Quick Takes: Anthropologists Protest Laptop Searches, Purchasers of Bogus Degrees Named, No Charges in Central Mich. Noose Case, Wealth Gaps, Israeli Academics Protest Limits on Palestinian Students, Canadian Advantage, International Partnerships

Bogus Degrees

The article is sad, but sorely needed. Printing their names for public humiliation should NOT be their only punishment. Receiving a degree from a diploma mill should be a federal crime. One only has to read the article to understand that the ripple effects go way beyond cheating and laziness.

It should be a range of charges including fraud, breach of public trust, and receiving stolen goods.

Help me out folks, I know there are other charges that should apply.

Further, they should be made to repay any income or benefits from their ill gotten gains.

Throw the book at them, and not the cliff notes version. They won’t read it, but throw it anyway. They should have plenty of time to read in jail.

dundermifflin, at 10:15 am EDT on July 30, 2008

Bogus Degrees

I’ve always wondered about the employment requirements that these (bogus) degrees are fulfilling. If the employer requires an advanced degree, yet cares so little about it as to not verify the degree’s validity or even notice that the individual in question lacks the knowledge purported by such a degree, can we place all the blame on the individual playing the “game” and “credentialing” himself on the quick?Is it wrong for one to obtain a meaningless degree to meet meaningless job requirements?

JWLuiten, University of Arizona, at 2:15 pm EDT on July 30, 2008

Bogus Degrees

The examples given may seem clear, but there are many grey areas relating to accreditation and “bogus degrees”. If the U.S. Government is unable to establish a clear list of approved accreditation agencies, and the agencies are unable to identify the schools they have accredited, don’t blame the student.

Is it the job of a naive student to understand what accreditation means (can you name the accreditation agency/group that accredited the schools you attended (high school and post-secondary)? Are these accreditation agencies legitimate? How do you know?

Make it a Federal requirement that, 1) for Federal student aid/loans the school be accredited by a recognized group (or require the school return all funds to the government and students if the school does not become accredited as expected), 2) the agency accrediting schools maintain an online list of schools they have accredited and dates, 3) the U.S. Department of Education maintain an online list of approved accreditation agencies (and the purpose and meaning of all accreditations), 4) Federally funded employment and U.S. government contractors review employment applications for degree and accreditation status, and 5) all schools prominently display whether their accreditation and degrees meet requirements for employment by the U.S. Federal government. Then, if someone presents themselves with a degree, we can at least have a common understanding and definition of “bogus” degree from a U.S. school. Perhaps the Dept. of Education should also consider formation of an accreditation agency/group to review foreign degrees as part of the requirement for employment by the U.S. military or government, at least where the degree is a condition of employment.

Bob Hirsch, at 3:30 pm EDT on July 30, 2008

The subject of degreemills is irrelevant because there is nothing, absolutely NOTHING, that can be done about them. You might catch the odd sloppy operation but most cover themselves legally. Many of them have licensing in other parts of the world and 1,000 new ones could open tomorrow. The onus is on users of degrees to take enough interest in their legitimacy to check whether a degree was really issued by a real school.

Dennis Ruhl, at 8:55 pm EDT on July 31, 2008