The man said he was a retired military officer from Syria, which the American government deems a sponsor of terrorists. He wanted credentials as a chemical engineer, useful for getting a visa to work in the United States. Could James Monroe University help?

For $1,277, it did. Within days, he received three undergraduate and advanced degrees in chemistry and environmental engineering, based on his “life experience,” according to documents in federal court. Although the degrees looked authentic, Monroe had no faculty or courses; the “adviser” evaluating “life experience” was a high school dropout.

Monroe was one of more than 120 fictitious universities operated by Dixie and Steven K. Randock Sr., a couple from Colbert, Wash., who sold diplomas for a price, according to a three-year federal investigation that ended in guilty pleas from the Randocks to mail and wire fraud. The inquiry into their diploma mill, which operated most often as St. Regis University, provides the most up-to-date portrait of how diploma factories can harness the rapidly evolving power of the Internet to expand their reach.

The Randocks will be sentenced on Wednesday. Six former employees have also pleaded guilty to federal charges and await sentencing.

Through their lawyers, the Randocks declined to comment; the court documents describe an operation that grew from a trickle to a flood from 1999 to 2005, when the authorities shut it down after its transaction with the Syrian officer, who was actually a Secret Service agent. The company became more inventive and bold, with revenues growing from $5,000 in 1999 to $1.65 million in 2005, and churning out more than 10,000 diplomas for customers in 131 countries.

The Randocks took in more than $7 million, said Thomas Rice, a spokesman for the chief federal prosecutor in Spokane. They created 121 fictitious universities, and produced counterfeit degrees claiming to be from scores of real universities, the court papers say.

“If they got their money, you got your diploma,” Mr. Rice said...

CHEYENNE -- A law passed by the Legislature in 2006 to stiffen the requirements for private post-secondary educational institutions is constitutional, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled today.

The uninamous opinion also upheld rules adopted by the Wyoming Department of Education to enforce the law.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Newport International University against the Wyoming Department of Education and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jim McBride.

The 2006 law, designed to discourage so-called "diploma mills," requires private, post-secondary, degree-granting institutions to become accredited within five years, to be licensed by the department and meet the department's minimum standards.

Newport International filed suit when the department rejected its renewal application.

• Vancouver University Worldwide

  On May 1, 2007 the Supreme Court of British Columbia granted a permanent injunction to the Minister of Advanced Education preventing Vancouver University Worldwide (Raymond Rodgers, Vancouver University Colleges Society, Geo Vancouver University Colleges Corporation), from contravening the Degree Authorization Act of British Columbia.

  Under the terms of this injunction, Vancouver University Worldwide is restrained from granting or conferring a degree or from selling or offering for sale or advertising for sale, a diploma, certificate, document or other material that implies the granting or conferring of a degree in British Columbia.

• Rutherford University

  ...seems to have evaporated.

• Lansbridge University

  ...On May 1, 2007, the term of consent ended and Lansbridge University no longer has authority to operate in British Columbia.

• Upper Iowa University

  ...The board found that Upper Iowa University did not meet the criteria established and published by the minister and recommended to the minister that consent not be granted.

  The minister reviewed the board’s recommendation and determined that consent under the Degree Authorization Act could not be granted to Upper Iowa University.

  On April 11, 2007, the temporary exemption under the Degree Authorization Act ended, and Upper Iowa University has closed its Vancouver operations.

A founder of American World University says she pulled her controversial college out of Mississippi because of a new law aimed at unaccredited institutions like hers.

"The regulations became too laborious and too much," said Maxine Asher, who started American World University two decades ago. "We decided it wasn't the place for us."

In 2006, Mississippi lawmakers empowered the state Commission on College Accreditation to shut down unapproved colleges and reputed diploma mills. Menia Dykes, executive secretary for the commission, said the law may need to be tweaked to "make it tighter."

A historical lack of oversight has made Mississippi a haven for such businesses.

"We have had some of the most lax higher education regulations in the country," said Tom Head of Jackson, who is co-author of Best Education Degrees and other books on distance learning.

For years, virtually anyone who wanted to start a college could, often setting up shop in Mississippi by way of office space or post office boxes. "Louisiana and surrounding states were tightening their regulations so they would just move across the line," Dykes said.

In 2005, university presidents expressed alarm at this influx of unlicensed schools, saying they perpetuated negative perceptions about Mississippi.

In response, lawmakers passed a law to crack down on these schools, giving the commission the power to ask courts to order these institutions to stop offering unapproved post-secondary academic degrees.

Although tough talk has not translated into any litigation, the 2006 law is having some effect.

After being shown the door in three other states, American World University operated out of Pascagoula before leaving.

In 2005, American World University offered prospective students a special on "all degrees" for $1,000, including a "free graduation gown."

But Asher denied accusations her institution is a diploma mill, saying students seeking a bachelor's degree must complete 130 hours of work.

She said she has plenty of enemies "who would love to get rid of me. They would love to get rid of me because look at the schools that are charging $20,000."

These days, a degree at American World University costs $1,200. "I wish some day I could go on national television and tell it like it is," Asher said. "I have four doctorates, and they still make mincemeat out of me."

Author John Bear, a nationally known expert on diploma mills, said the kind of institution American World University is can be illustrated by the fact Asher lost a $125,000 judgment in Hawaii for failing to state her university wasn't properly accredited.

When Asher was unable to get American World University accredited years ago, she started her own accrediting service, the World Association of Universities and Colleges, which the U.S. Department of Education has never recognized.

Accreditation is overrated in the United States, she said. "The University of Oxford isn't accredited. It's ridiculous."

She said everybody "wants to start a school, and it's not that easy. We do it right, but we're still maligned."

Her association has accredited four of the 11 unapproved institutions listed as operating in Mississippi in 2007.

One of them, Cambridge State University, was closed down in Louisiana in 1998. A year later, Hawaii ordered Cambridge to cease claiming it was accredited. Cambridge then moved to Mississippi.

After being declared a diploma mill by Oregon officials, Madison University set up shop in Mississippi. So did Columbus University.

Dykes pointed out just because an institution is unapproved by the state doesn't mean it's illegitimate. For instance, The University of Phoenix, a well-known online college, is now seeking approval from state officials to operate.

A diploma mill no longer operating in Mississippi is the American University of Hawaii.

In Hawaii in 2005, a judge ordered the closing of the university in that state after officials there complained the institution was illegally offering degrees in law and medicine.

The judge found the university's founder, Hassan Safavi, in contempt for failing to pay $500,000 in civil penalties and for failing to notify students and graduates that he would fully reimburse their tuition.

Rather than shutting down the university, Safavi simply moved the university to Mississippi, where it operated again before he shut it down, this time on his own.

Head suggested Mississippi follow the lead of Hawaii.

"They were the diploma mill capital 20 or 30 years ago," he said. "They changed their laws and cracked down hard. Now there are no degree mills in Hawaii."

National Universities Commission (NUC) has alerted the public on the operations of 15 illegal universities located in different states of the federation.

The commission, in a statement contained in its Monday bulletin, dissociated itself from the aforementioned institutions, warning that their activities have been reported to the police for further action.

It also warned Nigerians against patronising these illegal universities, saying certificates obtained from them would not be recognized for employment purposes.

Meanwhile, the African Development Bank (ADB) has come up with a new strategy aimed at reforming and transforming higher education systems in the African sub-region in readiness for global challenges.

At the 746th regular session of the board of directors of the bank, the members approved the initiative, which would also help in refining and providing greater focus in the implementation of the bank's policy on education sector.

According to the bulletin, board had decided that if Africa must be repositioned to increase its competitiveness, especially in the field of science and technology in education, all efforts must be geared towards "energizing and unlocking the minds for brighter economic prospects."

It said, "This is a landmark decision of the bank to focus on skills in science and technology to sustain economic growth and increase the competitiveness of African economies. As well, the state of deterioration of the infrastructure demands a vigorous and concerted effort to rehabilitate the institutions.

"Similarly, there is need to revisit the concept of centres of excellence and link the entire tertiary education with the productive sectors of the economies.

"The bank will pay particular attention to increasing access of women in science, technology and innovation."

The Illegal Universities

• National University of Nigeria, Keffi, (Nassarawa)
• Houdegbe North American University, Mushin (Lagos)
• North Central University, Oturpko (Benue)
• Christians of Charity American University of Science and Technology, Onitsha (Anambra)
• Leadway University, Ugheli (Delta)
• Saint Clements University, Ado Ekiti (Ekiti)
• Christ Alive Christian Seminary and University, Enugu (Enugu).
• Atlantic Intercontinental University, Okija, (Anambra)
• Metro University, Dutse (Abuja)
• Southend University, Ngwuro Egeru (Rivers) University of Industry, Yaba (Lagos)
• University of Applied Science and Management Port Novo, Republic of Benin
• Reverend D.O. Ockiya College of Technology and Management Sciences, Emeyal, (Bayelsa)
• St. Paul University College, Awka (Anambra)
• Blacksmith University, Awka, (Anambra).

