Diploma mills in the United States
Encyclopedia
A diploma mill
(also known as a degree mill) is an organization that awards academic degree
s and diploma
s with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies
. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree
, and the organization is motivated by making a profit
. These degrees are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some such organizations claim accreditation by non-recognized/unapproved accrediting bodies
set up for the purposes of providing a veneer of authenticity.
Various schemes have been implemented to curb the proliferation of diploma mills, and a number of states have passed bills that make it illegal for an organization to confer degrees without accreditation.
lacks direct plenary authority to regulate schools and, consequently, the quality of an institution's degree. Under the terms of the Higher Education Act of 1965
, as amended, the U.S. Secretary of Education is required by law to publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies that the Secretary determines to be reliable authorities on the quality of education or training provided by the institutions of higher education that they accredit.
Diploma mills are mainly found in the U.S.
jurisdictions which have not adopted tough laws to prohibit them. Also, some degree mills have taken advantage of the U.S. Constitution's protection of religion
by representing themselves as Bible college
s, since in many jurisdictions religious institutions can legally offer degrees in religious subjects without government regulation. Nevertheless, some religious colleges and seminaries
have been fined for issuing degrees without meeting educational requirements.
Although the DipScam operation in the 1980s led to a decline in diploma mill activity across the United States, the lack of further action by law enforcement, uneven state laws, and the rise of the Internet
have combined to reverse many of the gains made in previous years.
A 2002 Seattle Times article noted that some believed Wyoming
had "become a haven for diploma mills." Conversely, "Oregon
, New Jersey
, and North Dakota
have adopted tough laws that include fines and jail time for using fake degrees to gain employment." However, Wyoming passed stricter laws in 2006 requiring universities and colleges to either be accredited or be candidates for accreditation to operate in the state.,
In 2004, a housecat
named Colby Nolan
was awarded an "Executive MBA" by Texas
-based Trinity Southern University. The cat belonged to a deputy attorney general looking into allegations of fraud by the school. The cat's application was originally for a Bachelor of Business Administration, but due to the cat's "qualifications" (including work experience in fast-food and as a paperboy) the school offered to upgrade the degree to an Executive MBA for an additional $100. As a result of this incident, the Pennsylvania
attorney general has filed suit against the school.
In February 2005, the US Department of Education launched www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation to combat the spread of fraudulent degrees.
The state of Washington passed a bill in March 2006 "prohibiting false or misleading college degrees." The law was approved and introduced penalties of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for knowingly granting or promoting an unaccredited award. In Tennessee
, a law that took effect in July 2004 made diploma mill degrees illegal, but the state does not have an agency or authority to investigate. Florida
enacted a state law making it a criminal offense to claim a degree from an unaccredited college, but in 2003 it was reported that Hillsborough County, Florida
, authorities had been advised that the statute was unconstitutional. Wyoming
passed a law requiring a post-secondary institution granting degrees to Wyoming citizens to be accredited, or to be a candidate for accreditation. (There is an exemption for religious schools.)
The State of Michigan
Civil Service publishes a list of unaccredited schools based on the Council for Higher Education Accreditation
. Michigan also has a system of publicly chartered colleges and universities (such as the University of Michigan
, Wayne State University
, Michigan State University
, et al.) Private colleges and universities are regulated by the Michigan State Board of Education. However, there does not appear to be a published list of accredited higher education schools accessible from the State of Michigan's website.
U.S. jurisdictions where the use of higher education credentials from diploma mills and unaccredited schools is explicitly illegal or legally restricted include
Illinois
,
Indiana
,
Maine
,
Michigan
,
Missouri
,
Nevada
,
New Jersey
,
North Dakota
,
Oregon
,
South Dakota
,
Texas
,.
Virginia
,
and
Washington.
Many other states are also considering restrictions on unaccredited degree use in order to help prevent fraud. In 2006, Mississippi
passed laws to restrict diploma mills and more legislation was planned for 2009 to further restrict institutions operating without approval". George Gollin
, a University of Illinois professor and board member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation said: California
is the only state in the country without rules governing postsecondary education institutions "You have no law. Everyone else does." This is because Governor Schwarzenegger
veto
ed renewing the Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform Act
. The military also restricts the use of unaccredited degrees; a notable case involved Vice Admiral
Donald Arthur
of the U.S. Navy.
