University of Lampung (Unila) rector Karomani was arrested by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators late last week on allegations that he had amassed a total of Rp 5 billion (US$336,472) in bribes from prospective parents in exchange for admitting their children into the university. He is accused of instructing two other suspects to handpick prospective students based on their parents’ ability to provide a "base fee" to the university through the independent enrollment track.

A base fee, which is paid only once in addition to the tuition, can be worth millions of rupiah. Unila’s medical school, for instance, sets a minimum of Rp 250 million for a base fee – meaning that parents are free to pay up more.

Education experts have suggested that Karomani’s alleged crime derived from the fact that the independent enrollment scheme lacks transparency.

Aside from the independent enrollment scheme, a student has two other options to enroll in a state university – via the performance-based entrance tests (SNMPTN), in which universities select hopeful students based on their academic performance during high school, and nationwide annual entrance tests (SBMPTN), in which students sit a standardized test.

While the SNMPTN and SBMPTN are government-sanctioned and closely monitored, the independent scheme has its results decided solely by the university rectorate, often with a lack of clear-cut guidelines and transparency.

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