I once lived next to a woman who did this as her side hustle. She once did pretty much all of a master’s degree for a wealthy middle eastern student, but her clients included plenty of US-raised students as well.
This is far from a US-only thing though; degrees serve as gatekeepers to status and positions worldwide, so there is a market that will be filled.
As an example, my grandfather did similar work as a side job — in the USSR. The real qualification for many director level posts was “on good terms with the right people in the party”… but the formal qualifications required some related degree to the (factory, institute, etc.) function. If you could not get the degree yourself, you found someone to help.
I would not at all be surprised if the situation is identical in modern China.
This is far from a US-only thing though; degrees serve as gatekeepers to status and positions worldwide, so there is a market that will be filled.
As an example, my grandfather did similar work as a side job — in the USSR. The real qualification for many director level posts was “on good terms with the right people in the party”… but the formal qualifications required some related degree to the (factory, institute, etc.) function. If you could not get the degree yourself, you found someone to help.
I would not at all be surprised if the situation is identical in modern China.