HARBIN - Twenty-six people, including 21 MBA candidates, were found to have cheated on the nationwide graduate student entrance exam on January 4 in a northeast China university, school officials said on Friday.

Two officials of the Harbin University of Science and Technology were suspended earlier as authorities investigated the MBA exam fraud scandal.

The university on Monday admitted irregularities in the exam. The school's MBA center is suspected of violating regulations when cooperating with a training center in Beijing.

The center reportedly trained some candidates on how to cheat by using communication devices during the exam.

The university had 25 examination rooms for MBA students in 2014 and had 539 examinees. Twenty-one were caught at the scene cheating, including one staff member from the training center, according to the university. Sixteen out of 21 MBA examinees cheated by using communication devices, it said.

Recruitment for the university's MBA center for 2015 has also been suspended, according to the provincial recruitment and exam authorities.

A special group has been set up to investigate the fraud. The Ministry of Education also sent a working team to supervise the investigation.