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Saint Regis University sometimes styled as St. Regis University was a diploma mill operation that was one of about 120 connected institutions operated by an American fraud ring from about 1999 until 2005, when it was shut down by U.S. government authorities. The operation was known as "Operation Gold Seal".
A diploma mill is a company or organization that claims to be a higher education institution but provides illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee. The degrees can be fabricated (made-up), falsified (fake), or misrepresented. These degrees may claim to give credit for relevant life experience, but should not be confused with legitimate prior learning assessment programs. They may also claim to evaluate work history or require submission of a thesis or dissertation for evaluation to give an appearance of authenticity. Diploma mills are frequently supported by accreditation mills, set up for the purpose of providing an appearance of authenticity. The term may also be used pejoratively to describe an accredited institution with low academic admission standards and a low job placement rate. An individual may or may not be aware that the degree they have obtained is not wholly legitimate. In either case, legal issues can arise if the qualification is used in resumes.
George D. Gollin is an American physics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Besides his work on particle physics and the International Linear Collider, he has since 2003 made numerous efforts in fighting institutions which are considered to be diploma mills, which has caused him to receive significant public attention. Gollin placed second in the 2014 Democratic primary for Illinois's 13th congressional district.
Hamilton University was an unaccredited institution based in Evanston, Wyoming. According to the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization, it was first established in Hawaii as American State University. It has since been closed by court order in Wyoming and has relocated to the Bahamas under the name Richardson University.
Columbia Pacific University (CPU) was an unaccredited nontraditional distance learning school in California. It was founded in 1978 by Richard Crews, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, and Lester Carr, a former president of Lewis University, and operated with state approval. Distance learning and education authority John Bear gave "high marks" to the school in his 1982 Bears' Guide to Non-Traditional College Degrees, 8th edition.
Breyer State University, also called Breyer State University-Alabama, is an unaccredited distance education, for profit, private university that formerly operated in the U.S. states of Idaho and Alabama and now reports a location in Panama. It has been described by The New Republic magazine as a diploma mill that "claimed official-sounding accreditation to attract hundreds of people to obtain degrees". Breyer State University disputes this categorization.
Sven Otto Julius Littorin is a former Swedish politician and architect of major structural reforms. As Minister for Employment in the cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt, he was in charge of the major overhaul of Swedish labor policies between 2006-2010. As President of the European Council of Ministers, in its Epsco formation, he oversaw the European Union response to labor market effects during the financial crisis of 2008-09. As party secretary of the Moderate Party 2002-2006, he played a major role in restructuring the party. As chief of staff to Minister for Fiscal and Financial Affairs during the Swedish banking crisis of 1992, he was one of the architects behind the Swedish banking rescue that Paul Krugman later proposed as a model for solving the Financial crisis of 2007–2008.
Belford University was an organization that offered online unaccredited degrees for "life experience". The organization maintained a post office box in Humble, Texas, but its certificates were mailed from the United Arab Emirates. Along with many similar websites, it was owned by the Karachi-based company Axact, the main business of which, according to an investigation by The New York Times, is "to take the centuries-old scam of selling fake academic degrees and turn it into an Internet-era scheme on a global scale". In July 2018, Shoaib Ahmed Sheikh, the CEO of Axact was arrested and sentenced to prison for 20 years for his role in perpetuating this scam.
Rochville University was an online diploma mill offering a "Life Experience Degree, and Certificate Program" without coursework or prior transcript evaluation. The State of Texas classified it as an "illegal supplier of educational credentials" whose degrees may not be used in Texas. The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization lists it as "fake". Its operation is believed to be centered in Pakistan, and its diplomas and degree certificates have been mailed from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Along with many similar enterprises, it is owned by the Karachi based company, Axact, whose main business, according to a New York Times investigation, is "to take the centuries-old scam of selling fake academic degrees and turn it into an Internet-era scheme on a global scale".
American Central University (ACU) was an unaccredited distance learning private, for-profit university licensed by the state of Wyoming in 2004. The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization stated that the institution may be run from Malaysia.
University Degree Program (UDP) is or was an unaccredited consortium of diploma mills run by Americans Jason and Caroline Abraham beginning in the 1990s. In 2004, The Chronicle of Higher Education called UDP the "granddaddy" of diploma mill operations.
Thomas James Kirk II operated several fraudulent higher education organizations, including LaSalle University in Mandeville, Louisiana, the University of San Gabriel Valley, and Bienville University. Kirk's "LaSalle University" was shut down in 1996 following a raid by the FBI. Kirk was indicted for tax fraud in 1996 and, after a plea agreement, was sentenced to five years in U.S. federal prison. Kirk later died in January 2008.
Pacific Western University (Hawaii) was an unaccredited university closed in May 2006 following a lawsuit filed by the State of Hawaii a year earlier.
Name It and Frame It? is a 1993 book, written by Steve Levicoff, about unaccredited Christian colleges and universities, exploring the accreditation process and the nature of legitimate and illegitimate unaccredited institutions of higher learning. The fourth edition contains updated information and responses from some of the surveyed schools. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation, the National Center for Science Education, the Palm Beach Post, the Seattle Times, and the New York Post have mentioned the book as a resource. Additionally, it has been cited by numerous authors, including Julie Anne Duncan, Douglas Flather, John Bear and Allen Ezell.
Columbus University is an unaccredited distance education institution that has been based at different times in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Bienville University was an unaccredited institution that was based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was run by Thomas J. Kirk. Bienville University was referred to as a diploma mill or degree mill in a 2003 article by KVBC News 3. It was never recognised or approved by any accreditation agency and was not approved by the US Department of Education nor the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and has been closed by the State of Louisiana. It then moved to Woodville, Mississippi. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has put Bienville University on the list of Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas. Without recognized accreditation, Bienville's degrees and credits might not be acceptable to employers or other academic institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions. Jurisdictions that have restricted or made illegal the use of credentials from unaccredited schools include Oregon, Michigan, Maine, North Dakota, New Jersey, Washington, Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, and Texas. Many other states are also considering restrictions on the use of degrees from unaccredited institutions.
A diploma mill is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without academic approval by officially recognized educational accrediting bodies or qualified government agencies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit. These degrees are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some organizations claim accreditation by non-recognized/unapproved accrediting bodies set up for the purposes of providing a veneer of authenticity.
The Management Institute of Canada or Institut Canadien de Management (MIC) is a Canadian professional school based in Montreal, authorized by the government of Quebec. MIC is an unaccredited non-degree business school in Quebec, offering online programs in business administration.
Higher Education Degree Datacheck (Hedd) is the UK's official service for verifying academic degrees and authenticating universities. It also takes action against diploma mills purporting to be UK universities. It is funded by the UK government through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and is run by Prospects.
References
- 1 2 See Oregon Office of Degree Authorization List of Unaccredited colleges Archived May 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine and Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas Archived 2008-05-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Fairfax University Prospectus, 1995
- 1 2 James Savage, Minister's MBA 'came from degree mill' Archived September 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine , The Local, June 19, 2007
- ↑ Dubious Degree for Swedish Official, Inside Higher Ed, June 20, 2007
- ↑ Minister got some explaining to do, Independent Online, June 21, 2007
- ↑ Fairfax University's administration office listed in a directory of Louisiana educational institutions
- ↑ "Fairfax University | Higher Education Degree Datacheck".
- ↑ WCC says it removed doctorate from CV of its general secretary, Ecumenical News International, 13 Feb, 2008