Tag Archives | Universities

Youth writing winner: the battle against corruption starts from within

If young people want to see change in the world, they have to realise the battle against corruption starts with them – they must resolve to do the right thing. This is the message from Nigeria’s Ugoh Wilson Emenike, 23, the winner of our 20th anniversary youth writing competition. Emenike’s essay is a semi-fictional account of […]

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Arab universities must admit the cost of corruption

This article by Elizabeth Buckner orignally appeared on Al-Fanar Media, a website featuring news and opinion about higher education within and beyond the Arab world. A report released by Transparency International, “Global Corruption Report: Education,” is the first report by the organization examining corruption in education. But the report hardly covers the issue at Arab […]

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Transparent Education wins lawsuit against Hungary’s biggest university

According to a 21 October ruling, Hungary’s largest university – Eötvös Loránd (ELTE) – is being ordered to release the names of student union members in the law faculty who received “public service scholarships” and bonus payments for participating in the student government. This groundbreaking ruling comes in the wake of a freedom of information […]

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Factors that give rise to corruption in higher education

Imagine these scenarios: A dormitory manager in Romania accepts money in return for providing campus accommodations to ineligible students. To improve his publication record in advance of a promotion review, a faculty member in Greece engages in plagiarism. In Nigeria, a faculty member pays a journal to publish her article without scientific review. In Ghana, […]

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“But are you a real doctor?” Shortcut doctorates in Germany

Last month, German Education Minister Annette Schavan resigned after a university revoked her doctorate due to allegations of plagiarism. Only two years ago, the then-Minister of Defence, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg also stepped down for the same reasons. These two high-level cases, in addition to numerous other plagiarism cases involving German politicians (such as Members of […]

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Is there enough transparency at US universities?

As university tuition costs increase and the job market remains weak, with many college graduates unemployed or underemployed, the choice of university for young US adults becomes increasingly a financial one. And to make a good financial choice, one needs good information. Consider these facts: even after controlling for inflation, between 1980 and 2010 the […]

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Big business on campus

One of the more disturbing revelations in Inside Job, the 2010 documentary film that brilliantly exposes the corruption in the financial industry in the lead-up to the crash, is that of the widespread connections between universities and Wall Street. The film reveals that some prominent academic economists were paid by firms to speak out or […]

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“Universitywatch”: a wiki to name undue corporate influence at universities in Germany

Elisabeth Kahler and Christian Humborg work with Transparency Germany and prepared the launch of “universitywatch”. Berlin: Until 2011 Deutsche Bank funded two endowed chairs, one at the Institute for Applied Financial Mathematics at the Humboldt University Berlin and one at the Technical University Berlin. The steering committee named to appoint the chairs represented both sides […]

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