Most universities will let you do an internship or something instead of a class. And, this university was accredited by a reputable organization, so they held this out as something that a great number of reputable people and organizations had supposedly said was OK. And these were foreigners in particular, so they might not have the same warning signals that US natives might have.

At the end of the day the US higher-ed system is largely pay-to-win anyway. If you just want to check the boxes so you can make it through the HR filters and move onto a decent-paying job, most schools will happily oblige. All they care about is if the check clears, there's plenty of students who surf the internet through their gen-eds and easily pass. College is what you make of it, and it's simply not that weird to see an accredited university offering a super-easy course load.

If the difference you're seeing here is that they don't hold a lecture for the kids to skip, who cares? Sounds like cost optimization to me - eliminate the tutoring and you can get your name on a piece of piece of paper and check that box even more cheaply.

I'm not arguing anything. Students who pay thousands of dollars to try and get citizenship so they can work and make a life for themselves aren't the problem, should not be seen as "the enemy", and aren't fraudsters. Someone who intends to trick others for financial gain is a fraudster. Get some perspective.

If a kid uses my credit card to sign up for a porn subscription... she has technically committed fraud. But she's not a fraudster, and throwing the book at her would be seen as ridiculous.