Lehigh University, located in Pennsylvania, United States of America (USA), has been compelled to reevaluate its admission procedures following a controversy involving Indian student Aryan Anand, 19, who gained admission using falsified documents, including forged academic transcripts, financial statements, and even a fake death certificate for his father.
As The Indian Express reports, the fraud was uncovered after Anand bragged anonymously on Reddit in February 2024. His post was identified and pieced together by a fellow Redditor, a 19-year-old BTech student from Faridabad.
Anand secured a full scholarship at the university but was arrested on April 30. Charged with forgery, tampering with records, theft by deception, and theft of services, he pleaded guilty in Northampton County and was deported to India on 15 August.
Dr Sabrina Jedlicka, Deputy Provost for Graduate Education, revealed to The Indian Express that the scandal caused deep emotional distress on campus. “We trust that people… should try to get in based on their merits, as opposed to crafting that merit fraudulently. As an institution, we were devastated,” she said, adding that the admissions team endured a "very somber day" following the discovery.
Lehigh University is ranked among the top 50 national institutions in the USA by the US News and World Report. The university has since begun reviewing documents submitted by other international students and is exploring the use of third-party organisations like World Education Services (WES) for verifying academic credentials.
While acknowledging the potential costs for students, Lehigh is working to make such services more affordable to avoid creating barriers for applicants. According to the Open Doors 2024 report, India remains the largest source of international students in the USA, with 3,31,000 students in 2023-24, as The Indian Express highlights.
Despite the controversy, Dr Jedlicka reiterated Lehigh’s commitment to holistic admissions, emphasising that applications are evaluated on diverse factors such as leadership profiles, diversity of courses, and even failure moments. She also emphasised that the university hasn’t become distrustful of Indian applicants as a consequence.
“We don’t want to distrust people that are putting in applications to the institution. We just don’t want to do that. That’s not who we are,” she affirmed.
