This year, admissions to first-year part-time programs were suspended across both public and private universities in Uzbekistan. In response, some private universities have allegedly ramped up illicit admissions to second-, third-, fourth-, and even fifth-year part-time study programs. According to legal expert Khushnudbek Khudoyberdiev, 26,000 students have been added to the part-time study track in the HEMIS system since the beginning of the year – 4,800 of them concentrated in just two private universities.

Social media ads offer illegal admissions to higher years

Open advertisements offering admissions to second- and third-year part-time programs have been circulating on social media. Khudoyberdiev, a lawyer and blogger, conducted an investigation by posing as a potential client.

His findings reveal the following:

  • Various consulting firms claim they can arrange part-time admissions to the second, third, fourth, or even fifth year of university.
  • Over 50 different academic programs are offered, all at private institutions.
  • Prospective students are given a list of over 10 private universities and told to choose one.
  • The service fees charged by these firms range from UZS 10 million to UZS 30 million depending on the program, while tuition fees must be paid separately by the student. The firm’s fee is for its “services” only.
  • A fake academic transcript is produced in the student’s name, claiming they previously studied at a university in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, or Kazakhstan. However, the student is not shown this document.
  • Using this fake document, the student is “transferred” into an upper-year part-time program at a private university in Uzbekistan. The university then issues a contract, and once the tuition is paid, the student begins studies in the second, third, fourth, or even fifth year – as though everything were legitimate.

“This process likely involves the universities themselves,” Khudoyberdiev wrote. “A respectable institution would verify a student’s documents and would never accept forged credentials. But when faced with a client ready to pay millions in tuition, universities are becoming active participants in this corrupt scheme.”

“They don’t just place you in a university – they also backdate your entry into the ministry’s HEMIS system. But first, they require full payment of the tuition,” he added.