China is looking for ’empty student’ advisors, who will help you graduate without taking a single class, for a ‘relationship fee’ of $2,800

China’s state broadcaster has released a damning report on counselors and vocational colleges offering services with “empty student status,” allowing students to graduate without having attended classes.

CCTV’s “Financial Investigation” program reported Sunday that it has found five companies in Zhengzhou, Wuhan and Henan offering to help students enroll in and complete their desired degree programs for a cash compensation of 20,000 yuan, or $2,800.

According to the broadcaster, these consultants have illegally enrolled students in three-year courses at vocational or technical schools. Such institutions typically offer certificates equivalent to high school for skilled labor and are the gateway to fields such as IT or electronics.

Several counselors, who spoke to CCTV on camera, said they would use the $2,800 as a “relationship fee” for the schools.

“You don’t have to be present, you don’t have to go to class,” one consultant said in one clip.

The broadcaster kept all interviewees anonymous, as is common practice in Chinese media when dealing with people who are not celebrities or politicians.

“We just need the student’s residence registration, their personal information, a photo with a blue background,” said another consultant. “Then, after paying the fee, we sign a contract and give you the school registration.”

Others spoke on camera about how they could help their clients find schools with vacancies or connect with institutions of the student’s own choosing.

China finds schools that offer the same services

The broadcaster also published footage of staff from five schools in the same regions directly offering ’empty student status’.

These schools, spanning the automotive, aerospace, IT and engineering industries, told the camera that “empty students” only had to attend roll call once per semester.

Several said they could arrange for the student to take entire semesters of medical leave. One school required the client to clock in daily with a card, although they did not have to attend classes.

Staff at another school said the student was able to register his attendance through a mobile app.

The institutions typically limited the number of “empty students” to a small portion of the class present. One staff member said they accepted about three clients per class.

CCTV’s report is the latest in a series of posts that have garnered a lot of attention on Chinese social media recently. The post became the most talked about post on Weibo, the Chinese version of X, on Monday.

China has tried to crack down on “empty student” cheating in recent years, although most of the attention has focused on student cheating on national exams.

The scam is best known as a way to circumvent a national law that restricts students to schools within their registered region of residence.

Previous cases involved wealthy students “migrating” to less academically competitive regions using a “blank student status” service, allowing them to enroll in these new provinces without attending classes there.

However, they could take their entrance exams for state or higher education in the easier region, because they were registered there on paper.

Many Chinese youth and their families are obsessed with the results of these exams, as they are crucial to one’s future education and career.

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