The Accra university says 178 students were involved in a hacking scheme that changed academic records, and some have admitted paying money for the service.
The University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) has stopped a number of postgraduate students from graduating after an internal investigation found that more than 500 academic results had been tampered with in the university's computer system.
Vice-Chancellor Prof. John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor announced the findings at the university's 18th Congregation, the formal ceremony where students receive their degrees. He said the alterations involved 178 students and called the episode a serious attack on the school's academic integrity.
What the university says happened
According to Adom Online, Prof. Mawutor told the gathering that students worked with outsiders to break into the university's information technology system and change grades.
"Some unscrupulous students and some unscrupulous individuals breached our system by hijacking our system and changing results in our system," he said.
He said investigators have identified those behind the scheme. Some students have confessed that they paid money to have their marks changed. Others denied any involvement, while a third group admitted taking money from fellow students to arrange the changes.
Graduation put on hold
Some of the students named in the investigation were on the list to be capped at the same congregation. Their graduation has now been withheld until further notice, the Vice-Chancellor said, crediting the work of the university's ICT team and an investigative committee.
Prof. Mawutor described the conduct as "highly unacceptable, especially at UPSA," and said management would not bend on the credibility of its academic processes.
Weeks of work to restore records
The Vice-Chancellor said the ICT unit spent weeks tracing every affected result and restoring the correct marks. He praised the Director of ICT, James Amena, and his staff, noting that there were nights during one week when officials were on calls around midnight working to recover control of the system.
He assured staff, students and parents that the university would keep strengthening protections around its academic records.
Why this matters
UPSA is one of Ghana's public universities and is widely known for its business, accounting and law programmes. Its transcripts are used by graduates applying for jobs and further study, including abroad.
For Ghanaians in the United States and elsewhere who hold UPSA qualifications or who are sponsoring relatives through school back home, a verified breach of a university's results system raises practical questions about how transcripts are checked when they are sent to foreign employers and admissions offices.
The university has not said publicly what sanctions the confirmed culprits will face, whether the non-student individuals involved will be reported to the police, or when the withheld graduations may be reconsidered. Those details are likely to follow the completion of the disciplinary process.
