WSJ: GAO Report Says Taxes Bought Bogus Degrees

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by jon porter, May 11, 2004.

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  1. jon porter

    jon porter New Member

    From this morning's Wall Street Journal (Tuesday, May 11) Marketplace section, p B1.

    "A new federal report raises concerns about the proliferation of diploma mills -- unaccredited schools that typically offer diplomas based on "life experience" for thousands of dollars in flat fees without any classroom instruction."

    Link for subscribers only (sorry):
    http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108422783044907387,00.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace

    Tidbits: "463 federal employees have been enrolled, or currently are enrolled, at: Pacific Western, of Los Angeles; California Coast, in Santa Ana, Calif.; and Kennedy-Western, based in California and Wyoming"

    Laura Callahan's lawyer says "She's a victim"

    Alan Contreras is quoted. And a spokesman for KW says that Kennedy-Western is academically reputable. "I would separate it quite widely from degree mills," says the spokesman, Lewis Phelps.
     
  2. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Jon:

    I cannot access the link without registering. But your tag line for this post indicates some concern over people taking tax deductions for "educational" expenses at diploma mills? Getting the IRS involved in this fight would be a good development. They collect this information--it's on the tax forms.

    I don't think the IRS requires schools to be accredited, but perhaps somone with more insight into such things could tell us.
     
  3. Mark Tisdail

    Mark Tisdail New Member

  4. iquagmire

    iquagmire Member

    That's our government for you... They send the FBI to bust diploma mills but fail to look inward, until now, to find abuses within their own ranks.

    What's funny is that they say that they have no way to completely find out who has or doesn't have a degree from a diploma mill.

    When my company approved my tuition reimbursement, I was required to attach a letter from the school attesting to accreditation. And, it just takes a quick search on the Internet to find out who's RA.
     
  5. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    IRS Publication 970 (available on the IRS web site) requires students attend an eligible educational institution (defined on page 29 of this document). Eligible educational institutions are those eligible to participate in a student loan program administered by the US Dept of Education. (Institutions include vocational, private, and for profit schools).

    As I recall I did not have to name the school on my tax return but then one is always subject to an audit. However both UC Riverside and Embry-Riddle sent me a IRS form (I am not at home so I can't provide the form number) with the amount of tuition paid, so perhaps a copy also goes to the IRS.
     

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