Jackson Academy's headmaster, known to some as "Dr. Pat," earned his doctoral degree from a fraudulent university.

Pat Taylor acknowledges it - and so does his boss.

Taylor received a doctorate in secondary education from LaSalle University in Mandeville, La., in 1996 - the same year FBI agents raided the institution.

Its founder, James Kirk, pleaded guilty to fraud and tax evasion, admitting he used LaSalle and his church to swindle LaSalle students out of $36.5 million, taking $1.5 million of that cash to buy himself a white-columned mansion. He also admitted setting up his World Christian Church as a bogus front to avoid paying income taxes.

Author John Bear, a nationally renowned expert on diploma mills, said about a dozen states have passed laws that make it a crime to claim a degree from LaSalle or similar bogus institutions in resumes. "It's nothing you would want to use in any public way," he said.

Mississippi, however, has no such law, Bear said...

Peter Jernberg, president and CEO of Jackson Academy, defended the educator, saying he was well aware throughout the search process that Taylor had earned his doctoral degree from a diploma mill. "That wasn't even an issue," he said.

A doctoral degree was not required for the position, but a master's in education and significant administrative experience were, he said. "The committee spent the majority of its time exploring the impeccable record of service and accomplishments Pat Taylor had at St. Paul's Episcopal School (in Mobile), where he served for 34 years. Every reference the committee checked gave their highest recommendation of Pat Taylor."

Taylor has never misrepresented anything about his background, Jernberg said. "The headmaster, board and parents of St. Paul's Episcopal School were more aware than us of the circumstances of Pat's doctorate, and they had no issues with it for the 11 years he continued to serve there after earning it," Jernberg said.

JA parents reached Tuesday weren't bothered by the revelation or wouldn't comment. Byron Edgecombe, vice president of the JA Association, said the fact that Taylor earned his degree from a diploma mill "doesn't concern me at all. He's done a very good job when he's been here."

Each year, JA parents pay up to $9,900 a year in tuition.

Taylor said he didn't realize LaSalle was a diploma mill until after he graduated.

Since his release from prison, Kirk has started several other academic institutions, some of them in Mississippi, Bear said.

Taylor said he did, however, know LaSalle wasn't accredited.

Asked why he would get a degree from an institution that wasn't accredited, he replied he was more interested in the help the institution offered...

He said he chose LaSalle because someone on the staff at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital had recommended the institution. (There is a legitimate LaSalle University in Philadelphia, Pa.)

Taylor said he could not recall the name of the professor under whom he did his doctoral dissertation, which included research on the best college options for students with learning disabilities.

He said he spent two to three years working on his research, which included a survey of college admission offices. "It was significant survey work," he said...

Rutledge said St. Paul's paid for Taylor's expenses at LaSalle, including paying a typist to type his dissertation...

As for Taylor continuing to list his doctoral degree on his resume, "I feel he earned it. I would not question that."

"Virginia’s system of higher education is one of the most highly regarded in the country, and this bill is an important part of maintaining that integrity." That was Governor Tim Kaine’s response to the passage of House Bill 766 during the reconvene session yesterday at the General Assembly.

As of July 1 when the law takes effect, anyone who issues, manufactures, or knowingly uses fraudulent academic credentials can be found guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, which is punishable by a sentence of up to 12 months in jail and fines of up to $2,500. Violations of the law should be reported to the Commonwealth’s Attorney offices in the location where they occur.

The legislation was drafted after months of hard work by a consortium of stakeholders, including The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), the Virginia Career College Association (VCCA), Longwood University, the Virginia Community College System, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

The bill was sponsored by Delegate Robert Tata, chairman of the House Education Committee and long-time advocate for higher education in Virginia. "When fraudulent credentials go unchecked, it diminishes the credentials offered by legitimate institutions," said Delegate Tata.

The State Council reports that diploma mills have not yet become a problem in Virginia. However, the potential for serious harm should diploma mills begin to operate in the Commonwealth prompted this proactive legislation.

"As more states pass legislation prohibiting diploma mills, Virginia becomes more vulnerable," said Daniel J. LaVista, SCHEV’s Executive Director. "That is why it was important to act quickly. I applaud Delegate Tata and the General Assembly for taking this important step to protect higher education in Virginia."

The manufacture and use of fraudulent credentials are cause for concern in a number of areas. First, there are the individuals who knowingly use fraudulent credentials to get jobs. In the case of health professions this practice can be dangerous, even life-threatening. Secondly, there are those who spend hard-earned money in good faith for credentials that turn out to be worthless. Third, employers are victimized when they spend money for what they think is legitimate training and get no value added to their workplace.

Virginia joins the following states in passing legislation against diploma mills: Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

SCHEV is the Commonwealth’s coordinating body for Virginia’s system of higher education. The agency provides policy guidance and budget recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly, and is a resource for information on Virginia colleges and universities on higher education issues. For more information about the agency or higher education issues in Virginia, visit www.schev.edu.

For more information, contact Kirsten Nelson, Director of Government Relations and Communications, at KirstenNelson@schev.edu or (804)225-2627.

A bill making its way through the House this month may put in place more oversight of private, for-profit higher education institutions in Colorado. But it will not give the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) oversight of an institution whose predecessor was closed down in Hawaii and was referred to as a "degree mill."

Last week, the CCHE authorized the American University for Humanities (AUfH) to offer degrees in Colorado. AUfH plans to begin enrolling students this fall and will offer undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, business administration, information technology, political science, psychology, "forensic psychology and criminal justice" and "psychology in business," according to AUfH documents.

The approval came after a tense hearing during a CCHE meeting last Friday in which AUfH's public relations director, Matt Wartell, accused the CCHE of blindsiding him with information he didn't have about AUfH's past.

AUfH was formerly known as the American University of Hawaii (AUHawaii), according to court documents and news reports. According to documents obtained through an open records request to the CCHE, the history of AUHawaii includes a still-unpaid half-million-dollar fine in Hawaii, which was assessed to the man who is listed as AUfH Colorado Project Coordinator and as the institution's registered agent with the Colorado Secretary of State's Office. Concerns have been raised about the institution's accrediting body, the American Academy of Liberal Education (AALE), which only recently came off suspension from the U.S. Department of Education for failing to comply with DOE standards, according to the documents.

AUHawaii was started in 1999, offering law and medical degrees for sale, according to a lawsuit filed against the corporation by the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection. Jeffrey Brunton, attorney for the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection, told S&GR this week that AUHawaii operated out of a one-room office in Wailuku and that the "Hawaii campus" simply did not exist. AUHawaii was never accredited by any nationally authorized accrediting agency, but a 2003 version of its Web site stated that as a global institution, it only needs authority from the state in which it is located, and does not need to be accredited by a federal agency such as the U.S. Department of Education. AUHawaii had other campuses in the Republic of Georgia, Lebanon and Singapore. All of those campuses have been accredited by AALE, but that accreditation does not transfer or apply to an American-based university, according to CCHE staff and AALE. In those locations the institution is now known as the American University for Humanities.

AUHawaii was sued by the state's Office of Consumer Protection in 2004. Among the claims made in the suit was that AUHawaii offered to sell and sold postsecondary degrees, including medical and law degrees, despite not being accredited by the agencies responsible for those areas. Its failure to be accredited by any agency was a violation of Hawaii state law, according to the lawsuit. The suit named AUHawaii as a defendant as well as its founder, Hassan H. Safavi, also known as Henry Safavi, who was included because, according to the lawsuit, he "willfully participated in and benefited from" the illegal activities of AUHawaii.

After months of delay and a trial, in 2006, a judge for the Second Judicial Circuit of Hawaii found in favor of the state, ordering the defendants to pay a $500,000 fine and to make restitution to every student who had paid for a degree from AUHawaii. Safavi has not paid a single dime of that judgment, Brunton said this week. The judgment is in effect for 10 years, Brunton said, and the state of Hawaii can get a 10-year extension once the first 10-year period expires. In addition, the judge ordered the defendants to remove the AUHawaii name on Web sites that had been set up for AUHawaii campuses in Delaware and Mississippi. Failure to do so would have resulted in Safavi being incarcerated, Brunton said.

Safavi responds

Safavi told S&GR that AUHawaii was never a campus. "Our headquarters were in Hawaii; we never offered degrees in Hawaii -- we did not have a campus, students or faculty," he said. AUHawaii was just the headquarters of a global university, he said, adding that AUHawaii was invited to come to Hawaii by the state and was recognized by the Hawaii House and Senate as "the most innovative institution of higher education in the world." Safavi also said the president of the Hawaii Senate was a member of AUHawaii's board of directors.

Safavi said the lawsuit arose when AUHawaii was on the verge of being accredited by AALE. Safavi said he himself had promoted legislation to shut down Hawaii diploma mills and that Hawaii is the only state in the country that has "institutionalized diploma mills." He said it was strange that the state came after his institution when he was actively trying to shut down diploma mills. "I don't know what went wrong or who was the interested party [attempting] to get rid of us in Hawaii," he said.

