OT: Diploma Mills

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

I meant to send this info some time back .. and forgot. I think its

interesting in that some folks in the cottage industry of AT get degrees

from these " Diploma Mills. " Butch

 

 

Amid Probe of Bogus Degrees, Government's Ability to Detect 'Diploma

Mill' Is Questioned

 

By Stephen Barr

Monday, May 10, 2004; Page B02

Federal Diary, Washington Post

 

As a Senate committee prepares to hold hearings on whether federal

employees have used taxpayer dollars to purchase bogus college degrees,

a key House chairman is raising the sticky question of how to define

" diploma mill. "

 

" I am most concerned that federal employees may not have access to

information that would allow them to determine whether a degree

represents legitimate educational achievement, " Rep. Thomas M. Davis III

(R-Va.) said in a recent letter to the Office of Personnel Management.

 

Davis, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, said that some

diploma mills evolve into accredited schools and that some schools lose

their accreditation and turn into diploma mills. In some cases, Davis

said, " a federal job applicant or employee might claim a degree from an

accredited institution that was not accredited at the time of the

issuance of the degree. "

 

From outward appearances, diploma mills might look like a college or

institution of higher learning, but the degrees often are awarded for

cash rather than academic achievement.

 

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairman of the Senate Governmental

Affairs Committee, and Davis have sponsored a months-long investigation

by the General Accounting Office to determine whether federal employees

use bogus degrees to get jobs and promotions and whether any high-level

federal officials have used such degrees to obtain security clearances.

 

Collins will hold hearings tomorrow and Wednesday on the issue. Davis

and Alan Contreras, an administrator at the Oregon Office of Degree

Authorization, are among the witnesses scheduled to testify tomorrow, a

committee spokeswoman said. The committee is scheduled to hear Wednesday

from officials at OPM and the Education Department, she said.

 

In his letter to OPM, Davis said the government needs a way to let

agencies " know whether a degree is a real degree or not. "

 

Kay Coles James, the OPM director, told Davis in a reply letter that OPM

is reviewing the issues he raised, including how to identify a diploma mill.

 

The Education Department is evaluating whether it can develop a Web site

listing colleges and universities accredited by a recognized body, James

said. The project might be developed in stages, listing accredited

schools and then listing historical information about schools, she said.

 

Last week, OPM held its second round of seminars for federal agencies on

bogus college degrees. About 340 federal hiring and program managers

attended the forum, OPM said.

 

James, in a statement, said, " The Bush administration is committed to

weeding out those who would misrepresent themselves and their

credentials in ways that put the nation's health and security in jeopardy. "