Wyoming
-based Kennedy-Western University sued the state of Oregon in 2004, challenging a state law that made it illegal for résumé
s used in connection with employment (including job applications) in the state to list degrees from institutions that are not accredited or recognized by the state as legitimate., Kennedy-Western claimed that its degree-holders had a First Amendment
right to say they were degree-holders. The case never got to trial because the parties reached an out-of-court settlement. Under the settlement, Kennedy-Western degree-holders may say that they have degrees when applying for private sector jobs in Oregon, but must also reveal that the school is unaccredited on all job applications, resumes, business cards and advertisements that mention the degree. (Public employment and licensed professions are excepted from the agreement). A statutory revision was enacted in 2005, allowing graduates of unaccredited and unapproved schools to list an unaccredited degree
on a résumé as long as they note the school's unaccredited status in the résumé. In the settlement, the Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization
(ODA) also agreed to refrain from referring to the school as a "diploma mill
." Oregon now lists Kennedy-Western as "unaccredited", stating that its "degrees do not meet requirements for employment by State of Oregon or for work in any profession licensed by the State of Oregon for which a degree is required". The school eventually changed names and was forced to cease operations on March 31, 2009 after a failed attempt to become accredited.
In June 2006 it was reported that the National Collegiate Athletic Association
had been "scrutinizing the standards of nontraditional high schools to identify 'diploma mills'." Reportedly this started when "The New York Times exposed University High in Miami." Currently, there are 22 schools that are under review to make sure they meet NCAA requirements.
In 2009, it was reported that a housecat named Oreo Collins had been awarded a General Education Diploma from Jefferson High School Online.
In 2010, it was revealed that Kenneth Shong ran "Carlingford University," a diploma mill, while he was incarcerated at Racine Correctional Institute in Racine, Wisconsin
for several crimes, including fraud. The operation was run with addresses in London, England; Mobile, Alabama; and in Green Bay, which turned out to be empty store fronts or PO Boxes. An investigation into the operation's activity is ongoing.
resigned from the United States Department Of Homeland Security
after it was learned that she had received her doctorate from the unaccredited Hamilton University
(not to be confused with the fully accredited Hamilton College in Clinton, New York
). Callahan had previously been a senior director at the DHS and held supervisory positions at the United States Department of Labor
and within the Bill Clinton
White House. According to an article in Reason
magazine, “The (Callahan) scandal raises serious doubts about the government's ability to vet the qualifications of public employees on whom the nation's security depends.”
The Callahan scandal caused a public outcry that stimulated an 11-month congressional investigation into fraudulent use of and reimbursement for non-qualifying academic degrees by government workers, the first such major inquiry since Operation Dipscam
. A 2004 report released by the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) detailed a pattern of widespread and ongoing abuse by numerous federal employees, based on information provided by three unaccredited schools that cooperated with the initial probe. The institutions, California Coast University
, Kennedy-Western University, and Pacific Western University, represented a small fraction of the dozens of suspected diploma mills in existence nationwide. The particular concern addressed was that the regulations allowing Federal funding of degrees mandate that the program must be accredited. (California Coast and California Miramar have both since gained accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council
.)
463 federal employees were discovered to have been enrolled in the three schools at the time of the inquiry. The Department of Defense
had the highest number of enrollees, with 257 employees registered. The GAO also found that the government itself had paid at least $170,000 for questionable "coursework" by federal employees at California Coast and Kennedy-Western alone, and believed that even this amount had been significantly understated by the institutions involved.
The GAO report revealed that at least 28 senior-level employees had obtained their degrees from diploma mills or unaccredited universities, while cautioning that "this number is believed to be an understatement." The implicated officials included three unnamed National Nuclear Security Administration
managers with emergency operations responsibility and top "Q level" security clearance
allowing access to sensitive nuclear weapon
s information. In May 2004, NNSA spokesman Brian Wilkes told reporters that "the [managers'] conditions of employment did not rest on the education that they were claiming," and that the revelations would not affect their job status.
