My Journal Article About Diploma Mills & DL

Congrats, Anthony!

Thanks for sharing.

Roscoe

 

Do you think it would be possible for someone to go through a mill like that and think that they actually had a legitimate degree? Do mill administrators try to disguise the fact that their institutions are bogus? If so, it would be prosecutable as fraud.

 

No but hope to fool people. If they think they are getting a real degree by sending a check and an essay, perhaps they are not of the quality of person you would want to hire Some schools do require some level of work and give the appearance or feeling that the degree is earned.

 

I was tempted

The resume was brought to me by an Associate Dean and he notified the candidate that we would only accept the degree if it was issued by a university accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Dept. of Education or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

This candidate's agency was "recognized" by the "Higher Education Accreditation Council (HEAC)". Cute and a nice try, but NO....

 

Yes, some folks are naive and ill-informed and can be fooled into thinking that their "life experience degree" may be legit. Many others, of course, know exectly what they are doing and count on the fact that others are ignorant or too busy to check up on their credentials.

 

I admit, I've fallen into the first category in the past. 10 years ago I got suckered into going for a degree from Kennedy-Western University. My job even payed for it... As time went on, and the more 'classes' I took, I started getting weary about the experience, and eventually found more information about this folly. I didn't complete the 'degree' and it kind of soured me on distance learning.

Now, I only wish I had come across Excelsior at that point, because I *would* have a degree , albeit in MIS/CIS, the field out of which I'm trying to transition now. It would have opened so many more doors for me, because I could be working on a master's degree instead of working to get my first bachelors.

C'est la vie, live and learn. I'm eager to receive my degree next November, and to continue on my newfound path, wherever it may take me.

On a side note, one of the Physicians Assistants at one of my company's clients is flouting a PhD from KWU, and it makes me chuckle every time I see him.

 

I wonder if that ever works

 

Just as soon as I post this reply....aw @#$%!

 

John Bear wrote an extremely interesting artile some years ago about the Villains vs. Victims question. I believe the article appeared in something called "University Business" magazine.

I think it goes both ways--some people truly believe they're taking an alternative route to a degree. But most know better. We saw that when a regular contributor shopped his book around and, eventually, bought a fake Ph.D. because of it, using it as his "dissertation." Amazingly, he decided the fake school was good enough, "renounced" the degree, and did it all over again with another fake school. Victim or villain? Hard to say. "Self-deluded"? Certainly. And so it goes....

 

LOL If you win, you have to share it with me.

 

Great job Anthony!!!!

 

Strange that he would renounce a bogus degree and then get a similar one to replace it.

It's a shame, but I would think that attaching PhD to your name, fake or not, might help sell books, given that it's not a scholarly publication. The average person would see the title and have no idea that it's bogus.

 

Let me give you an example of this kind of thing straight from Bear's Guide. The six legitimate regional accreditation agencies are: the Middle States Association, the New England Association, the North Central Association, the Northwest Association, the Southern Association, and the Western Association. But there was also an "accreditation agency" (to be read: fake accreditor) known as the Central States Association (which has since changed its name). What was this thing called the Central States Association? Well, for starters, the name was just soooooo obviously chosen to make it sound as if it was one of the legit regionals. Then there were two nefarious degree mills in Idaho known as Breyer State University and Canyon College, which were owned by a husband and wife team. (Note: Breyer State has since been kicked out of Idaho and escaped to Alabama, but I don't know if Alabama has kicked them out yet.) What does that have to do with this thing formerly called the Central States Association? Well, someone who was either president of this thing once called the Central States Association was also pesident or owner of one or both of the above-mentioned nefarious Idaho degree mills. And, magically enough, Breyer State University and Canyon College were the first two schools to get "accreditation" from this thing called the Central States Association. Of course, so as not to make things look too suspicious, the Central States Association went on to "accredit" other degree mills too.

 

Rich" "John Bear wrote an extremely interesting artile some years ago about the Villains vs. Victims question. I believe the article appeared in something called "University Business" magazine."

John: Yes. It's a magazine for university top officers. The article can be read (for free) at http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/dm1.html

After it appeared, the magazine got about half a dozen letters from university presidents, expressing outrage and distress and all saying, in effect, "Well why don't they do something."

I reprised and expanded it as the lead article in the 2010 Europa World of Learning. So please, rush out and buy one. No, wait, this 3,00-page behemoth costs $1,025 on Amazon, so wait 'til it comes to a library near you.

 

Ah, I see; the bogus accrediting the bogus. Sort of like the blind leading the blind.

 

Or the bogus accrediting themselves.

 

Holy cow! According to that article, some diploma mills are earning $20 to $30 million a year.

 

I will avoid drawing any vulgar allegories to this comment.

 

Well, think about it. How much are they charging for their "degrees"? How much does it cost to print a diploma? That's got to be a pretty good GROSS margin. Then, how much are their operating expenses? The NET margins are probably not too bad.

 

I had no idea. Too bad we're so honest, eh?