China will strengthen reviews for degree verification applications from 13 overseas education institutions to protect the rights of Chinese students, the Ministry of Education said on Thursday.

Significant anomalies have been detected in the authentication data for master's and doctoral degrees from the universities, in countries including the Philippines, Mongolia and India, according to a notice issued by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange.

The certification of overseas academic qualifications is authenticated by the center, based on applications submitted by the returning overseas students. Such verification is necessary for graduates to apply for a job in China.

To protect the interests of Chinese students who seek international education and maintain the normal order of the international education market, the center has decided to enhance review procedures for the verification of master's and doctoral degrees from the 13 institutions.

During the enhanced review, the processing time for authentication will be extended to more than 60 working days from the date of submission, the notice said.

Degree holders from the 13 institutions will need to stay in touch with their universities to be informed about the results. International students are suggested to carefully consider the institutions and programs mentioned in the notice when mulling overseas study, it added.

The 13 institutes include six in the Philippines such as St. Paul University Philippines and Philippine Christian University, five in Mongolia such as the Graduate University of Mongolia and Ikh Zasag International University, as well as two in India — Andhra University and Acharya Nagarjuna University.