Safavi acknowledged that there is still a $500,000 fine pending against him in Hawaii, but he also pointed out that during the course of the lawsuit, two judges suggested mediation, which he said was refused by Brunton. Safavi said one judge ruled in favor of AUHawaii. He added that a second judge suggested mediation "because there was no case" but then changed his mind and issued the final ruling against AUHawaii. With regard to the claim that AUHawaii was offering medical and law degrees, Safavi noted that AUHawaii had had an articulation agreement for the medical degrees with the Yerevian State Medical University of Armenia, although he added that the medical program never came to fruition due to regulations about foreign students in Armenia. The 2003 AUHawaii Web site says the institution offered nonaccredited juris doctorates in law and does not note an affiliated institution; Safavi said that was because they never found one to offer that degree program.

Safavi said AUfH institutions operate with more than 3,000 faculty and 6,000 students in 31 countries, and are recognized as world leaders in many academic areas.

`Bad publicity'

In a December 2007 letter to the CCHE, Michael Harari, vice president of AUfH, said AUHawaii never knowingly breached the laws of Hawaii "despite the incessant bad publicity that Hawaii Office of Consumer Affairs has taken upon itself to propagate at the taxpayers' expense." The legal action against AUHawaii, Harari said, "has been recognized by all to be a political act." Harari wrote that the lawsuit was founded on depositions from "bogus witnesses [and] arranged court dates, and [the state] obtained a faulty judgment all in the span of one month. We came to realize that we were no match with those who hold the political and financial clout in Hawaii ... and we decided to abide and leave."

But according to court documents, the judgment included a "cease-and-desist" order and the fines and restitution ordered by the court were the result of AUHawaii failing to obey that order.

As a global institution and for its campuses in the Republic of Georgia, Singapore and Lebanon, AUfH sought and received accreditation from AALE. But AALE has had its own problems. Last December, AALE was granted authority to accept applications for membership and accreditation, after serving a six-month suspension imposed by the U.S. Department of Education. According to DOE documents, the suspension was recommended in December 2006 by the DOE's National Advisory Committee for Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), based on concerns that AALE had failed to comply with DOE standards. The suspension went into effect in July 2007. In a March 2007 letter to AALE, Spellings noted she was "concerned that since 2001 AALE has been cited consistently for either not having clear expectations or standards with respect to measuring student outcomes, or not collecting and reviewing data on how institutions it accredits measures student outcomes."

Choosing Colorado

AUfH documents say the move to Colorado was suggested by the AALE, "since they feel that [Colorado] is an education-friendly state" and "we have been assured that due permits and licenses will be granted for our operation with least formality."

In Colorado, a private, for-profit entity can open a college or university if it complies with state statutes and CCHE regulations. According to the CCHE, those include documentation that the institution is familiar with accreditation; a mission statement; a listing of the institution's governing board, executive officers and faculty members; degree and academic program information; admissions and academic policies; financial resources; and proof of accreditation status.

During the April 11 meeting, CCHE Chief Academic Officer Julie Carnahan noted that AUfH had completed all CCHE requirements for approval. She noted that in some states, a cease-and-desist order would be sufficient reason to deny approval to an institution attempting to open its doors there, but that is not the case in Colorado. Carnahan said that while the staff was recommending approval for AUfH, CCHE Executive Director David Skaggs had directed them to also inform the commissioners about AUfH's history.

Commissioners initially attempted to delay the vote on approval, seeking more time to find out about AUfH. But Carnahan told them that nothing the staff would find out about AUfH's history would change the staff recommendation, given that AUfH had complied with all CCHE requirements.

Wartell, who said at the meeting that he knew nothing about the history of AUfH, said the problem was probably just a "paperwork issue," and told the commissioners that a delay in the vote might cause AUfH to "give up and move to Los Angeles." And he pointed out that Safavi is no longer president of AUfH.

However, Safavi is listed as "dean of social and behavioral sciences" for AUfH-Colorado, as "Colorado Project Coordinator" in a March 2008 AUfH document, and as the agent for AUfH-Colorado in the articles of incorporation filed with the Secretary of State's Office.

After failing to delay the vote during the meeting, the CCHE voted 5-2 to approve AUfH for operations in Colorado. But Commissioner Larry Beckner echoed the concerns of several commissioners when he said he was uncomfortable with the way the statute reads, because "it does not allow us to do what we need to do."

The situation also alarmed members of the CCHE's advisory board, most notably the legislators, who acted quickly to recommend changes to legislation that would toughen up Colorado's oversight of private, for-profit institutions. But Skaggs told S&GR this week that those changes would not be retroactive and would not deal with the AUfH situation.

Legislators react

On Monday, the House Education Committee amended SB 167, a bill that initially sought modest changes to CCHE oversight of private, for-profit institutions.

Under the original version of SB 167, a private college or university that wants to do business in Colorado would have to be accredited by a regional accreditation association or agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. In addition, the CCHE could order the Department of Higher Education to review the institution to determine whether to revoke its authorization or place it on probationary status. However, according to the bill, that revocation could only occur if the institution had lost its accreditation or been placed on probationary status by its accrediting agency.

The bill would also add to state law a section on procedures related to student complaints, stating that the department could investigate claims of deceptive trade practices, but not complaints based on academic or religious freedom or that would question curriculum content.

In response to the AUfH situation, on Monday legislators amended the bill to say CCHE could not approve an application from an institution that had been suspended in the previous two years, prohibited from doing business in another state or had the same ownership or principal officers as an institution that had been prohibited from doing business in another state.

SB 167 now goes to the House Appropriations Committee; its House sponsor, Rep. Tom Massey (R-Poncha Springs) said he expects a hearing to take place next week.

For two years, the locally unaccredited Bircham International University has been illegally operating in Kenya, wooing unsuspecting students to its distance learning classes.

Questions are now being raised over degrees courses offered by the Spanish institution, in what appears to be yet another angle to an ensuing education scam.

Investigations by Business Daily show that the university charges between Sh250,000 and Sh400,000 in fees for undergraduate, masters and doctorate courses.

This is marginally below what most local accredited universities charge for the same type of degrees.

Most of the bogus colleges are found in congested precincts, often sandwiched between shops and office blocks. They charge lower fees than most universities and are staffed by teachers who lack credentials.

Locally, some institutions are claiming to offer degrees on behalf of Bircham International university. Among them is Maranatha Professional College of Counselling based in Nairobi.

The secretary for Commission for Higher Education (CHE), Prof Everett Standa, says the institution is operating in the country illegally and degree certificates from BIU will not be recognised by the Commission.

Our request to the Spanish Embassy in Kenya on the registration status of BIU in Spain was unanswered by the time of going to press.

On several occasions, BIU has unsuccessfully sought collaboration with some credible local colleges. One such institution is the Kenya Institute of Professional Counselling which is validated by CHE and is already in collaboration with the Egerton University.

It is understood that most of the initial students of BIU had been recruited from KIPC, but later withdrew from the it after word went around that the institution was not locally recognised.

A former student, who enrolled in 2004 and has graduated, told Business Daily that BIU has hired agents to source local students. The agent gets a commission of $1,000 (Sh62,000) for every student who enrols and pays up the whole fees amount.

According to Prof Standa, BIU is not listed in the Unesco's International Handbook of Universities - a list of all registered universities in the World - which the commission uses to verify information on any foreign university.

BIU, which says it has already enrolled 110 students, operates from the 17th floor of Posta Sacco Plaza along University Way. However, the institution's co-ordinator for the East Africa region, Timothy Kiambi, sees no need in seeking accreditation for BIU to operate in the country.

"Ours is a Distance Learning Programme, which is not even regulated in Kenya," he told Business Daily. "We use the local colleges to support our students especially in research, so it is not really something that requires accreditation"

"You don't go to a foreign land and begin operations there without informing the authorities," said Prof Standa, adding that several bogus universities appear each year and students should be wary.

Locally, BIU offers diploma, degrees, masters and doctorates in Forensic Psychology and Criminology, Security Management, psychology and counselling among others.

"Officially validated degrees are required for certain government posts and professional licenses. BIU distance learning degrees can not be used for these purposes," the institution says in its website. A number of factors are coming together to fuel this trend of phony schools.

For education analysts; the rapid globalisation of education is likely to attract a more diverse range of private providers--both local and foreign -- and there could be a greater risk of confusion.

More foreign universities are set to open overseas campuses - and CHE warns that there will be "more of these shadowy organisations wanting to make quick cash".

Although the awarding of qualifications in Kenyan universities is tightly regulated, the rules do not apply for businesses calling themselves "colleges" or "institutes".

Degrees from such universities are mere pieces of paper with no academic value.

Three Washington state residents have admitted to selling thousands of bogus academic degrees through scores of phony online universities, while raking in millions of dollars from customers.

In plea agreements filed late last month in the U.S. District Court in Spokane, Dixie E. Randock, her husband Steven K. Randock Sr., and her daughter Heidi K. Lorhan admitted to having used Web sites and sold degrees in fields that included education, medicine, and nuclear engineering to customers from the United States and other countries from 1999 to 2005. The three pleaded guilty to federal criminal fraud charges.

