Corruption in higher education is known but not described theoretically. Decentralization and privatization of higher education and the increasing scale and scope of corruption in higher education in the former Soviet Bloc, as well as numerous other countries, urges better understanding of the problem within the context of socio-economic transformations as it touches upon issues of access, quality, and equity. This article presents an overview of the problem of corruption in education and develops models of corrupt organizations in higher education, including the vertical structure, the horizontal structure, and the vertical hierarchy. Possible future structures of corrupt organizations are presented as forms evolving from the horizontal structures. (Contains 1 figure.)