Many of the federal officials implicated in the scandal were never publicly named, and their status remains unclear. Charles Abell, the principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, was identified by the press as having obtained his master's degree from Columbus University
of New Orleans, an unaccredited distance learning school. Daniel P. Matthews, Chief Information Officer for the Department of Transportation
(which oversees the Transportation Security Administration
) was reported to have received his $3,500 bachelor of science degree from Kent College (not to be confused with Kent State University
in Kent, Ohio
), a diploma mill in Mandeville, Louisiana
. In spite of these revelations, both remained in their positions and continued to hold security clearances. Abell continued in his Defense Department job until August 2005, when he joined the staff of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services
, where he remained until 2007.
aired a report on diploma mills and terrorism. The report explained that "H-1B visa
s can be issued to anyone who is highly skilled and can get a job in the U.S. McDevitt is concerned a phony advanced degree could be the first step for someone in a terrorist sleeper cell
."
The report explained, the Secret Service
"bought their own degree for a perfect terrorist candidate, although theirs was fictional." The person was Mohammed Syed with no formal education, but training in chemical engineering with the Syria
n army. "The Secret Service even added to Syed's application that he needed a degree quickly, so he could find employment and obtain an H-1B visa, allowing him to stay in the US." Furthermore, "In less than a month, the imaginary Syrian army expert was notified, James Monroe University was awarding him three advanced degrees in engineering and chemistry, all for $1,277."
GAO - U.S. Government Accountability Office
investigations revealed the relative ease with which a diploma mill can be created and bogus degrees obtained. Records obtained from schools and agencies likely understate the extent to which the federal government has paid for degrees from diploma mills and other unaccredited schools. Many agencies have difficulty in providing reliable data because they do not have systems in place to properly verify academic degrees or to detect fees for degrees that are masked as fees for training courses. Agency data obtained likely do not reflect the true extent to which senior-level federal employees have diploma mill degrees. This is because the agencies do not sufficiently verify the degrees that employees claim to have or the schools that issued the degrees, which is necessary to avoid confusion caused by the similarity between the names of accredited schools and the names assumed by diploma mills. It was found that there are no uniform verification practices throughout the government whereby agencies can obtain information and conduct effective queries on schools and their accreditation status.
Diploma mill
A diploma mill is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit...
(also known as a degree mill) is an organization that awards academic degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
s and diploma
Diploma
A diploma is a certificate or deed issued by an educational institution, such as a university, that testifies that the recipient has successfully completed a particular course of study or confers an academic degree. In countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the word diploma refers to...
s with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies
Educational accreditation
Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...
. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
, and the organization is motivated by making a profit
Profit (economics)
In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total opportunity costs of a venture to an entrepreneur or investor, whilst economic profit In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total...
. These degrees are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some such organizations claim accreditation by non-recognized/unapproved accrediting bodies
Accreditation mill
An accreditation mill is an organization that purports to award educational accreditation to higher education institutions without having government authority or recognition from mainstream academia to operate as an accreditor. Implicit in the terminology is the assumption that the "mill" has low...
set up for the purposes of providing a veneer of authenticity.
Various schemes have been implemented to curb the proliferation of diploma mills, and a number of states have passed bills that make it illegal for an organization to confer degrees without accreditation.
Legal status
The United States does not have a federal law that would unambiguously prohibit diploma mills, and the term "university" is not legally protected. As a result, the United States is a diploma mill haven from a global viewpoint. The United States Department of EducationUnited States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
lacks direct plenary authority to regulate schools and, consequently, the quality of an institution's degree. Under the terms of the Higher Education Act of 1965
Higher Education Act of 1965
The Higher Education Act of 1965 was legislation signed into United States law on November 8, 1965, as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda. Johnson chose Texas State University–San Marcos as the signing site...
, as amended, the U.S. Secretary of Education is required by law to publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies that the Secretary determines to be reliable authorities on the quality of education or training provided by the institutions of higher education that they accredit.
Diploma mills are mainly found in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jurisdictions which have not adopted tough laws to prohibit them. Also, some degree mills have taken advantage of the U.S. Constitution's protection of religion
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating, Together with the Free Exercise Clause The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,...
by representing themselves as Bible college
Bible college
Bible colleges are institutions of higher education that specialize in biblical studies. Curriculum is Bible-based and differs from that of liberal arts colleges or research universities. Bible colleges generally exclude the study of philosophy, unlike seminaries and theological colleges...
s, since in many jurisdictions religious institutions can legally offer degrees in religious subjects without government regulation. Nevertheless, some religious colleges and seminaries
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
have been fined for issuing degrees without meeting educational requirements.
