Three Chinese women face deportation from US after admitting college exam scam
Two Chinese students paid a third to sit their English-language admission exams
Three women from China have agreed to plead guilty to cheating on entrance exams to American universities and colleges and are likely to be deported home, according to court papers.
Cheng Xiaomeng, who prosecutors said gained admission to Arizona State University through the exam scam, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in federal court in Boston to conspiring to defraud the United States.
Further plea hearings over the next three weeks are set for Zhang Shikun, who was at Northeastern University in Boston, and Wang Yue, who according to prosecutors was paid to take exams for Zhang and Cheng while at Hult International Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The exam in question was the TOEFL, the English-language exam widely used to assess foreign applicants. The test is recognised by more than 9,000 colleges, universities, and agencies in more than 130 countries.
While each of the women faced up to five years in prison, prosecutors have agreed to recommend that all three be sentenced to time served in exchange for their agreement to be deported.