In 2003, several Georgia teachers and administrators used degrees purchased from one of the bogus online schools, "St. Regis University," to qualify for state pay raises.

State officials accepted the credentials from the phony university, which was purportedly in Liberia, because a Florida-based credential-evaluation firm vouched for their validity. ("Educators’ Degrees Earned On Internet Raise Fraud Issues," May 5, 2004.)

Last fall, several other participants in the scheme also pleaded guilty to fraud and other criminal charges. They include charges related to bribery of officials from the government of Liberia, which for a time listed St. Regis University and other entities created by the group as accredited institutions. One other alleged participant reportedly is in plea negotiations with prosecutors.

Risk and Awareness

Alarms about the dangers of global trafficking in bogus academic credentials have been raised by members of the U.S. academic community, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Government Accountability Office, and members of the U.S. Congress.

Only nine states broadly outlaw or restrict the use of unaccredited academic credentials in applying for a raise or a job; an additional two states have more-narrow protections against the use of bogus degrees, according to Alan L. Contreras, the administrator of Oregon’s office of degree authorization.

U.S. Senate hearings in 2004 focused on federal employees who bought credentials from "diploma mills"—sometimes with public money—to win raises and promotions in government jobs.

Federal legislation reining in online diploma mills is part of a major higher education reauthorization bill that the House of Representatives passed earlier this year. The bill is currently being considered by a House-Senate conference committee, along with a version passed by the Senate that does not address diploma mills.

The bill, H.R. 4137, for the first time provides a legal definition of a diploma mill, while instructing the U.S. secretary of education to establish lists of legitimate accrediting agencies, colleges and universities, and equivalent overseas institutions. The bill would establish a "diploma mill task force" to develop guidelines to distinguish between legitimate and bogus degree-granting institutions and legislation to address fraudulent degrees. The bill also directs the Federal Trade Commission to designate the offering or issuing of a bogus degree as "an unfair and deceptive act or practice."

Bill a ‘Good Start’

George Gollin, a physics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who has crusaded against online diploma mills for years, says the House legislation, which was originally developed by U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., is "a really good start."

He estimates that the Randocks’ operation, at its height, sold between 2,000 and 3,000 degrees per year. According to the plea agreement, "the cost of a high school diploma was $350-$400, and an undergraduate or graduate ‘degree’ was $500-$1,200."

Of the online diploma mills in the early 2000s, Mr. Gollin said, theirs was the most "sophisticated in presentation" on the Web, though "it wasn’t the biggest in terms of marketing."

Still, said Mr. Gollin, who currently is a member of the board of directors of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, based in Washington, "I think very roughly, U.S.-based diploma-mill operators are selling between 100,000 and 200,000 degrees yearly."

In K-12 education, bogus credentials seem to be most prevalent among nonclassroom school employees who are seeking degrees to obtain promotions or higher pay grades, rather than teachers, Mr. Gollin said.

Online diploma mills "are easy to create, easy to move," said Judith S. Eaton, the executive director of the Council of Higher Education Accreditation, which oversees domestic accreditation of colleges and universities. Despite a dearth of reliable data on the extent of the problem, Ms. Eaton called it "a cause for concern worldwide—both in the import and export of degrees."

In fields such as engineering or medicine, she noted, allowing people to gain positions of responsibility with bogus degrees could have life-threatening consequences.

Dixie Ellen Randock, a high-school dropout who masterminded a Spokane-based Internet scheme to sell bogus high school and university degrees around the world, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.

The 58-year-old Colbert woman, who sold real estate before launching her massive diploma mill operation in the late 1990s, faces three years in prison when she is sentenced July 2 in U.S. District Court.

She started her string of online universities "because she saw it as a good way to make money," according to the plea agreement she signed.

Her husband, Steven K. Randock Sr., 67, and daughter, Heidi Kae Lorhan, 39, also pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Under terms of separate plea agreements, Steven Randock faces three years in prison and Lorhan faces 12 to 18 months.

As part of plea bargains, the U.S. attorney’s office agreed to seek dismissal of money-laundering charges against the Randocks, which carried longer potential prison terms. They agreed to forfeit more than $535,000 in cash seized in 2005 by a special task force, as well as their late-model Jaguar.

The fourth remaining defendant, Roberta Lynn Markishtum, was negotiating a similar plea agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office and may enter a guilty plea today, Judge Lonny Suko was told at Wednesday’s hearing.

The case is believed to be the first successful prosecution by the U.S. Department of Justice of diploma-mill operators, using wire and mail fraud statutes.

"In terms of complexity and numbers of documents, I’d say it ranks up there, if not the biggest, then one of the biggest (cases) that’s come across my desk," said Jim McDevitt, who has been the U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington for the past seven years.

New court documents disclose that the conspirators used an airline magazine advertisement to sell at least one "doctor of medicine" degree from their fictional Saint Regis University to a buyer in North Carolina who paid the Randocks $1,531.

A man from Wisconsin bought a nuclear science degree from Robertstown University, another one of the 125 bogus online schools created by the Randocks, the documents say.

There are at least 8,200 purchasers whose names haven’t been released by the federal government. McDevitt said Wednesday he’s committed to the eventual release of the names of buyers who used their degrees in many instances to get jobs and promotions or, in the case of foreign nationals, to enhance their chances of immigrating to the United States.

At least 300 of the buyers worked for the federal government, including in positions in the Justice Department, the State Department, various military branches and even the White House, it has been disclosed in previous court hearings.

The only publicly announced criminal prosecution of a purchaser involves a former deputy U.S. marshal supervisor who worked in Spokane and bought a degree from Saint Regis. He pleaded guilty to lying on a promotion application and awaits sentencing.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney George J.C. Jacobs, who headed the multiagency task force dubbed "Operation Gold Seal" that has investigated the diploma mill operation for more than three years. Because of pending court hearings, Jacobs said he couldn’t comment.

The federal task force was created in early 2005, following a November 2003 news story in The Spokesman-Review about the diploma-mill operation being run by the Randocks out of an office building in Mead and a house in Hillyard.

After that notoriety, the Randocks moved their operation to a rented basement office in a Post Falls office building, registering their businesses with the state of Idaho as "When Pigs Fly Inc." and "Kaching, Kaching Inc."

Federal interest in the operation ramped up when investigators discovered purchasers included people living in the Middle East they feared could be terrorists who could legally gain entry into the United States with their bogus college degrees.

Four other defendants — Blake Alan Carlson, Richard John Novak, Kenneth Wade Pearson and Amy Leann Hensley — previously pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy and agreed to be prosecution witnesses against the Randocks. Pearson, who worked as webmaster for the Randocks, also pleaded guilty to receipt of 10,000 child pornography images. They all await sentencing.

In her plea agreement, Dixie Randock confessed to making up names of prep schools and universities, creating online Web sites for them and selling fraudulent degrees and transcripts.

She also admitted to manufacturing counterfeit degrees, class transcripts and other academic products, using the names of legitimate U.S. universities, including the University of Tennessee, Texas A&M, the University of Maryland and George Washington University.

Defense attorney Phillip "Dutch" Wetzel said he will ask that Dixie Randock be allowed to serve her sentence under "home confinement," but Jacobs, the assistant U.S. attorney, said he will ask for straight prison time, followed by three years of probation.

Steven Randock’s attorney, Peter Schweda, said he expects to ask for little or no prison time because the 67-year-old defendant suffers from heart problems.

Attorneys for both Randocks asked the court to waive pre-sentence reports, which provide the court with a detailed background on the defendants. The prosecutor opposed that request. Suko said he would order the background reports to help craft his forthcoming sentencing decisions.

The Spokane-based diploma-mill operation raked in an estimated $6.3 million in six years of operation, using the Internet to sell more than 8,200 phony college degrees and accompanying transcripts around the world, court documents say.

The online schools claimed they were accredited by the National Board of Education in Liberia. As part of the case, the Secret Service learned Abdullah Dunbar, the deputy chief of the Liberian Embassy, was demanding cash bribes from the Randocks.

The Liberian Embassy official, secretly videotaped in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., during the investigation, demanded bribes in exchange for lining up "accreditation" for Saint Regis University and other diploma mills and for handing out payments of $50 to $100 a month to Liberian educators posing as "faculty members" for the online universities.

The task force was headed by agents with the Secret Service, with assistance from the Federal Protective Service, the IRS, a Spokane police fraud detective and investigators from the Washington state attorney general’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office.

Dixie Randock, who used 11 aliases in the scheme, including "Patrick O’Brien, dean of studies at Saint Regis University," declined comment after leaving the courtroom.

She got engraved diploma seals and fraudulent signature stamps for her cast of professors and deans from Carlson, a co-conspirator who operated a stamp shop in Hillyard. He also became "provost and chief academic officer" for Saint Regis University and "dean of studies" for Robertstown University, signing his name as "Professor Blackwell."

