 'We guarantee the highest score on every test' and 'We will refund your money if you are not satisfied with our service.' These companies use all sorts of tactics to approach students, such as obtaining their email addresses and then using them to sell to them.
Some companies that offer essay writing services, proxy exams, and even class attendance services even fraudulently assist with university admissions. A Reuters investigation has revealed that some companies assist with admissions to American universities by falsifying transcripts and writing applications that falsely state academic backgrounds. The prevalence of these services appears to be due to the fact that admission to American universities is relatively easy compared to the fierce entrance exam wars in China, and that graduating from an American university offers a higher chance of finding a high-class job than graduating from a Chinese university.
It seems impossible to weed out students who falsify their academic records at the admissions stage, but there are approximately 761,000 international students at all universities in the United States, about one-third of whom are Chinese. The University of California, Davis, received applications from 13,560 students from overseas in 2015 alone. The University of Iowa received approximately 5,000 applications in 2015, and thousands of documents were submitted for admissions screening. It seems extremely difficult to investigate whether all of these documents are forged.
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