The fake diploma business is booming on social media and in special offices. All a student needs is money and they can have a diploma in their hands that deserves a 10 in terms of quality. The only problem is that the student is not the author of it.
According to a research conducted by “shteg.org”, by using keywords such as “diploma” or “coursework” on the social network “Instagram”, at least 15 pages are identified that offer such services.
Students have the option to purchase ready-made papers written by “experts,” giving students the opportunity to put their name on a ready-made diploma.
In addition to selling diplomas, another concern is the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by students to complete assignments or theses. According to the “Civic Center”, 7 out of 11 public universities in Albania do not have an electronic anti-plagiarism platform, making it difficult for lecturers to verify whether a paper is original or created by AI.
Experts say that this “business” could have consequences for the education of students. A poor education will later be reflected in their performance in the workplace, bringing challenges to the labor market and the overall level of professionalism in various sectors. This phenomenon is expected to affect over 120 thousand students throughout Albania.
A booming market
Lorenci is a master’s student at one of the capital’s private universities. His day starts at 7 in the morning and ends at 9 in the evening.
During his bachelor’s degree studies, how did he manage to maintain a 9.9 average and graduate with a grade of 10?
“I want to maintain a good GPA and I’m thinking of ordering someone to make my diploma for a fee,” he says, also telling us that there are several physical locations near his faculty where he can order the diploma, which will have his name on it and will be graded by the professors.
Near three different university buildings, two public and one private, there are posters that say: “We work: Diploma Topics, Course Assignments, Editing, Corrections.” The interior resembles a chancellery where students can buy school supplies, however, there every student can “order” their diploma.
There, every student can order their diploma thesis, which costs 300 thousand old lek if it is a paper on a new topic that the writer does not have available, while a paper previously presented by another student costs 150 thousand old lek. Payment is made after the diploma is completed, while the power point presentation is “included in the price.”
“Last year I did a paper, it was a very nice topic… I did a great paper, but that girl barely defended it and got an 8,” the real author of the diploma says with regret, adding that until February she is very busy with students’ orders.
Announcements informing 120,000 students where they can purchase their diplomas or coursework are also widely found on social media.
“Still a hostage to your diploma????? Seek help and finish it now” – reads one of the posts of the “punime_diplomash” page on the social network “Instagram” where, among other things, it is emphasized that it has over 10 years of experience in this field.
According to a research conducted by “shteg.org”, it turns out that through a simple search in the “search” option with the keywords “diploma” or “course assignment”, 15 different websites offer the creation of diploma topics for students of all branches, from law to architecture.
For a fee, students from various branches of higher education institutions manage to purchase their completed diploma thesis or coursework without ever physically meeting the real author of the paper.
To complete a 60-page diploma thesis, students must pay 150 thousand old lek, while for a 100-page thesis the fee is 210 thousand old lek.
The price set for defending a diploma thesis does not vary depending on the language required, while “diploma writers” say they also guarantee the authenticity of the work.
“We are responsible for the quality and originality of the work until the end,” one of the people who writes articles for students told “shteg.org”.
In addition to responsibility, these sites follow their own policies to encourage the consumer to “buy” their product.
For that student who remembers to “order” much earlier, real authors also offer price discounts.
On one of the pages, students have been notified that for those who order their bachelor’s thesis during September 21-22, the payment will be discounted to 170 thousand old lek.
While in another, students are informed that they will benefit from a 20% discount if they reserve their papers between June 15-30, a 30% discount will be available to students who reserve the topic in July, and a 40% discount from the real price will be available to students who can instruct another student on which website to “order” their diploma topic.
Migen Qiraghi, representative of “Civic Stability”, says that the existence of these online and physical spaces has become a serious problem for education.
“In fact, a major gangrene is the flourishing of ‘businesses’ that, near universities, offer services for the realization of course assignments, diploma topics and, in some cases, even doctoral theses,” says Qiraxhiu, adding that the extent of this phenomenon is related to the inability of the lecturer to understand the authorship of the work, while the use of artificial intelligence also remains problematic in the authenticity of the work.
“Shteg.org” sent a request to the Ministry of Education for comment on measures that can be taken to stop this phenomenon. As of the time of writing, the Ministry of Education has not provided an official response.