Het Amerikaanse controleorgaan van onderwijsinstellingen waarschuwt voor Concordia College and University. Dat is een frauduleuze 'universiteit' die door de Belg Kristiaan D.L. geleid zou worden. Ook de geheime dienst zit op de zaak.

ANTWERPEN: Vorig jaar nog werd in de Vernigde Staten een vrouw veroordeeld die een vals diploma psychologie gebruikte. Dat had ze verkregen van Concordia College and University. Die had ook banden met de even valse Saint-Regis University, waarvan de medewerkers momenteel in de VS terechtstaan.

Vorig jaar werd de Amerikaanse Louise Wightman, beter bekend als Dr. Stripper, in Massachussets veroordeeld voor fraude en het onrechtmatig gebruik van de titel psychologe. Het voormalige Playboymodel en stripster had voor 13.000 dollar een doctoraat in de psychologie gekocht van Concordia College and University, naar eigen zeggen omdat ze vond dat ze "ghet doctoraat verdiend had".

Opmerkelijk is ook dat een radiopresentator uit Fostoria, Ohio, er in 2006 in slaagde via Concordia een bachelordiploma in de wetenschappen te verkrijgen voor een hond.

'Diploma mill'

De Amerikaanse Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), dat de onderwijsinstellingen controleert, roept op om waakzaam te zijn voor de Concordia College and University, een zogenaamde diploma mill of 'universiteit' die tegen betaling diploma's verkoopt via het internet. De diploma's, van masters tot doctoraten, kunnen worden verkregen op basis van 'eerder verworven kennis'. De instelling beweert geaccrediteerd te zijn door Indonesië en Liberia. Dat laatste land liet echter al weten dat de erkenning niet geldig is. Verder wordt ook een erkenning door de National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE) geclaimd. Die organisatie wordt door het Amerikaanse ministerie van Onderwijs en de CHEA echter ook als frauduleus beschouwd. De man achter NAHE, Richard Hayer, staat bovendien terecht omdat ook hij via het internet ongeldige diploma's verkocht, via de Saint-Regis University. Ook de VN-organisatie UNESCO bestempelde Concordia als dubieus.

Volgens CHEA is het de Antwerpenaar Kristiaan D.L. die achter de Concordia universiteit zit. Op een oude website van de Concordia-universiteit, die niet langer online beschikbaar is, staat D.L. als afgevaardigd bestuurder van Concordia College and University. De man zou ook een doctoraat en een MBA behaald hebben aan de Trinity College and University, een instelling die in de VS eveneens bekendstaat als een diploma mill. De Morgen had inzage in een brief van de Amerikaanse ambassade in Korea, waarin D.L. gelinkt wordt aan Concordia.

Frauduleus

Daarbovenop had D.L. banden met de frauduleuze Saint-Regis University. Acht mensen achter die instelling worden momenteel vervolgd, onder andere voor fraude. Saint-Regis heeft zo'n 6.000 valse diploma's verkocht, in totaal voor 4,7 miljoen dollar. Bijna de helft daarvan werd 'uitgereikt' aan mensen uit het Midden-Oosten en Azië, die daardoor een visum voor de VS verkregen.

Er is een website, eveneens niet langer online, waarop een 'authentificatie van een Concordiadiploma' te vinden is. Dat attest is ondertekend door Steven Randock, een beklaagde in de Saint-Regiszaak, en duidt D.L. aan als 'directeur en academicus van Concordia College and University'. De Saint- Regisbeklaagden hebben ook valse erkenningsorganisaties opgericht, waaronder het NAHE, dat de Concordia van D.L. erkende.

Concordia is bovendien niet de enige diplomawinkel waaraan D.L. verbonden wordt: volgens CHEA is hij ook de man achter de Capitol University, die eveneens banden heeft met Saint-Regis.

Het heeft er alle schijn van dat ook de Amerikaanse geheime dienst achter de man aanzit, al kan dat niet formeel bevestigd worden. Wel laat een bron binnen de geheime dienst weten dat "er in het dossier beweging zit". Ook CHEA zegt dat "er naar gekeken wordt". Kristiaan D.L. was niet bereikbaar voor commentaar.

Belgian swindler sells in the United States worthless diplomas for coarse money

The American supervisory body of educational warns against Concordia College and University. That is a fraudulent 'university' by the Belgian Kristiaan DL would be led. Even the Secret Service is on the case.

Last year was still in the Vernigde States condemned a woman who used a fake diploma psychology. That she had obtained from Concordia College and University. They also had links with the equally false Saint Regis University, whose staff currently in the US trial.

Last year was the American Louise Wightman, better known as Dr. Stripper, in Massachussets convicted of fraud and the unauthorized use of the title psychologist. The former Playboy model and stripster had 13,000 dollars for a doctorate in psychology purchased from Concordia College and University, to claim because they thought that they "had earned doctorate.

It is noteworthy that a radiopresentator from Fostoria, Ohio, in 2006 succeeded in Concordia via a Bachelor diploma in sciences to obtain a dog.

'Diploma Mill'

The American Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), which controls the educational, calls for vigilance for the College and Concordia University, a diploma mill 'or' university 'that charge diplomas sells over the Internet. The diplomas to doctorates, masters, may be obtained on the basis of previously acquired knowledge. The institution claims to be accredited by Indonesia and Liberia. The latter country had, however, already know that the recognition is not valid.

Is also a recognition by the National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE) claimed. That organization by the United States Department of Education and CHEA also considered fraudulent. The man behind NAHE, Richard Hayer, also justified because he also via the Internet invalid diplomas sold through the Saint Regis University. The UN agency UNESCO Concordia described as dubious.

According CHEA it is the Antwerp Kristiaan DL who is behind the Concordia University. On a site of the old Concordia University, which is no longer available online, DL as deputy director of College and Concordia University. The man would be a doctorate and an MBA demonstrate to the Trinity College and University, an institution established in the USA also known as a diploma mill. De Morgen had access to a letter from the American embassy in Korea, where DL linked to Concordia.

Fraudulent

There had DL ties with the fraudulent Saint Regis University. Eight people behind that institution are currently being prosecuted, including fraud. Saint Regis has about 6,000 fake diplomas sold for a total of 4.7 million dollars. Almost half of that amount was "issued" to people from the Middle East and Asia, which became a visa for the United States.

There is a website, also no longer online, which is a 'authentication of a Concordiadiploma' can be found. That certificate was signed by Steven Randock, a defendant in the Saint-Regiszaak, and indicates DL as' director and university graduate of Concordia College and University. " De Saint-Regisbeklaagden have also forged erkenningsorganisaties, including NAHE that the Concordia DL recognized.

Concordia is bovendien niet de enige diplomawinkel waaraan DL verbonden wordt: volgens CHEA is hij ook de man achter de Capitol University, die eveneens banden heeft met Saint-Regis. Concordia is not the only diplomawinkel which is linked DL: according CHEA he is also the man behind the Capitol University, which also has ties with Saint Regis.

It has seemed as if the American secret service behind the man aanzit, though not formally confirmed. Well let a source within the secret service that "there is movement in the dossier". Also CHEA says that "looked". Kristiaan DL was not reachable for comment.

Vandella Brown, manager of the diversity program at the Illinois State Library, has a doctorate from the University of Berkley.

That's B-E-R-K-L-E-Y, Michigan. Not B-E-R-K-E-L-E-Y, California. That's one difference.

Another is that the University of Berkley has been identified by Pennsylvania authorities as a "diploma mill" — a for-profit, usually Internet-based operation, that issues fraudulent degrees.

Brown said she considers her Berkley doctorate merely honorary, given in return for a charitable contribution, and that she has never used it for personal gain.

"There's no other proper way to list it, but if anyone asks, I tell them, and it's on my regular resume (as honorary)," she said. "I wouldn't dare try to make something else out of it."

"I have official degrees of master's and BA (a bachelor's degree)," Brown said in an e-mail Friday.

"I do understand that this degree is a honorary degree in conjunction with a charitable donation given through that university. I have never used it for gain and have sited on my resume as honorary. Never tried to use it as gain in my professional, it has been strictly honorary for me.

"I am worried now where my donation really went to," Brown wrote.

Brown's resume lists the Berkley degree as: "UNIVERSITY OF BERKLEY, Berkley, Michigan, DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE, Honoris Causa, June 2004."

However, Brown has signed at least one memo as "Vandella Brown, Ph.D," and her biography on the North Suburban Library System doesn't suggest that her doctorate is an honorary one.

Henry Haupt, spokesman for the Illinois secretary of state's office, under which the library is managed, said he was not familiar with Brown's educational background, but soon would be.

"This is something we'll have to look into further. Secretary (of State Jesse) White takes very seriously the credentials of his employees," he said.

If there's a university in Berkley, Mich., it's apparently well hidden.

"We're only 2.2 square miles, and we only have a population of just over 15,000. We could have a small university, but I don't know where we'd put it," said Jane Bais-DiSessa, Berkley's city manager.

The Web site for the university has a couple of disclaimers at the bottom of the home page, including that it was founded in Berkley, Mich., and "has no affiliation or connection whatsoever with the University of California at Berkeley campus!"

