I, Jason B. Morris, PhD (From a diploma mill) recently came across an interesting article in today’s New York Times.  It appears that based on a recent court case in Texas, unaccredited schools are legal and are likely there to stay!  Tyndale Theological Seminary & Biblical Institute, a private Bible based learning institution with only religious course offerings recently won the right after a case allowing them to grant degrees.  In HEB Ministries Inc. Vs. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Texas Supreme Court allowed these degrees to be granted.

Christopher Cone, the president of Tyndale called “a key victory for Christian education in Texas.”  But critics of the decision say it may have opened the door to turning Texas into a breeding ground for unregulated diploma mills, with institutions allowed to grant degrees without approval from the state or a recognized accrediting body.

According to the New York Times;  Mr. Cone said such fears were unfounded. “What you saw rise up immediately after the decision was not diploma mills,” he said, “but Bible institutes that had been struggling and were suddenly able to put themselves out there.”

Including a degree or education verification as a standard part of your organizations employment screening program is now more important than ever.  Any thorough background check should always include searches to weed fake diploma mills, this decision just makes this process that much more difficult, unless of course you use a professional screening firm to help!

For more on this story, click here!

Our partner in the UK, Verifile has released their second annual Accredibase™ report into diploma and accreditation mill activity has revealed an astounding 48% increase worldwide in the number of known diploma and accreditation mills in the last year. As the Internet is the primary home for these bogus education and accreditation providers, little action is taken to stop them from helping unscrupulous candidates deceive unsuspecting employers.

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Our U.K. strategic partner, Verifile Ltd. has published their 2011 report on diploma and accreditation mill activity and reveals an astounding 48% increase worldwide in the number of known diploma and accreditation mills in the past year alone. As the Internet is the primary home for these bogus education and accreditation providers, little action is taken to stop them from helping unscrupulous candidates deceive unsuspecting employers. This year’s Accredibase™ report examines the current status of the diploma mill situation and considers what can be done to protect the public and businesses.

The Accredibase™ report identifies the following red flags that may help in the identification of diploma mills*:

• The institution does not have authority to operate or grant degrees from the education authorities where it claims to be based.
• Degrees are delivered in a very short space of time – sometimes just a few days.
• Degrees are granted based entirely on work or life experience.
• Contact details are limited to an email address and the institution is vague about its location.
• The institution will allow the student to choose his/her own course title and specify the graduation year to appear on the certificate.
• Sample certificates, transcripts or verification letters are available to view on the website.
• Institutions make over-complicated or misleading claims about accreditation or recognition.
• The institution’s name is similar to that of a recognised and respected education institution.
• Internet domain names are misleading – such as ‘.ac’ instead of the regulated ‘.ac.uk’ used by higher education institutions in the United Kingdom.
• The website is poorly designed, has poor spelling and grammar or it plagiarises copy from other institutions.

Verifile’s proprietary database of diploma and accreditation mills, Accredibase™, keeps track of the credential fraud industry. Verifile’s Accredibase™ has identified approximately 5000 suspect educational institutions and accreditors, including 2,615 known bogus education and accreditation providers. In addition to the huge number of confirmed mills known to Accredibase™, new suspect institutions are discovered on a daily basis – more than 2,000 are currently under investigation by Accredibase™ for inclusion in the database.

Download the full report

The use of fake academic degrees is becoming epidemic.  There are now an estimated 5,000 diploma mills throughout the world selling bogus academic credentials in exchange for money and little or no coursework (see my phony PhD above).  In just the last decade alone, this industry has accounted for over $1 billion in sales.

And our UK-based strategic partner, Verifile Ltd. has an interesting take on why the industry continues to grow. Check out this excerpt from their latest release.

Ahead of tomorrow’s House of Commons vote on tuition fees, CV verification and background screening expert, Verifile Limited, is concerned that an increase in tuition fees will lead to an increase in bogus universities and push more people to buy fake degrees from the criminals who run these organisations.

Verifile Limited owns Accredibase™, the world’s largest database of fake universities, or “degree mills”. Since the release of the company’s comprehensive report in January*, the number of confirmed bogus institutions** claiming to operate from the UK, has risen by an alarming 24%, taking the number of degree mills to 337 in the UK alone. In addition, a further 219 institutions are suspected mills and are currently under investigation. The majority of suspected mills are later confirmed as bogus upon completion of the investigation.