Although the DipScam operation in the 1980s led to a decline in diploma mill activity across the United States, the lack of further action by law enforcement, uneven state laws, and the rise of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
have combined to reverse many of the gains made in previous years.
A 2002 Seattle Times article noted that some believed Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
had "become a haven for diploma mills." Conversely, "Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
have adopted tough laws that include fines and jail time for using fake degrees to gain employment." However, Wyoming passed stricter laws in 2006 requiring universities and colleges to either be accredited or be candidates for accreditation to operate in the state.,
In 2004, a housecat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
named Colby Nolan
Colby Nolan
Animals have been submitted as applicants to suspected diploma mills in several cases. On some occasions the animal has been not only admitted, but granted a degree...
was awarded an "Executive MBA" by Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
-based Trinity Southern University. The cat belonged to a deputy attorney general looking into allegations of fraud by the school. The cat's application was originally for a Bachelor of Business Administration, but due to the cat's "qualifications" (including work experience in fast-food and as a paperboy) the school offered to upgrade the degree to an Executive MBA for an additional $100. As a result of this incident, the Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
attorney general has filed suit against the school.
In February 2005, the US Department of Education launched www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation to combat the spread of fraudulent degrees.
The state of Washington passed a bill in March 2006 "prohibiting false or misleading college degrees." The law was approved and introduced penalties of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for knowingly granting or promoting an unaccredited award. In Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, a law that took effect in July 2004 made diploma mill degrees illegal, but the state does not have an agency or authority to investigate. Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
enacted a state law making it a criminal offense to claim a degree from an unaccredited college, but in 2003 it was reported that Hillsborough County, Florida
Hillsborough County, Florida
As of the census of 2000, there were 998,948 people, 391,357 households, and 255,164 families residing in the county. The population density was 951 people per square mile . There were 425,962 housing units at an average density of 405 per square mile...
, authorities had been advised that the statute was unconstitutional. Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
passed a law requiring a post-secondary institution granting degrees to Wyoming citizens to be accredited, or to be a candidate for accreditation. (There is an exemption for religious schools.)
The State of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
Civil Service publishes a list of unaccredited schools based on the Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation is a United States organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for self-regulation of academic quality through accreditation in order to certify the quality of higher education...
. Michigan also has a system of publicly chartered colleges and universities (such as the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
, Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
, et al.) Private colleges and universities are regulated by the Michigan State Board of Education. However, there does not appear to be a published list of accredited higher education schools accessible from the State of Michigan's website.
U.S. jurisdictions where the use of higher education credentials from diploma mills and unaccredited schools is explicitly illegal or legally restricted include
Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
,
Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
,
Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
,
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
,
Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
,
Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
,
North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
,
Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
,
South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
,
Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
,.
Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
,
and
Washington.
Many other states are also considering restrictions on unaccredited degree use in order to help prevent fraud. In 2006, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
passed laws to restrict diploma mills and more legislation was planned for 2009 to further restrict institutions operating without approval". George Gollin
George Gollin
George D. Gollin is an American physics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Besides his work on particle physics and the International Linear Collider, he has since 2003 made numerous efforts in fighting institutions which are considered to be diploma mills, which has...
, a University of Illinois professor and board member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation said: California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
is the only state in the country without rules governing postsecondary education institutions "You have no law. Everyone else does." This is because Governor Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
veto
Veto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
ed renewing the Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education Reform Act
California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education
The California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education was a unit of the California Department of Consumer Affairs whose purpose was to protect students by establishing academic standards for of private institutions of higher education in California...
. The military also restricts the use of unaccredited degrees; a notable case involved Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
Donald Arthur
Donald Arthur
Donald Caldwell Arthur, Jr. is a retired U.S. Navy medical corps vice admiral . He entered the Navy in 1974 and eventually served as the 35th Surgeon General of the United States Navy...
of the U.S. Navy.
Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
-based Kennedy-Western University sued the state of Oregon in 2004, challenging a state law that made it illegal for résumé
Résumé
A résumé is a document used by individuals to present their background and skillsets. Résumés can be used for a variety of reasons but most often to secure new employment. A typical résumé contains a summary of relevant job experience and education...
s used in connection with employment (including job applications) in the state to list degrees from institutions that are not accredited or recognized by the state as legitimate., Kennedy-Western claimed that its degree-holders had a First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
right to say they were degree-holders. The case never got to trial because the parties reached an out-of-court settlement. Under the settlement, Kennedy-Western degree-holders may say that they have degrees when applying for private sector jobs in Oregon, but must also reveal that the school is unaccredited on all job applications, resumes, business cards and advertisements that mention the degree. (Public employment and licensed professions are excepted from the agreement). A statutory revision was enacted in 2005, allowing graduates of unaccredited and unapproved schools to list an unaccredited degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
on a résumé as long as they note the school's unaccredited status in the résumé. In the settlement, the Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization
Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization
The Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization is a unit of the Oregon Student Assistance Commission with responsibilities related to maintaining high standards in private higher education institutions in Oregon...
(ODA) also agreed to refrain from referring to the school as a "diploma mill
Diploma mill
A diploma mill is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit...
." Oregon now lists Kennedy-Western as "unaccredited", stating that its "degrees do not meet requirements for employment by State of Oregon or for work in any profession licensed by the State of Oregon for which a degree is required". The school eventually changed names and was forced to cease operations on March 31, 2009 after a failed attempt to become accredited.
In June 2006 it was reported that the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
had been "scrutinizing the standards of nontraditional high schools to identify 'diploma mills'." Reportedly this started when "The New York Times exposed University High in Miami." Currently, there are 22 schools that are under review to make sure they meet NCAA requirements.
In 2009, it was reported that a housecat named Oreo Collins had been awarded a General Education Diploma from Jefferson High School Online.
In 2010, it was revealed that Kenneth Shong ran "Carlingford University," a diploma mill, while he was incarcerated at Racine Correctional Institute in Racine, Wisconsin
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...
for several crimes, including fraud. The operation was run with addresses in London, England; Mobile, Alabama; and in Green Bay, which turned out to be empty store fronts or PO Boxes. An investigation into the operation's activity is ongoing.
Government jobs scandals and GAO investigation
In 2004, Laura CallahanLaura Callahan
Laura Callahan was the former senior director at the United States Department of Homeland Security who resigned after an investigation revealed that she had obtained academic degrees from a diploma mill. Callahan had also served as Deputy Chief Information Officer of the US Department of Labor and...
resigned from the United States Department Of Homeland Security
United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
after it was learned that she had received her doctorate from the unaccredited Hamilton University
Hamilton University
Hamilton University was an unaccredited institution based in Evanston, Wyoming, USA. According to the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization, it was first established in Hawaii as American State University...
(not to be confused with the fully accredited Hamilton College in Clinton, New York
Clinton, Oneida County, New York
Clinton is a village in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 1,952 at the 2000 census. It was named for George Clinton, a royal governor of the colony of New York....
). Callahan had previously been a senior director at the DHS and held supervisory positions at the United States Department of Labor
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
and within the Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
White House. According to an article in Reason
Reason (magazine)
Reason is a libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 60,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the Chicago Tribune.- History :...
magazine, “The (Callahan) scandal raises serious doubts about the government's ability to vet the qualifications of public employees on whom the nation's security depends.”
The Callahan scandal caused a public outcry that stimulated an 11-month congressional investigation into fraudulent use of and reimbursement for non-qualifying academic degrees by government workers, the first such major inquiry since Operation Dipscam
Operation Dipscam
Operation DIPSCAM was a series of investigations carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the General Accounting Office, the Committee on Education and the Workforce and other agencies in the United States in the 1980s...
. A 2004 report released by the Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
(GAO) detailed a pattern of widespread and ongoing abuse by numerous federal employees, based on information provided by three unaccredited schools that cooperated with the initial probe. The institutions, California Coast University
California Coast University
California Coast University is a distance learning private university. It was established in 1973 and is located in Santa Ana, California. It has national accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council . Since its founding, CCU has offered undergraduate and graduate programs in...
, Kennedy-Western University, and Pacific Western University, represented a small fraction of the dozens of suspected diploma mills in existence nationwide. The particular concern addressed was that the regulations allowing Federal funding of degrees mandate that the program must be accredited. (California Coast and California Miramar have both since gained accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council
Distance Education and Training Council
The Distance Education and Training Council is a non-profit national educational accreditation agency in the United States specializing in the accreditation of distance education institutions.- History :...
