Honk if You've Got a Fake Diploma!When you see a site advertising Buy a fake diploma from the leader in fake diplomas! you know the diploma mill problem has escalated to a Swift-esque absurdity.
Several high profile executives and government officials have recently been trapped in scandals involving degrees from so called "diploma mills".In 2004 the United States GAO (Government Accountability Office) found more than 400 senior level, federal employees with degrees issued by diploma mills, including 9 employees of NASA. But wait there's more; the United States government ponied up $169,470 in "educational fees" to pay for these fake diplomas. Two of the "students" were employed by the Department of Education. (btw, one of the schools caught in the GAO sting was Western Pacific University.) It's not illegal to start, maintain or own a school that is not officially accredited. There are hundreds of such schools in the United States, and to be fair, some (or even most) of them serve to educate people in small niche areas, such as the Jewelers Academy in Portland, Oregon, or the Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology. These schools offer good value for a fair price. At the end of the course students have learned a valuable, marketable skill. A diploma issued by one of these smaller, niche schools is not considered a fake diploma. It is simply an officially unaccredited school - the diploma is still a valid representation of the completion of a valued course of work and the assimilation and mastery of a specialized body of knowledge. False diplomas are issued by "schools" who have no criteria for "graduation" other than payment of fees. They have no standard curriculum, or indeed any curriculum and they do not transmit a body of knowledge. Just a piece of paper falsely representing the holder to be in possession of that knowledge. Doctors, lawyers and psychiatrists have all been arrested and prosecuted for holding phony degrees, misrepresenting themselves to licensing boards and practicing fraud on their clients. Serious stuff, indeed. On the other hand official accreditation is an expensive, time consuming process that requires years to accomplish. If we compelled every educational institution to undergo the process, it would materially damage the educational milieu of American education. So, how can a student seeking education or training know where to turn for a definitive thumbs up or down on any particular institution? How can we separate the wheat from the chaff? If you saw a pile of fake diplomas would you know it? As never before in history, the onus of determining legitimacy lies on the consumer. Individuals seeking online training or education have no other choice than to research (and research some more) in order to verify the value of their schooling. If an institution offers a Phd., in 30 days, for a flat fee of $3000, most people would understand that to be a come-on for a fraudulent degree. If an institution is headquartered in another country and solicits only students in the United States, does that even make sense? Google map the address. Is it a mailbox service? A residential address? Use the satellite image function -- how big is the campus? If the school sounds too good to be true, if the tuition is ridiculously low, if the time to graduate unbelievably short -- trust your instincts -- and run away. And for the sake of your future, check an institutions accreditation using only the real accreditation agencies appointed by the United States Education Department. Caveat Emptor. And Good Luck!
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