The school's telephone number has a Chicago area code.

And the Web site says that the owners and operators of the site may not conduct business with people who live in Pennsylvania. That may be because the Pennsylvania attorney general's office sued the University of Berkley in 2004.

The suit arose after the school, which then was based in Erie, Pa., awarded a master's degree in business administration to a cat named Colby. The cat's application actually was filed by the attorney general's office.

The suit identified Berkley's owner as Dr. Dennis Globosky, a former New Mexico state trooper, and accused him of selling fake degrees since the late 1990s. The Web site now lists Globosky as university president. (Also available on the school's Web site is a downloadable version of a song Globosky wrote and sung back in 1981, honoring the memory of John Lennon.)

A person who answers the phone for the University of Berkley said that to get a degree, an applicant will receive a portfolio in which the applicant can include "all work related to the degree you seek, or even remotely related." A committee "sorts out" that information and assigns the applicant a project, the person said.

The cost scale for a degree also is on the Berkley Web site. Prices range from $2,795 for an associate's degree to $4,995 for a doctorate. Discounts are offered for one-time payments.

The school's slogan is: "True to reality … not tradition."

Brown said she was approached by Berkley about getting a doctorate degree through a woman's organization she belongs to. She declined to provide the name of the organization.

"It first came to me in the form of a letter, and I don't remember how all it came about," she said.

"I think the donation was $1,000, and it also entailed writing a long statement about yourself. There was no test. It was totally an honorary donation to a group of children they were helping in Zimbabwe."

Brown's resume says she earned the honorary degree in 2004. Her salary history indicates she was hired by the state in September 2000 at a salary of $62,280 annually. She now makes $84,816, though there was no jump that indicates she rose a pay level because earning a degree...

What's in a name? Probably everything in the education sector. Schools and colleges with a history, reputation and a string of well known alumni behind them tend to attract more interest from sponsors, parents and students, giving them a huge potential base from which to earn income in the form of fees, grants and endowments.

It is now emerging that parents, guardians and self-sponsored students in Kenya could be losing millions of shillings in fees and other charges in the belief that they would get certificates from two famous UK universities — Cambridge and Oxford — through a correspondent relationship with the Digital Advisory Learning Centre (DALC).

The centre, which has eight campuses across the country with a high concentration in Nairobi, claims to offer diploma and degree certification from the two universities but the reality is different.

DALC collaborates with two institutions in the UK — Cambridge Association of Managers and Oxford Association of Management — which run two separate colleges offering management courses but which have no working relationship with either Cambridge or Oxford Universities.

The colleges are accredited by Quality Assurance Commission Limited owned by a Malaysian businessman and which is not recognised by UK education authorities."There are two accreditation bodies in the UK and QAC is not one of them," Mr David Higgs, the head of British Council in Kenya told The Business Daily. Accreditation bodies in the UK fall under two categories, public and private.

Private colleges are admitted through the British Accreditation Council and Accreditation Service of Independent Colleges. Mr Hicks said QAC is registered as a limited company.

DALC shares the accreditation body with Irish International University (IIU), which has been locked in a scandal since investigations by the BBC found that it had issued fake degrees and diplomas to more than 5,000 international students in the last seven years.

To pass off as a partner of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, IIU used to rent facilities for graduation at Oxford or Cambridge universities. DALC, on the other hand, insinuates in their marketing that they get certificates from the renown universities.

They market their services on the strength of association with the two which, according to the BBC findings is nonexistent. The report concluded that the accreditation body was fake and had over the years presented bogus certificates to unsuspecting international students.

The BBC findings contrast sharply with claims on DALC's website. "Assessments and issuance of certificates are done by the upgrading university at their discretion. All Cambridge or Oxford courses are assessed by Cambridge or Oxford and certificates are issued from UK."

Then the reputation bit. "The Cambridge and Oxford courses have very good recognition and upgrades to bachelors or masters degrees are guaranteed as long as the student meets the performance criteria alongside other requirements of the accepting university." DALC has recently put up an elaborate television advertisement campaign where it states that it has an approval certificate from the Commission for Higher Education .

A source at the commission, however, said the institution had only recently applied for a collaboration approval and that the commission was looking at the documents. "We have not issued any certificates to DALC. We are verifying the application," the source said on condition of anonymity.

The British Council has also disassociated itself from the institution following complaints related to examinations and failure to confer credits for direct transfers to Oxford and Cambridge.

"Questions arose from the kind of activities that the institution was involved in. We cut our ties with them in public interest," a British Council official said in a telephone interview. He declined to be quoted because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

DALC head of mission Humprey Obura, however, said the institution was looking at developing its own curricula after cutting ties with QAC sometime last year. He said the website would be updated to reflect this.

"We are in the process of initiating a new system where students assessment will be based on our curricula. We have however made it very clear that we are not a university," he said. The institution is in the process of seeking approval to administer its own programmes.

When asked about the relationship with the questionable QAC, Mr Obura said the institution had cut his links with the body and was in the process of sourcing for other colleges in other parts of the world to link with.

A statement from DALC website on the other hand read: 'You will receive a certificate from Quality Assurance Commission, UK (QAC-UK) confirming this accreditation which you can use uniformly in the world for acceptance of the credits hence exemptions from whole level of learning or particular subjects or modules.'

When asked about the relationship between DALC and Oxford or Cambridge universities, the head of the mission said: "We need to meet and talk on issues surrounding accreditation and international university education."

A web search for Royal Rhodes Institute (ostensibly based in Canada) — which he said DALC would collaborate with, however, returned no entries. Bogus institutions targeting international students have been on the spotlight in the UK recently.

"Some of the colleges will say that they have been accredited but when you ask by whom, they name an institution which is in fact owned by them," a leading academic Professor Geoffrey Aldermann recently testified before the Home Affairs Committee.

Accreditation experts in the UK estimate there may be as many as 1,000 private colleges operating across the UK targeting international students, which would fail quality standards.

Many are found in congested precincts, often sandwiched between shops and office blocks.

DALC has been operating in the country for close to four years and flags a validation certificate signed by Prof George Saitoti in fliers. It has listed a number of respected professionals in health, finance and other fields as its alumni. When contacted, a few of them declined to comment on the issue.

A related story at the same URL: State to publish list of accredited colleges

A list of all accredited colleges operating in Kenya will be published next month, effectively exposing bogus institutions purporting to be offering degrees on behalf of foreign universities.

The Commission for Higher Education (CHE), the body charged with the responsibility of overseeing the establishment and accreditation of private universities has raised a red flag over a deluge of complaints from parents and students who had paid millions of shillings to such colleges.

CHE secretary Prof Everett Standa says the Commission has already finalised a national audit on all institutions and a list submitted to the Government Printer for gazettement.

However, he says efforts to identify unregistered institutions have been slowed by capacity constraints.

This has seen the Commission revert to a wait and see attitude, relying mostly on complaints from students, parents and the general public.

"We are working very hard on behalf of students to ensure that all private institutions meet strict quality standards.

"Where we are not satisfied that this is the case with a particular college, we will not hesitate to investigate and if necessary, close it down," said Prof Standa.

Educationists and employers have questioned the degrees and accused the colleges of churning out half-baked graduates, at a time when unemployment is biting in the country.

"There are hundreds of institutions which had been licensed to offer certain programmes, but they had ended up rolling out different ones and we have identified them," Prof Standa told Business Daily.

The end result is expected to be graduates with skills that can help them compete for jobs.

The scenario in the local higher education sector is one where demand for vacancies has outstripped supply as indicated by the high number of student exports to Uganda, the US, Malaysia and the UK.This, Prof Standa said, had opened loopholes for rogue institutions offering degrees and diplomas to thrive, dealing a blow to the commission's reputation.

"I would encourage all new students to carefully check the credentials of the college they wish to enrol at and if they have any concerns, contact their local trading standards team."

Analysts said mushrooming of bogus colleges was brought about by the past inadequacies of CHE — which had the mandate of approving such institutions.

The university education crisis continues to deepen every year, culminating into a large number of qualified high school graduates missing out on admission.

Last year, for example, 63,104 out of 243,453 candidates who sat for KCSE qualified for university admission, but only 10,000 places were available in the six State universities. The remaining 53,000 had to fight for the few places in private universities or pursue their aspirations through parallel degree programmes.

A government-appointed committee to assess the state of higher education recently warned that the number of students qualifying for university education annually will be more than 230,118 in 2015.

According to Prof Standa, CHE has accredited at least 20 foreign institutions to offer degree programmes in collaboration with Kenyan universities and colleges over the last one year.

Currently, CHE is vested with the responsibility of overseeing the establishment and accreditation of private universities. It also acts as the quality assurance authority for curriculum and degree programmes offered by the institutions.

Public universities on the other hand, are established by an Act of Parliament with the supervisory role of programmes offered resting with respective university senates.

In October last year, Education Permanent Secretary Karega Mutahi said out of 544 registered colleges, only 10 offered courses recognized by the Kenya National Examination Council. The rest registered students for courses that were not approved by the council, the only institution with the mandate to vet programmes below university level.