“It is hard to believe that candidates are not aware of what they are doing when they originally purchase their ‘degrees’ without taking classes or sitting in exams, yet tens of thousands of individuals are using degrees purchased from degree mills over the internet. And you find them from all walks of life from IT to security, health, education, management, government and more. If tuition fees are to increase, we must expect the incidence of fake degrees to also rise. Where the Government is not prepared to fight this problem effectively, it would be advisable for organisations to be more thorough when they carry out background checks” concluded Ben Cohen.

View Full Release

Of course, employers can limit the possibility of this happening by taking the following steps:

• Always check the accreditation status of the university.  Lack of accreditation doesn’t always mean that a school is phony, but it might lead to other questions.
• Conduct an Education Verification as part of your standard employment background check

EmployeeScreenIQ’s Nick Fishman will be speaking at the Wisconsin State SHRM Conference in Appleton, WI at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel and Conference Center on October 7, 2010 at 10:30am.

Technology has dramatically changed the way we compete for talent and screen prospective employees, but nothing approaches the impact of social networking.  With the widespread use of Facebook, LinkedIn, and other sites comes a new wave of legal liabilities for both recruiters and screeners. Other emerging technology threats include online diploma fraud, employment mills that manufacture work experience, screen scraping, and more.  Employers need to develop best practices and policies in order to successfully manage Web 2.0 technologies.

Join EmployeeScreenIQ’s Chief Marketing Office,  Nick Fishman for an informative session about how to protect your company in the age of Facebook.  You’ll learn which social networking sites are most popular with recruiters and applicants, and their impact on employment screening and the hiring process.  Attendees will also learn how to develop a social media policy and spot the warning signs of diploma and employment mills.  Finally, you’ll examine other Web 2.0 trends such as screen scraping and instant screening.

Well congratulations to me.  I just completed my Masters of Business Administration (MBA) coursework and earned a graduate degree.  Mom and Dad are as proud as they could be.  And thanks to our tuition reimbursement program at EmployeeScreenIQ, continuing education didn’t cost me a dime.  I’ll admit, it was a lot of hard work, but seeing that degree on the wall is all the validation I need to know that it was worth all the blood, sweat and tears.

Now, let’s evaluate the above when the truth is inserted in place of the lies and deception.

Well congratulations to me.  I just completed paid for my Masters of Business Administration (MBA) coursework and earned they shipped me a graduate degree.  Mom and Dad are as proud as they could be would never approve of this type of academic fraud.  And thanks to our tuition reimbursement program at EmployeeScreenIQ, continuing education didn’t cost me a dime (this part was true. I expensed the cost to my company).  I’ll admit, it was a lot of hard work finding a diploma mill, but seeing that degree on the wall is all the validation I need to know that it was worth all the blood, sweat and tears.

Let me tell you how easy it was for me to “earn” my MBA.  I found an online diploma mill and with a couple keystrokes, input my information, the degree I wanted and my area of focus.  I then paid the $150.00 fee and in just 10 days I had a very authentic-looking diploma with a raised seal and everything.  The package was sent from Portugal and included information for how I could have the degree verified.

Do you have a good practice in place to ensure that your job applicants and employees haven’t committed this same type of fraud?

Usually when we talk about fake degrees, we are referring to diploma or degree mills.  There have been many stories in the news as of late about people using academic credentials purchased by these “schools” to either land a job or obtain a higher position or pay.  In addition to the issuing the diploma or degree, many of these institutions offer to verify their “authenticity” in order to make their product seem like the real deal. 

In this story, however, the degree this individual claimed was not from a diploma mill – it was from the University of Miami.  Apparently this guy thought it would be a good idea forge a degree document from the school, photocopy it and submit it to a potential employer in order to land a $127,932/year paying position.  All it took was one phone call to the University of Miami to find out he had never attended the college.  He now faces one charge of criminal possession of a forged instrument and three charges of offering a false instrument for filing.  If convicted, he could end up serving an 11-year prison sentence.

BUSTED: Sanitation construction project manager arrested for submitting a fake degree

Myles Miller, NY City Hall Examiner – May 26, 2010

MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE GONE TO COLLEGE.

