The executive education boom: a chance to reskill a population or a slippery slope to increased fraud?

The executive education boom: a chance to reskill a population or a slippery slope to increased fraud? asks @trueprofile_io

TrueProfile.io warns that the rise in online executive education courses is opening the door to potential fraudsters 

The pandemic has seen a surge in the need for digitisation and upskilling of key staff, which in turn has led to a rapid increase in professionals applying for online MBAs and other executive education courses. While this greater accessibility to online education is a positive,TrueProfile.io, a leading provider of Primary Source Verification (PSV) services, warns that there are also more security risks, as there is now more space for scammers and fraudsters to go undetected.  

Executive education refers to management programmes designed to help professionals adapt to changes driven by economic uncertainty and advances in technology. By completing these courses, participants can demonstrate their commitment to learning, acquiring new skills and building leadership qualities, all of which are highly sought after by companies seeking to inject new blood and expertise into their business.

Despite the challenges faced by executive education since March, the sector has held firm and even showed signs of growth. This is principally down to the shift in working practices during lockdown, the part-time nature of courses, and the opportunity to consider reskilling or a change in career direction.

Alejandro Coca, co-head of TrueProfile.io, explains, “Specialised programmes, often tailored to companies, enable executives to develop new knowledge, skills, and attitudes to apply to their organisation’s services or set themselves apart when applying for new roles. Since COVID-19, and like many other sectors, executive education programmes have had to pivot and rethink their course delivery. By harnessing the available technology, they have been able to build remote solutions that make executive education more accessible than ever before, without compromising on the value and quality of courses.”

“However, as with any widespread uptake technology, it’s important that any safety and privacy concerns are considered and quickly addressed.”  

Alejandro outlines that it’s critical for universities, business schools, and higher education institutes to think more carefully about student verification: “Although the rise in distance and online learning has opened previously closed doors, the trade-off is that it creates space for scammers and fraudsters to thrive. This could be in the form of fraudulent ‘diploma mills’ – unregulated institutions of higher education granting degrees with few or no academic requirements – or academic loans and student grant fraud. Admitting too many unqualified students, or allowing fraudsters to associate with you, could deteriorate top programmes’ reputations and devalue such courses. Distance education clearly offers many advantages; however, the opportunity for fraud should not be one of them.”

As a solution, Alejandro advises: “Institutions offering courses online now need to consider how they can weed out fraud before an applicant is granted admission to a higher education course. This starts with verifying student identities and previous education, ensuring that the person completing the activities is the same person that registered. Ultimately, more stringent document and ID verification procedures can ensure an institution’s academic integrity by mitigating any fraud-related risks.  

“For companies, hiring verified students who have completed their executive education avoids fraudulent applicants getting into any recruitment pipeline. Further, verified candidates from higher education courses are incredibly valuable, as you can guarantee that they have the required experience and knowledge to fill vital skills gaps. For graduates, having pre-verified credentials puts you in a position to be snapped up by employers and stand out from the crowd when applying for a new role.”