UPSA has withheld the graduation of some students linked to the alteration of more than 500 academic results, its Vice Chancellor has said.

Speaking at the 18th Congregation of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Vice Chancellor Prof. Kwaku Mensah Mawutor said the affected students were among 178 people identified in an investigation into the manipulation of academic records.

He said the probe established that some students and other individuals breached the university's system to change results. According to him, some students have since admitted paying individuals to alter their results, while others confessed to collecting money from colleagues to facilitate similar changes. Others denied involvement.

The university said the students linked to the scheme have been prevented from graduating while investigations and disciplinary proceedings continue.

"Some unscrupulous students and some unscrupulous individuals breached our system by hijacking our system and changing results in our system," Prof. Mawutor said.

"Some of these culprits were supposed to graduate, but due to the hard work of our ISTD team and the investigative committee, we have withheld their graduation until further notice," he said.

He commended the university's Information Systems and Technology Directorate (ISTD) and the investigative committee for detecting the alterations and identifying those involved.

Prof. Mawutor described the incident as "highly unacceptable" and stressed the importance of protecting the integrity of academic records. He said results manipulation was not entirely new to UPSA, but that the scale of the latest case made it especially serious.

"This is a very, very unfortunate incident, which to me is not the first time, but this time, the magnitude is very, very significant," he said. The university said it will continue to address the matter through its investigative and disciplinary processes.