.)
463 federal employees were discovered to have been enrolled in the three schools at the time of the inquiry. The Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
had the highest number of enrollees, with 257 employees registered. The GAO also found that the government itself had paid at least $170,000 for questionable "coursework" by federal employees at California Coast and Kennedy-Western alone, and believed that even this amount had been significantly understated by the institutions involved.
The GAO report revealed that at least 28 senior-level employees had obtained their degrees from diploma mills or unaccredited universities, while cautioning that "this number is believed to be an understatement." The implicated officials included three unnamed National Nuclear Security Administration
National Nuclear Security Administration
The United States National Nuclear Security Administration is part of the United States Department of Energy. It works to improve national security through the military application of nuclear energy...
managers with emergency operations responsibility and top "Q level" security clearance
Security clearance
A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information, i.e., state secrets, or to restricted areas after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is also sometimes used in private organizations that have a formal...
allowing access to sensitive nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s information. In May 2004, NNSA spokesman Brian Wilkes told reporters that "the [managers'] conditions of employment did not rest on the education that they were claiming," and that the revelations would not affect their job status.
Many of the federal officials implicated in the scandal were never publicly named, and their status remains unclear. Charles Abell, the principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, was identified by the press as having obtained his master's degree from Columbus University
Columbus University
Columbus University is an unaccredited distance education institution that has been based at different times in Louisiana and Picayune, Mississippi....
of New Orleans, an unaccredited distance learning school. Daniel P. Matthews, Chief Information Officer for the Department of Transportation
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
(which oversees the Transportation Security Administration
Transportation Security Administration
The Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States....
) was reported to have received his $3,500 bachelor of science degree from Kent College (not to be confused with Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
in Kent, Ohio
Kent, Ohio
Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeastern Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 27,906 at the 2000 United States Census and 28,904 in the 2010 Census...
), a diploma mill in Mandeville, Louisiana
Mandeville, Louisiana
Mandeville is a city in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,421 in 2008. Mandeville is located on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, south of Interstate 12. It is across the lake from the city of New Orleans and its southshore suburbs...
. In spite of these revelations, both remained in their positions and continued to hold security clearances. Abell continued in his Defense Department job until August 2005, when he joined the staff of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services
United States Senate Committee on Armed Services
The Committee on Armed Services is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy , benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and...
, where he remained until 2007.
Terrorism worries
On December 15, 2005, CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
aired a report on diploma mills and terrorism. The report explained that "H-1B visa
H-1B visa
The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa in the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act, section 101. It allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations...
s can be issued to anyone who is highly skilled and can get a job in the U.S. McDevitt is concerned a phony advanced degree could be the first step for someone in a terrorist sleeper cell
Clandestine cell system
A clandestine cell structure is a method for organizing a group of people in such a way that it can more effectively resist penetration by an opposing organization. Depending on the group's philosophy, its operational area, the communications technologies available, and the nature of the mission,...
."
The report explained, the Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
"bought their own degree for a perfect terrorist candidate, although theirs was fictional." The person was Mohammed Syed with no formal education, but training in chemical engineering with the Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n army. "The Secret Service even added to Syed's application that he needed a degree quickly, so he could find employment and obtain an H-1B visa, allowing him to stay in the US." Furthermore, "In less than a month, the imaginary Syrian army expert was notified, James Monroe University was awarding him three advanced degrees in engineering and chemistry, all for $1,277."
GAO - U.S. Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
investigations revealed the relative ease with which a diploma mill can be created and bogus degrees obtained. Records obtained from schools and agencies likely understate the extent to which the federal government has paid for degrees from diploma mills and other unaccredited schools. Many agencies have difficulty in providing reliable data because they do not have systems in place to properly verify academic degrees or to detect fees for degrees that are masked as fees for training courses. Agency data obtained likely do not reflect the true extent to which senior-level federal employees have diploma mill degrees. This is because the agencies do not sufficiently verify the degrees that employees claim to have or the schools that issued the degrees, which is necessary to avoid confusion caused by the similarity between the names of accredited schools and the names assumed by diploma mills. It was found that there are no uniform verification practices throughout the government whereby agencies can obtain information and conduct effective queries on schools and their accreditation status.
