Paramadina Rector: Independent Admission Route Prone to Abuse
Paramadina University Rector Didik J Rachbini has said that the independent admission route for new students is prone to abuse. He made the remark in response to the legal case involving the Rector of Jenderal Soedirman University (Unsoed), Akhmad Sodiq, and his colleagues.
“I see that this independent route is vulnerable to abuse and manipulation, so going forward the independent route should be discontinued and transformed with good governance,” Didik said in a written statement on Saturday (22/8).
According to him, the case involving the Unsoed Rector, his deputy and several other parties is the tip of the iceberg of the chaos in the independent admission system for new students. This route has many versions and is implemented differently by each state university (PTN).
He said the practice was carried out under great pressure because the education budget had been fragmented, leaving higher education institutions feeling they lacked sufficient funds to finance their operational activities.
“In the end, they recklessly recruited new students in numbers that were highly improper,” he added.
As an institution, Didik believes state universities must be returned to their basic role and function. State universities are government institutions and should return to the government pathway.
“The 1945 Constitution already provides 20 percent of the budget for education, which means there are funds of Rp600 trillion to Rp700 trillion. So, do not keep scraping for funds from the public through as many new students as possible,” he said.
Didik added that the freedom granted to state universities so far has been beyond limits and has been exercised arbitrarily. State universities have freely created dozens of independent admission routes and recruited new students on a massive scale, up to 20,000 to 23,000 per year per state university.
This is linked to the collection of public funds, involving around 700,000 new students across all state universities.
“With such a large number of new students, the amount of money in circulation reaches trillions of rupiah. If the management is scattered across many state universities and handled in an amateurish manner, the opportunities and acts of abuse are very great,” Didik said.
“This requires changes or improvements in governance because it harms the public,” he continued.
Didik, who served as Chairman of the IPB Board of Trustees from 2007 to 2012, said that dozens of state universities carrying out independent admission practices like those at Unsoed would be difficult to control, so governance improvements must be made by simplifying the system, decentralising it regionally but keeping it controllable by the Ministry of Higher Education.
In his statement, Didik expressed hope that the independent admission route, which has been running and involves trillions of rupiah in public funds, should be subjected to an investigative audit.
“Because this route has many dark sides. An investigative audit is necessary, for example starting with state universities that admit new students in large numbers,” he said.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named a total of six suspects in the case of alleged extortion related to new student admissions at Unsoed, or the acceptance of gratuities.
The suspects are Unsoed Rector Akhmad Sodiq; Unsoed Vice Rector III Norman Arie Prayoga; Unsoed Head of Academic Affairs Eko Sumanto; and three private individuals named Dian Mulia Wardhana, Adhi Wiharto, and Mulyono.
The designation follows a sting operation in Purwokerto and Jakarta as well as intensive examinations conducted by the KPK since Thursday (20/8).
The KPK has detained the suspects for the first 20 days from 21 August to 9 September 2026. The detention is being carried out at the KPK’s Merah Putih Building branch detention centre.