The proliferation of forged qualifications has been an increasing problem worldwide and has been no exception in the UK.
Last year, BBC investigations revealed a website in China selling fake degree certificates to UK universities, including the University of Kent, for £500.
At a time when tuition fees are at a high, and graduates are likely to finish their education with thousands of pounds worth of debt – how can we protect the value of education when you can purchase a qualification for significantly less?
Similarly, in Australia, fake degrees have been sold from leading Australian universities including the University of Sydney for a fraction of the cost of tuition.
UK ministers seem to recognize the dangers posed by an increasing number of available worthless certificates and have committed to a crackdown on the sale of fake degrees, after it was discovered that 190 bogus universities were offering fake degree certificates.
How educational institutions proceed to protect their certificates, and the effects, will remain to be seen.