An editorial from Business Daily Africa: Close dubious colleges, Nairobi, Kenya Business Daily Africa, March 6, 2008.

In our editorial yesterday, we tackled the question of phoney schemes.

But what is worrying are alarm bells and revelations that thousands of Kenyans could be armed with questionable degree and diploma certificates that have been acquired from bogus colleges still operating in our midst.

The Commission for Higher Education—which has been charged with the duty of validating higher educational programmes — has raised the alarm over dozens of un-accredited institutions which have mushroomed across the country purporting to offer all sorts of courses, mostly from foreign universities. We want to say: shut them down and lock up the proprietors.

Parents, guardian and self-sponsored students have put millions into such institutions, in the belief that they will get certificates from foreign universities. They don't.

With CHE saying it cannot police such institutions to ensure they are registered and their courses validated, policy gaps are apparent. But CHE cannot hide behind such a wall.

Most owners of the institutions do not even bother approaching the Commission for validation of the programmes they are offering.

The statistics were telling — just about 10 colleges have been allowed by CHE to collaborate with foreign universities to offer several programmes.

The rest, believed to be many registered students for courses that were not approved by the Commission, which is the only institution with the mandate to vet programmes at university level.

CHE can do better by educating Kenyans on the registered institutions. However, it must be pointed out that there are some middle-level colleges that offer their own courses and certificates with approval from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Before condemning those un-accredited colleges, we must also acknowledge that some of them may be offering international examinations recognised outside the country.

The danger, however, as CHE boss Everett Standa puts it, is that locally, they are not recognised. Then serious questions arise.

Just how many students have fallen prey to this mess and will employers start investigating the origin of the papers they have. What explanations will be given by the State for the fate of such Kenyans, who could end up jobless.

Raising the alarm is perfect but the Government must crack the whip on the dubious colleges.

Neither parents, guardians nor the students have the capacity to do this. If this is not done the higher education sub-sector is in danger of getting bogged down in a credibility crisis.

A federal task force that's three years into investigating a Spokane-based diploma-mill ring filed new charges this week against a man who is accused of running a "copy-cat" online university after working for Dixie Randock.

Richard H. Cleigh is scheduled to appear Thursday before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Frem Nielsen after being charged with one count of wire fraud and a second count of mail fraud.

The 55-year-old Spokane man is tentatively scheduled to enter a guilty plea, the court docket shows, but it doesn't specify whether he will plead to one or both counts.

If he enters a plea, a written plea agreement is expected to detail how he set up his own online university.

Assistant U.S. Attorney George J.C. Jacobs, the lead prosecutor for the "Operation Gold Seal" task force investigation of Spokane-based diploma mills, said today he couldn't comment on the new case but would offer details when Cleigh appears in court.

As part of an expected plea agreement, Cleigh likely will seek "substantial assistance" and the prospects for a lighter sentence by agreeing to testify for the prosecution in the forthcoming criminal trial of Randock and three other remaining defendants. They were indicted in October 2005 and now are scheduled to stand trial in June.

Between Aug. 1, 2003, and Jan. 24, 2004, charging documents say, Cleigh "created and operated an Internet diploma mill under the fictitious name "Saint John University of St. Vincent & The Grenadines."

As part of the alleged scheme, Cleigh communicated with consumers using the name "Brother Andrew, creating the false impression that he was a member of a religious organization," the documents say.

The charges don't disclose how many degrees Cleigh sold or how much money he collected

"Cleigh falsely advertised that St. John University was founded in 1862 and was a private, non-secular university with a long and rich tradition of excellence," the charges say. He also claimed St. John was "the world leader in online degree evaluation" and that its degrees were "fully legal and valid."

In truth, the charges say, Saint John University "was neither an existent or legitimate academic entity."

The mail fraud count charge against Cleigh is linked to a separate, unrelated scheme in which he offered to sell South African Krugerrands.

"He offered to sell non-existent gold coins to unwitting eBay purchasers," the charging document says.

It lists 16 eBay customers who mailed $19,628 to Cleigh "who accepted their money but never sent the gold coins that had been promised."

Unauthorised universities continue to blatantly operate through offices in the Kingdom despite periodic warnings by the Ministry of Higher Education through advertisements in Arabic newspapers, says Saudi Gazette.

These suspect foreign universities include American University of London, Al-Shurook University, Belford University, and Al- Ishraq University.

These universities have struck deals with commercial offices, telling them to enroll people wanting Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees and even PhD’s online. "No studies, no admissions and no attendance required. Get a degree for what you already know," says Belford University in its website, making it clear that there’s very little study, if at all, involved.

No wonder the Ministry of Higher Education wants them out. "Universities that have not received permission from the Ministry of Higher Education are considered illegal and should be closed," said Mohammed Al- Owhly.

The Ministry of Higher Education’s website makes periodical announcements of which universities are allowed to operate in the Kingdom. Al-Owhly said four illegal universities’ operation from Dammam was closed last year at the end of their first semester.

Ahmad Al-Jamal, PR manager for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said they do not grant a foreign university permission to open an office in the Kingdom without it being accepted by the ministry concerned. He said the Ministry of Higher Education has the responsibility of weeding out illegal universities and institutions.

It is often the case that illegal university operations spawn from projects licensed for other legal work.

"We grant permission to universities that meet all universal requirements, otherwise we never issued any permission," Al-Owhly explained. "The Ministry of Commerce would license a project for a specific field but then the project operators would expand their activities to other unapproved fields." Establishing legal universities in the Kingdom requires several procedures.

"We start by studying the project and sending a letter to the Minister of Higher Education. When he accepts the project, we transfer it to the legal affairs," said Dr. Waleed Al-Daly, Higher Education general manager. The proposed programmes, syllabus and training plans are studied and evaluated, Al-Daly said, involving several ministries and not only the Ministry of Higher Education.

Al-Owhly said newspapers that publish advertisements of unauthorised universities and institutes should be taken to task.

Samir Al-Zini, assistant marketing manager assistant at Al-Usbo’eyah weekly, said. "There is no control on such issues, we can easily publish anything, checking the advertisements’ content is not our work."

Al-Zini however said they do double check on advertisements of medical cosmetics, creams and makeup as these products could have dangerous effects. They do not publish such advertisements without the permission of the Ministry of Health.

Zakiyah Al-Bishi of Marketing at Bidoon Waseet weekly newspaper, which publishes many university advertisements, said the legality of the universities was not their business.

According to Al-Owhly, private universities and colleges that are approved for operations in the Kingdom are: Prince Sultan University, Arab Open University and Al-Faisal University in Riyadh, and Dar Al-Hekma, Effat College, Business Administration College, Soliman Fakih College for Science and Nursing, and Prince Sultan College for Tourism in Jeddah.

A senior Federal Government executive has been sacked after being accused of using fake qualifications to get a job with the very department that warns employers to be wary of fraudulent degrees.

Bobby Singh had been recruited to a senior position within the former Department of Employment and Workplace Relations before his credentials were scrutinised.

Checks revealed he had included on his curriculum vitae allegedly fake degrees from Harrington University and the Trinity College and University, in the United States. The two universities have been described as "degree mills," which sell degrees over the internet and require no educational assessment.

The Sunday Age has obtained copies of the degrees that state Mr Singh has been awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy and a Masters of Science, both with a major in information systems, from Trinity, and a Masters of Business Administration from Harrington.

A spokesman for the federal Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Department — which carries warnings about fake degrees on its website — said Mr Singh was employed as an executive level 2, with a salary of between $79,691 and $98,900 in 2005 after a merit selection process. He was sacked in December 2006.

His case was due to go before the Federal Magistrates Court, but was settled out of court last year.

Hundreds of thousands of Australians are thought to have overstated their educational achievements on their CVs. A PricewaterhouseCoopers forensic investigation of the CVs of staff at a large financial institution in 2003 found 40% contained "serious mis-statements", including fake qualifications.

New anti-money laundering legislation has forced employers to become more vigilant, but a fake qualifications expert, Dr George Brown, says most employers accept background documentation at face value.

"That's the problem," he told The Sunday Age.

"How many people check? What skills and knowledge do they have to verify the authenticity of an academic qualification?"

Dr Brown said that in today's "credential-conscious" society, "academic qualifications are items of value that are being falsified by people wanting to move ahead in society".

Faking it

* JANUARY 2008 Former Qantas engineer Timothy McCormack will stand trial in the NSW District Court for forging a maintenance engineer's licence. McCormack had been responsible for safety checks on the airline's fleet of Boeing 747s.

* 2006 Former Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld was revealed to have a PhD from Pacific Western University, which has been debunked as a diploma mill for handing out doctorates for the flat fee of $US2595 ($A2800).

* 2003 Glen Oakley was sacked from his $1.2 million role as general manager of Sydney's Randwick Council after faking academic qualifications, including an MBA from Harvard University.