The Department of Investigation arrested city Sanitation Department construction project manager Bernard Feraca, 57 of Bronxville, NY for using a “fake academic degree to land a high paying City job”, according to DOI Commissioner Rose Gil Hearn.

Feraca, who submitted a fake Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Miami, was charged today with criminal possession of a forged instrument and three counts of offering a false instrument for filing. If convicted, Feraca could face 11 years in prison. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., has assigned ADA Peter Rienzi to prosecute this case.

Fereca, joined the Department of Sanitation in February 2010, and was assigned to the Engineering Support Services unit.

His city salary was $127,932; he has been suspended without pay.

Under a city policy the DOI conducts a thorough background check of roughly 2,000 employees annually who are promoted to management positions, earn more than $80,000 annually and deal with city contracts or  super sensitive city computer programs.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court a DOI “investigation found that on January 22nd, 2010, the defendant submitted to DSNY a photocopy of his purported Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.”

The investigation proved there was no record of Feraca ever being a student at the University of Miami.
On Feraca’s Facebook page he has two friends who went to the University of Miami, and lists among his likes “Big Prize Giveaways.”

This is the latest in a series of bogus diplomas and degrees from city employees. In 2007, a DOI report showed the submission of “bogus degrees” in the Fire Department. That investigation resulted in “14 disciplinary actions and improved verification procedures at the FDNY” according to the Department of Investigation.

We talk a lot about criminal background checks and checking diploma mill lists prior to employment. Check out this guy.  He lied to get into the college to get a degree he didn’t deserve!  He lied about test scores and accomplishments to get grants and scholarships.  He plagiarized papers to win awards.  This guy might be the single biggest liar I have ever read about.  He’s like the Frank Abagnale of the 21st century.  Now, Wheeler is now facing 20 counts, including larceny, falsifying an
endorsement, identity fraud, and pretending to hold a degree. The article states thee four larceny charges are felony counts that each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Alleged Harvard Fake Applied at The New Republic
Adam Wheeler Claimed 4.0 Grade Point Average on Internship Application to Publication that Once Featured Faker Stephen Glass

Former Harvard student Adam Wheeler, 23, pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied to get into the Ivy League institution. Prosecutors claimed Tuesday in a Massachusetts court that those say those lies ultimately allowed him to steal $45,000 in grants, scholarship money, and financial aid.

John Verner, prosecutor, said in court Tuesday, “Since Mr. Wheeler began at Harvard, he has lived a life of lies and deceit.”

Even after being caught and kicked out of Harvard, Wheeler actually tried to transfer to Brown University and Yale. His parents, who attended the hearing, forced their son to come clean, and notify Yale that he had been booted from Harvard.

Verner said, “If it wasn’t for his parents’ intervention, Mr. Wheeler’s pathological behavior wouldn’t have stopped.”

Wheeler’s behavior allegedly started on his Harvard application. Wheeler claimed he got a perfect 1,600 on his SAT, had attended the exclusive Phillips Academy prep school, and spent a year at MIT. CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano reported prosecutors say all claims are false.

Quijano added Wheeler recently Wheeler applied for an internship at the New Republic magazine, claiming a 4.0 grade point average while at Harvard.

The New Republic is where rising star writer Stephen Glass was exposed for making things up in his articles.

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See his fake resume below:

From GetEducated.com, a great resource on diploma mills and education issues.

Top Ten States For Degree Mills and Fake Online Colleges

The United States leads the world in diploma mills, degree mills, and fake online colleges, according to Verifile Limited, a United Kingdom firm.

The top 10 states with the highest number of bogus universities—unaccredited institutions of higher education—and unrecognized accrediting agencies are:

1. California (134)
2. Hawaii (94)
3. Washington (87)
4. Florida (57)
5. Texas (53)
6. New York (44)
7. Louisiana (39)
8. Illinois (29)
8. (tie) Nevada (29)
10. Arizona (28)

Overall, online degree mills, diploma mills, fake online colleges, and other bogus institutions claiming to operate in the United States totaled 810, per Verifile in a 2010 report.

Outside of the United States, the United Kingdom had the second highest number of degree or diploma mills. At least 271 institutions offer bogus academic degrees in the U.K., Verifile reports—significantly more than the UK’s 158 legitimate universities and colleges.

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