ND University Awards Hundreds of Unearned Diplomas to Foreign Students?

Last week, the North Dakota University System released an internal audit
showing that Dickinson State University for years has awarded hundreds of
diplomas to foreign students who did not earn them. (Associated Press, Feb. 10, 2012) It also revealed
that the University enrolled students who did not speak English and enrolled
others who did not have qualifying grades. (Id.)

The audit examined foreign students who participated in a program that
allowed them to earn degrees both from Dickinson State and a university in their
home country. (Id.) Of the 410 students who received degrees, 400 did
not have records of completing the required coursework. (Id.) In
addition, of the University’s 127 agreements with international schools to grant
degrees to their students, only four had the required details to be recognized
as valid. (Id.) Other findings included evidence that the University
admitted students who were not proficient in English or who had falsified
transcripts. (Id.)

About 95 percent of the students in the Dickinson State University program
were Chinese, reflecting the growing enrollment of Chinese students nationwide.
In fact, China sends more students to the United States than any other country,
lured by universities that charge them full tuition. (See Associated Press, Feb. 11, 2012) During the 2010-11 academic
year, 157,558 Chinese students were studying in the U.S., an increase of almost
24 percent from the previous year. The number of Chinese students in the United
States has risen by at least 19.8 percent for each of the past four years. (Associated Press, Feb. 10, 2012)