Dive Brief:
- More than 1,000 international students paid brokers to help them enroll in the University of Northern New Jersey, where they could work in the United States and remain on student visas that otherwise would have expired — but the university was a fake, part of a sting operation conducted by the Department of Homeland Security.
- The New York Times reports 22 brokers were arrested for arranging students' enrollment and charging between $3,000 and $12,000. Out of the more than 1,000 students who paid in the last three and a half years, 25 have been named as co-conspirators, though officials say all of them knew they were committing fraud by enrolling in a university and never going to a single class.
- Implicated students say they were collateral damage. They say they were duped by brokers and the government which set up meetings between students and the university president, sent letters confirming they could work instead of go to class.
Dive Insight:
After graduating from a U.S. institution, international students can apply to extend their stay beyond what a student visa would have allowed, but if they do not find an employer to sponsor a work visa in time, their situation becomes desperate.
While the government seems to be taking a firm stance against students who were all too happy to pay for enrollment in an institution that didn't require them to take classes, some critics of the operation say students were caught in the crossfire.
The director of federal relations and policy analysis for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities told The New York Times he wonders why the Department of Homeland Security created a fake university instead of going after existing ones. If students had any questions about the legitimacy of UNNJ, many were persuaded by its certifications and accreditation. And now some are facing lifetime bans from the U.S.