I find myself referencing my research (i.e., ATTENTION-DRIVEN DESIGN: HOW INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNERS DESIGN TO CAPTURE THE LEARNER’S ATTENTION) more times than I would like lately; however, it is relevant to the question asked. Basically, the effects I have described below ultimately lead to a global split-attentional distraction. However, on a surface level, the recruitment of underqualified students in higher education institutions can have several negative effects on both the students themselves and the institutions that admit them. Here are a few potential consequences:

Admitting underqualified students to higher education institutions can have numerous negative impacts on both the students and the institutions themselves. While it is important to provide access to higher education for a diverse range of students, institutions must balance this with maintaining high academic standards and ensuring that all students receive a quality education that prepares them for their future careers.

Dear Mr. Leong!

You point to a very important issue: transparency of the admission process. In a worst-case scenario more students might drop out of their universities and unemployment might rise as a result:

1) Kurysheva, A., van Rijen, H.V.M. & Dilaver, G. How do admission committees select? Do applicants know how they select? Selection criteria and transparency at a Dutch University. Tert Educ Manag 25, 367–388 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11233-019-09050-z, Open access: Article How do admission committees select? Do applicants know how t...

2) A case-study: Zamanzadeh, V., Ghahramanian, A., Valizadeh, L. et al. A scoping review of admission criteria and selection methods in nursing education. BMC Nurs 19, 121 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-020-00510-1, Open access: Article A scoping review of admission criteria and selection methods...

Yours sincerely, Bulcsu Szekely

Some of the negative effects include:

1. Lowering the success rate in the institution.

2. Promoting "Parrot Learning" and graduating "half-baked" and "quacks" into the economy/society - and will eventually lower the standard of living of the people/citizens in the country due to the wrong decisions and incompetence of those graduated quacks.

3. Increasing undue pressure on the academics, that may lead to dissatisfaction/feeling of guilt, boredom and if continued, could eventually lead to staff turnover.

4. Projecting bad image of the institution(s) and the educational system in general.

5. doing that is "injustice" to the educational system and is "unethical".

Thanks for sharing some interesting articles Bulcsu Szekely

Malik Stalbert I like your points, which put emphasis on quality of graduates, institutions and the education system as a whole. Thanks for sharing your view.

“Parrot Learning" and graduating "half-baked" and "quacks" into the economy/society.

Doing that is "injustice" to the educational system and is "unethical".

Nura Abubakar These two points draw my attention.

Some institutions accepted unqualified students because they merely wanna boost the “numbers” or enrollment of students into their institutions. This is to make sure that the institutions can survive financially due to intense competitions in students enrollment rate.

Would love to hear from you or anyone about this unhealthy circumstance?

The choice between standardisation/quality and (short term) income generation is really a dilemma to reckon. But if those institutions would be patient enough to adequately seek for right collaborations and support where possible, have strategic alliance(s) that would enable them manage to maintain the standard, they would build the goodwill and image that would handsomely pay in the future.

Even with Private institutions, proprietors must know that "no quick" financial returns in running educational institutions - it has to gradually.

Moreover, Lecturers/Instructors/Tutors can be engaged on "Part-time" or "Visiting" bases to the extent to which the Laws of the Land allows - so as to reduce the Financial Pressure on the institutions.

Move to reduce unnecessary competition through collaborations and alliances for common benefits could possibly gain understanding among proprietors.

Finally, once more, maintaining the standard and being innovative would lift a given institution off an unhealthy competition with the goodwill that will eventually attract more students, improve enrollment, income and financial stability. Remember that the world best universities such as Oxford, Harvard, Cambridge and Yale universities have low students-teacher ratios - but their innovations and adherence to quality always attract students that are ready to pay for their relatively higher fees that kept them running and excelling.