Degree mills churning

“You will obtain a prosperous future, money earning power and the admiration of all,” it continues, adding, “Tests, classes, books or interviews are not even required.”

Have you ever been tempted by e-mails or advertisements like these, claiming that you can attain a college degree based on little or no qualification?

According to the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT), in a recent newspaper advertisement, those looking to further their studies should be careful who they sign up with.

Chances are good that the ad or email is a diploma mill, an institution that grants degrees or certificates for a fraction of what persons would pay at colleges, said the ACTT.

Although accreditation can be either voluntary or mandatory, depending on the system of education in a country and the laws governing it, it is not mandatory in Trinidad and Tobago, the ACTT said. The ACTT said in its advertisement.

Local educational institutions consider it a crime if someone claims academic credentials that was not earned through actual class work.

An official at the Registrar’s office of the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus stated that if someone applies to enter the university, they are required to submit an original and a copy of a certificate.

“If upon checking we discover that there is evidence of forge on the certificate, we will write to the examining body to query this,” the official said.

He added, “If the examining body writes back stating that the certificate is in fact false, we first terminate the student’s application then we will turn over the case to the Fraud Squad.”

Although the Fraud Squad have received no reports of fraudulent certificates being used to obtain jobs or to gain entry into institutions within the last year, they said the act was prevalent about two to three years ago.

“Most false documents were discovered being used during the recruitment of police officers,” a Fraud Squad officer stated.

If caught, the penalty for using such documents is determined by the court, he said. Employers say that they are constantly on the lookout for fake degrees and diplomas, especially since the economy is on boom and jobs are in demand.

Research shows that diploma mills charge a fee, ranging from US$50 to US$5,000 for a Bachelor’s, Master’s, Ph.D or other such degrees. Often buyers only have to provide money to get a professional-looking transcript they can show potential employers.

Other diploma mills require buyers to complete cursory course work, such as writing a short essay, before sending out the degree.

To help maintain the image of legitimacy, some diploma mills even have phone operators who verify graduations to employers who call to verify a candidate’s credibility.

They will also send the transcripts directly to employers who request them. A few even offer class rings and laminated student ID cards, even though they have no physical buildings or campus.

According to the USA Today, employees armed with academic credentials from diploma mills have held jobs as sex-abuse counsellors, college vice presidents, child psychologists, athletic coaches and engineers.

They added that a federal investigation was underway to determine how many employees list diploma-mill degrees on their resumes and whether tax dollars are funding sham credentials.

Some US states are even passing laws that making it a crime punishable by jail to use fake degrees for landing a job or raise, said the report.Diploma mills often turn to places where there laws are less rigorous. Many operate from England, selling their products only to people in other countries, primarily the United States, Africa and Asia.

Since these operations immunise themselves from prosecution by constantly acknowledging that they are diploma mills, it is not easy to prove fraud.

The institutions do not obtain money under false pretence by misleading “students” about what they are getting as the students know they had done no real work,” the newspaper stated. According to a web search, there are more than 400 diploma mills around the world and some 300 counterfeit diploma websites.