Public universities without anti-plagiarism platforms
Eriona Çela, a lecturer for almost a decade at several private and public universities in the country, tells “shteg.org” that defending a student’s thesis is a very important process and requires special care, because regardless of the profession, the realization and defense of the thesis serves as a summary of the knowledge that students have gained over the years.
“Each diploma defense committee drafts evaluation criteria not only for writing the diploma topic, but also for presenting the paper. It often happens that students find ready-made topics that they cannot present. In this case, we are faced with two problems: plagiarism and lack of knowledge testing,” says Çela, adding that a lecturer is able to understand whether a paper was completed by the student himself or not.
“The first step is to verify the work in specific programs. If the university lacks such a platform, identification is still possible because the lecturer has the duty to follow the student throughout the diploma work, guiding him towards what he should write and how to write it. Finally, the leaders of the diploma topic for students are the lecturers with whom they have worked during the years of study. That said, the lecturer knows the student well, the way of learning, the skills, the way of writing or other features that are easily evident in the diploma topic,” she says.
Meanwhile, for communication sciences lecturer Erlis Çela, the long-term consequences of this approach on the part of students are related to the culture they acquire to solve a problem.
“The problem lies in the culture that a student and then a young specialist in a society receives, because normally they will receive a diploma, they will create employment relationships in the future, and the culture that they receive in this case is that something can be achieved even without working, it is enough for you to have a monetary value in hand. This does not match reality. You can take a step in this way, but then you will get stuck somewhere and for me this is the main concern” – he says, explaining that lecturers are faced with “ready-made diplomas” of students and the use of artificial intelligence in diplomas.
He says that identifying the authorship of work produced using artificial intelligence creates a challenging environment for Albania, as most educational institutions are not equipped with the necessary platforms to identify plagiarism.
“To my knowledge, there are no platforms available to lecturers or academic staff. We, at a private university, have them, but these are costs for the institution, institutions will need to enter into a contract with platforms such as ‘Turn it in’ or other platforms that have now been updated by adding new opportunities to identify and use cases of AI,” says Çela.
Both lecturers state that at the private university where they deliver lectures, they have access to the “Turn it in” platform, which enables the detection of plagiarism and the realization of student work by artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, this opportunity is not offered to lecturers at public universities, according to a monitoring conducted by “Civic Stability” in November of last year, 2024.
According to information received by the Citizens’ Center, the University of Tirana, the University of Sports, the University of Durrës, the University of Korça and the University of Vlora have not stated that they possess an electronic anti-plagiarism program. The University of Medicine, the University of Arts and the Polytechnic University of Tirana use the “Akademia” platform, while the University of Shkodra has stated that it uses an online platform to carry out anti-plagiarism verifications, but has not specified it.
“In conditions where 7 out of 11 universities do not state that they possess an electronic anti-plagiarism platform, we can conclude that the path to using plagiarism and AI is open to anyone, creating the opposite effect, where users of these behaviors are not only not punished, but are evaluated, setting unattainable standards for those who are deserving” – says Migen Qirajhi, while Eriona Çela shows that despite the orientation of lecturers on how students can correctly use Artificial Intelligence to help them when completing assignments or their diploma thesis, the tendency of students is still to take ready-made materials or ask AI to complete the task.
Dallandyshe Xhaferri është gazetare në "Rrjetin e Raportimit të Krimit të Organizuar dhe Korrupsionit në Shqipëri" - RRKOKSH. Ajo ka studiuar Gazetari në Universitetin “Aleksandër Xhuvani” dhe ka marrë pjesë në shkëmbime studentore në Poloni dhe SHBA. Në Poloni, ka ndjekur një semestër në "Journalism and Management" në Universitetin "Papa Gjon Pali II", ndërsa në SHBA ka marrë leksione mbi gazetarinë në Kolegjin e Bostonit. Gjatë katër viteve të fundit, ajo ka punuar si gazetare në organizata të ndryshme me fokus gazetarinë cilësore dhe ka qenë e angazhuar në projekte të IFES, East West Management Institute dhe Rana Labs.
