According to the article the students were aware that the school was fake and were using it for visa fraud.

> students were aware that the school was fake

Actually - according to the article, prosecutors allege that they were aware of this fact.

However, from the reporting done by the Detroit Free Press (which is the paper of record in metro Detroit), a defense attorney who represented some of the students involved said that ICE even arrested students who realized it was a fraud and tried to transfer out:

> Reddy said, though, that in some cases, students who transferred out from the University of Farmington after realizing they didn't have classes on-site, were still arrested.

This story is far more complex than you're summing it up to be.

> The eight recruiters allegedly helped create fraudulent records, including transcripts, that students could give to immigration authorities. Authorities said in the original charging documents that they collectively accepted more than $250,000 in kickbacks for their work, not realizing that the payments were actually coming from undercover agents who worked for Homeland Security Investigations, a division of ICE.

According to the article, seven of the eight have already plead guilty.