See also
- Essay millEssay millAn essay mill is a ghostwriting service that sells essays and other homework writing to university and college students. Since plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty or academic fraud, universities and colleges may investigate papers suspected to be from an essay mill by using Internet...
- Educational accreditationEducational accreditationEducational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...
- Accreditation millAccreditation millAn accreditation mill is an organization that purports to award educational accreditation to higher education institutions without having government authority or recognition from mainstream academia to operate as an accreditor. Implicit in the terminology is the assumption that the "mill" has low...
- Unaccredited institutions of higher learningUnaccredited institutions of higher learningUnaccredited institutions of higher education are colleges, trade schools, seminaries, and universities which do not have formal educational accreditation....
- List of unaccredited institutions of higher learning
- List of unrecognized accreditation associations of higher learning
- .edu.eduThe domain name edu is a sponsored top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The "domain is intended for accredited post-secondary educational U.S. institutions" and this intention is strictly enforced....
- Job fraudJob fraudJob fraud refers to fraudulent or deceptive activity or representation on the part of an employee or prospective employee toward an employer. It is not to be confused with employment fraud, where an employer scams job seekers or fails to pay wages for work performed. There are several types of job...
- Mickey Mouse degreesMickey Mouse degreesMickey Mouse degrees is the dysphemism built from the common usage of the term "Mickey Mouse" as a pejorative. It came to prominence in the UK after use by the national tabloids of the United Kingdom to label certain university degree courses worthless or irrelevant.- Origins :The term was used by...
- Name It and Frame It?Name It and Frame It?Name It and Frame It? is a self-published 1993 book by Steve Levicoff about unaccredited Christian colleges and universities, exploring the accreditation process and the nature of legitimate and illegitimate unaccredited institutions of higher learning. The fourth edition contains updated...
- Underwater basket weavingUnderwater basket weavingUnderwater basket weaving is an idiom referring in a negative way to supposedly easy and/or worthless college or university courses, and used generally to refer to a perceived decline in educational standards....
- Who's Who scamWho's Who scamA Who's Who scam is a fraudulent Who's Who biographical directory. While there are many legitimate Who's Who directories, some individuals have created Who's Who scams that involve the selling of "memberships" in Who's Who directories that are created online and through instant publishing services...
Further reading
- Gollin, George, "Unconventional University Diplomas from Online Vendors", University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Center for Advanced Study, February 2003.
- Schemo, Diana Jean, "Diploma Mill Concerns Extend Beyond Fraud", The New York Times, June 29, 2008
External links
- Psst. Wanna Buy a Ph.D.? The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 25, 2004. "Some professors have dubious doctorates, other professors sell them, and colleges often look the other way."
- Sperry, PaulPaul SperryPaul E. Sperry is a conservative pundit, author, investigative journalist, and Stanford University Hoover Institute media fellow. In the wake of the Fort Hood Shooting, he gave an interview to Coast to Coast AM on November 7, 2009, about his co-authored book Muslim Mafia.-Clinton incident:In 1999,...
. Cut-Rate Diplomas: How doubts about the government's own "Dr. Laura" exposed a résumé fraud scandal. Reason magazine, January 2005. - Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
. U.N. Fired Staff Members With Academic Degrees From Diploma Mill, via Fox News, 11 February 2007. - Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneThe Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
. PhD, the easy way, 9 August 2008 - Diploma mills presentation from the University of Illinois.
- Information resources concerning unaccredited degree-granting institutions – A collection of links by George GollinGeorge GollinGeorge D. Gollin is an American physics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Besides his work on particle physics and the International Linear Collider, he has since 2003 made numerous efforts in fighting institutions which are considered to be diploma mills, which has...
U.S. state sites
- List of non-accredited colleges/universities by State of Michigan
- Unaccredited colleges by Oregon State Office of Degree AuthorizationOregon State Office of Degree AuthorizationThe Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization is a unit of the Oregon Student Assistance Commission with responsibilities related to maintaining high standards in private higher education institutions in Oregon...
- List of non-accredited colleges/ universities by State of Maine
- List of Fraudulent or Substandard Institutions with a Texas connection
- List of Fraudulent or Substandard Institutions with no known Texas connection