The biggest victims seem to be prospective students in countries like India, where the lower cost of a degree or course offered by the fakes is a big draw compared to the sky-rocketing cost of a traditional or more well known university.

A lot of people find themselves taking out loans to cover the costs of tuition – which while cheaper can still run into the thousands easily – and end up with nothing to show for it at the end. Then they have to get jobs and further loans to either pay off the initial loan or to continue to learn in a real university or college.

In a cruel twist of fate, a good portion of those taking advantage of the foreign students duped into enrolling  are actually foreign nationals themselves.

The government is continuing to promise to crack down further, but it is unknown as of yet what effect this will have as the organisations pop up as quick as they are shut down. So, a word of warning is to investigate any college or university you are thinking of paying for courses and ensure that you don’t become one of the unlucky people snared in the trap.

The UK government have released figures which show that the numbers applying for university places have risen by 9% since 2009 (around 40,000 places) but the number of actual places have only risen by around 3,000. This shows that the competition for even getting into university is increasing, much the same as competition in the jobs market for those at the end of their university education.

Many contributing factors are cited but the newest among them is that more and more school and college leavers are deciding to ’sit out’ the recession by undertaking a degree, in the hope that once they have left university the worst of the crisis will be long gone and the job market will have opened up again.

This isn’t the only area of education which is being hit, though. Figures have been released which show the level of financial wastage incurred in state-run schools and colleges due to use of agency workers and consultants to cover teacher absences. Demand for college places has also increased in line with the above university demand and more schemes are being launched in order to plunge millions of pounds into education so young people can cope with the recession.

Whenever the economic climate improves, it could well be worth looking back at the costs incurred in the education sector and how the benefits gained weigh up against them. What could seem like a blessing now (more people with qualifications and skills) may well end up backfiring through devaluing of those qualifications or a shift in skills, rendering the whole situation an expensive mistake.