Recently, the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) once again emphasized that remote course diplomas will not be recognized!
The following is a new notice issued by the CSCSE on March 24, 2022, reminding that the Ministry of Education cannot provide official degree authentication for some overseas institutions offering remote courses.
"Cross-border remote overseas academic degree certificates and higher education diplomas are temporarily not within our center's certification scope." After reading this, some international students expressed concern:
"Wait, I've already taken several semesters of remote instruction during the pandemic..."
"Excuse me, I just graduated from Zoom University last year and found an internship I like in China. Is my newly obtained offer going to be revoked?"
"I've already completed more than half of my university studies, only to find out I might not get my degree recognized because of this damn pandemic?"
"What exactly is going on? Can anyone help interpret this?"
…………
Although this message was released somewhat abruptly and with ambiguous wording, everyone need not worry too much, as this policy is not targeting all international students who have had online learning experiences.
Let’s also take a look at the correct interpretation of this policy together.
Interpretation of the Ministry of Education's Latest Supplementary Explanation
A day after releasing the policy, the Ministry of Education updated a supplementary "Q&A," providing specific explanations regarding the policy for different groups of international students.
International Students Studying Remotely Due to the Pandemic
For this group of international students, the Ministry of Education's explanation is: "Due to the impact of the pandemic, taking some or all courses online with the institution's permission, the obtained overseas diploma will not be affected during authentication."
That is to say, if the program that the international student is enrolled in was originally an in-person program (full-time) but shifted to remote teaching due to the pandemic, the student can obtain overseas diploma certification.
Simply put: If you enrolled in an in-person program (requiring in-person classes) but it was changed to remote instruction due to the pandemic, you can still obtain degree certification.
The majority of international students studying in institutions or programs offering in-person courses fall into this category. Therefore, if you have had temporary remote learning experience due to the pandemic, you will not be affected by this policy, so don’t worry about not getting your degree certified!
International Students Enrolled in Remote Programs
For this group, the Ministry of Education's explanation is: "Not within our center's certification scope." That is to say, if the program the international student is enrolled in was originally a distance learning program, the student cannot obtain overseas diploma certification.
Simply put: If your program is an Online Program, for example, an institution offers both Full-Time and Online modes for a certain program, and you chose the Online mode.
Or if you are taking open online courses on online learning platforms, these will not get degree certification. For example, Coursera courses may grant a certificate issued by the university through the platform, but this certificate cannot be recognized as a degree by the Ministry of Education.
Why Did the Ministry of Education Issue This Supplementary Explanation?
Due to the pandemic in recent years, many renowned overseas institutions have switched from offline to online teaching modes, and international students have been forced to attend "Home Study University."
However, this has also led some overseas institutions and agencies to take advantage of the pandemic to offer various online courses, using characteristics such as "low admission requirements, easy graduation, large enrollment numbers, and short study duration" to attract international students to enroll.
Regarding this phenomenon of "disguised diploma selling," the CSCSE had already issued the first announcement on remote teaching and degree authentication as early as March 20, 2021:
This supplementary explanation is yet another reminder of the risks of online courses and reiterates that the Ministry of Education's degree certification does not apply to remote programs.
Overall, this supplementary explanation will not affect international students normally enrolled in full-time offline programs, and they can rest assured in obtaining their overseas diploma certification.
Purely online programs were never accepted for degree certification, and this explanation once again warns everyone: although studying abroad has become increasingly competitive in recent years, while striving to be "top students," everyone should also keep their eyes open and choose programs wisely.
Wishing everyone academic success and smooth certification!
