Friday, November 30, 2012

Watch Out For Fake College Diplomas

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By Alicia Hunter


The business of diploma mills and fake degrees undermines the value of higher education. Employers are ever-more suspicious of applicants educational qualifications. Many human resources staff automatically overlook candidates with on-line degrees on their CVs. This is an unfortunate effect of the growth of the internet trade in fake college diplomas.

Diploma mills cater for those who desire cheap, fast and easily-acquired qualifications to gain a career edge. The combination of e-commerce with the pressure to possess a college degree creates an impelling motive to drive supply and demand for fake diplomas. Experts estimate that the fraudulent degree trade is worth over five hundred million US dollars each year.

There is reason for concern that unethical diploma mills could sell bogus credentials to terrorists. A 2005 CNN investigation showed how easily journalists secured degrees from Rochville University in the names of known terrorists. James Monroe University provided an imaginary Syrian chemical weapons specialist with the degree he needed to stay in the US, no questions asked. Hundreds of fake diplomas are known to have been conferred on federal employees.

In Canada, officials busted a counterfeit degree ring and recovered dozens of stunningly realistic copies of degrees from prestigious Canadian higher education institutions. Even watermarks from university letterheads had been replicated. Professors in genuine West African universities are selling degrees on the side. Queensland Hospital, Australia was found to have medical personnel with fake medical school credentials.

It is possible to buy almost any kind of diploma in virtually any major field of study. On-line "colleges" sell diplomas based on previous life and work experiences. They market them as being as valid as a real college degree.

The slick websites of diploma mills worldwide often include links to an American location, faculties, tuition details and curriculums. None of these will actually exist, it is all a veneer to generate the semblance of a real university. Some diploma mills also require a token amount of coursework to help dupe the customer by giving some impression that they have actually earned their degree.

The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization maintains a blacklist of unaccredited educational establishments which prey on the ignorance or greed of customers. This office also publishes a list of unrecognized accreditation suppliers. The US Department of Education provides an index of national and regional accreditation agencies, as well as a directory of distance learning accreditation agencies. These resources should enable employers to discern genuine applicants from those with phony diplomas.

Amongst the qualifications she displayed on applications for her high level position were three degrees which proved to have come from a diploma mill in Wyoming. In fact, the Ph. D which clinched this important post for her was "earned" on the basis of writing a solitary essay. Hundreds of other federal staff are also known to have obtained fake college diplomas. This is just one measure of the worrying impact that diploma mills are having in all areas of society.




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