An East St. Louis woman has been charged in federal court in Springfield with stealing more than $50,000 from a Montgomery County residential substance abuse treatment facility, a job she obtained with fake college credentials allegedly purchased online.

She's also accused by the agency's board of failing to show up for work as required and neglecting to pay the Continuing Recovery Center's bills, leading to the Irving facility's utilities nearly being shut off. Janese E. Jordan, 41, was indicted by a federal grand jury Feb. 6, but the indictment was sealed until she was arrested and appeared in court, which happened Monday.

Federal authorities allege that from December 2004 to December 2005, Jordan used her position as executive director to steal or embezzle more than $50,000, paying for such things as personal cell phones, a big-screen TV, vehicle repairs and a health club membership...

"We fired her and went into her office, and there was at least six inches of bills and correspondence on her desk and another eight inches underneath," he said. "There was a letter from the power company that said they were going to shut off the gas and power the next day."

The indictment alleges that Jordan forged names on checks using names of the center's board of directors, submitted false receipts for reimbursement and directed money to friends or family for her own personal use.

Among the items the money was used for, according to prosecutors: cellular phones for her, her family and friends; the purchase of a big-screen television from Best Buy delivered to her home in July 2005; payment of $950 worth of someone else's dental work; payment of someone else's $543.94 credit card bill; a $950 repair bill for her own vehicle; and a $700 family membership at the Leisure World Health Club.

Jurgena said Jordan had also made unauthorized donations of the center's funds to a rugby club she belonged to. According to a team roster, Jordan plays for The St. Louis Sabres. The club's Web site says the all-women team is St. Louis' oldest women's rugby club and was established in 1975.

The indictment also accuses Jordan of falsely representing in her job application that she had bachelor's and master's degrees using a diploma and transcripts she had purchased for $1,114 from an Internet site. The paperwork was from St. Regis University, but she never took classes there...

The charges are a result of an investigation by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and the FBI. Patrick Hansen, assistant U.S. attorney, is prosecuting the case...

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a major higher education reauthorization bill that includes language to crack down on so-called diploma mills that sell fraudulent degrees and transcripts.

The "College Opportunity and Affordability Act" includes portions of another anti-diploma mill bill sponsored by Rep. Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat.

Her legislation was drafted in part in response to a major diploma mill based in Spokane that sold 6,000 university degrees worldwide. Many of those phony degrees were sold to individuals in Saudi Arabia who used them to get enhanced immigration status – becoming an issue of concern for U.S. Homeland Security officials tracking suspected terrorists...

The new legislation, House Resolution 4137, passed Thursday on a vote of 354 to 58.

Although she didn't sign on as one of several co-sponsors of the anti-diploma bill legislation introduced by McCollum, Eastern Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers voted for HR 4137. Her office didn't immediately issue a statement about the new legislation.

Provisions of the legislation will "prevent the sale of fake degrees by creating clear standards of recognizing legitimate academic institutions and giving law enforcement officials the information to identity and prosecute diploma mills," said Bryan Collinsworth, a spokesman for Congresswoman McCollum.

"This legislation is an important first step toward ensuring that every college degree reflects the high quality of our higher education system," McCollum said in a prepared statement.

Fake diplomas, she said, "undermine that quality, and they have been used to carry out deceptions and crimes that are absolutely repugnant."

Provisions of the "College Opportunity and Affordability Act" will instruct the U.S. Department of Education to create a list of accredited institutions and valid accreditation associations for immigration and federal employment and hiring purposes.

The legislation also will establish a task force of higher education and law enforcement experts to develop a "strategic diploma integrity protection plan," and encourage the state to take similar steps.

The legislation also will empower the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on diploma mills.

A Senate companion version to the bill passed last year. Now, the House and Senate versions will go to conference committee to reconcile differences.

"Though the Senate bill did not include the diploma mill provisions, the House language will likely be included in the final bill unless strong objections are raised," Collinsworth said today.

Despite strong criticism from the Bush administration, the House overwhelmingly approved legislation on Thursday that would establish a federal list of the nation's most expensive colleges and crack down on the way student loan companies try to curry favor with college officials and gain access to their students.

The bill, approved on a bipartisan vote of 354 to 58, broadly seeks to hold down costs at colleges by dissuading them from raising tuition. It would require the federal Education Department to publish a list of the most expensive colleges, and it would cut down on states' eligibility for new federal grants if the states reduced financing for public colleges.

The administration has opposed many provisions in the measure, including one that would limit the Education Department's authority to regulate colleges through accreditation. But the White House has stopped short of a veto threat. Similar legislation has passed the Senate.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle spoke strongly in favor of fighting rising college costs.

"The bill will create a higher education system that is more affordable and easier to navigate for consumers," said Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and chairman of the education committee.

Representative Howard P. McKeon of California, the committee's ranking Republican, praised the bill, even as he criticized Democrats for blocking amendments offered by Republicans...

A federal judge in Spokane heard arguments Tuesday over whether to send a team of defense attorneys, prosecutors and investigators to Africa at taxpayers' expense as part of the forthcoming criminal trial of the accused operators of a diploma mill.

Defense attorneys for Dixie and Steve Randock want to take sworn statements from top-ranking Liberian officials, including a former ambassador who was videotaped taking cash bribes from a diploma-mill co-conspirator in a Washington, D.C., hotel room.

The defense team argues the Liberia trip is essential for a fair trial – to show that the Randocks believed their various online universities were accredited by the National Board of Education in Liberia.

"We need these (Liberian) witnesses to prove they weren't bribed," defense attorney Phillip "Dutch" Wetzel told the court.

But federal prosecutor George Jacobs said the Liberian "accreditation" was nothing more than a lie on top of other lies perpetrated by the defendants, who routinely manufactured degrees and transcripts bearing signatures of fictitious university officials, along with counterfeit diplomas from legitimate U.S. universities.

The testimony from the Liberian officials would be "irrelevant, speculative and inadmissible," Jacobs said.

Arguments on the defense request to travel to the African country came after Judge Lonny Suko issued a 27-page ruling, denying an earlier defense motion to toss out evidence seized in March 2005 by a federal task force in the basement of a Post Falls office building.

That evidence included billing records and names of individuals who purchased college degrees and accompanying transcripts from 125 universities operated by the defendants.

The evidence, contained in cardboard boxes, was in an unsecured basement hallway, accessible to other building tenants and adjoining an office rented by the Randocks.

Investigators got a search warrant to seize the evidence but left those documents with the building owner, not the Randocks.

Using a ruse to keep their investigation secret, agents left a scribbled note on the hallway wall, saying the boxes of documents had been taken to a landfill by an "angry tenant."

Suko ruled that the government had a "legitimate justification for its deception" to keep an ongoing investigation secret.

"This is not a case where the government engineered and directed the criminal enterprise from start to finish or where the police employed physical or psychological coercion against the defendants," the judge said.

His ruling was a setback for defense attorneys, who argued the evidence seizure involved "police misconduct" and shouldn't be used at trial. Suko didn't immediately rule on the Liberian trip.

The judge scheduled another hearing for Friday and is expected to rule then or within days.

Wetzel attempted to bolster his argument for the trip with testimony from defense investigator Brian R. Breen, a retired Spokane police detective.

He spent 16 days in Liberia late last year, tracking down and interviewing some of the witnesses.

Breen hired a driver and a bodyguard during his trip to the war-torn African nation, but he testified that he's been to other places "where I was more concerned about my safety."

He said he saw U.N. peace-keeping troops and bomb-scarred roads. Breen also said that he didn't see much evidence of Western influence and was frequently approached by beggars, "but my impression was they really liked Americans."

Wetzel also used a telephone conference to elicit testimony from Miguel Caridad, an assistant federal defender in Miami, who has made three trips to Liberia in preparing a defense for Charles Emmanuel, who is accused in the United States of torturing people in Liberia between 1999 and 2003.

"I thought it was very safe," Caridad said of his trips to Liberia.

Caridad was interviewing victim-witnesses, not Liberian officials who may have broken U.S. laws by accepting bribes, Jacobs countered, calling U.S. Secret Service Agent John Neirinckx to testify.

Neirinckx, the lead investigator in the diploma mill case, testified that his consultation with other U.S. officials has led him to conclude there would be "safety concerns" for U.S. Justice Department personnel if they went to Liberia...

A Rixensart, un vieux scientifique russe distribue des diplômes et titres. Un vrai moulin à diplômes. Même l'ex-dictateur du Turkménistan en a reçu un.

Avenue des Azalées à Rixensart. Un beau quartier près des grands magasins et du cinéma. Une villa anodine et défraîchie.

Nous voici pourtant au quartier général de l'Académie européenne d'Informatisation (AEI). Son président, Eduard Evreinov, 80 ans, de nationalité russe, nous reçoit sans sourciller. Il emmène le visiteur directement dans une pièce en contrebas. Son modeste bureau et son ordinateur représentent le campus de cette université virtuelle qui distribue des diplômes à tire-larigot et donne des migraines aux responsables de la Direction générale de l'Enseignement en Communauté française.

M.Evreinov a obtenu en 1999, grâce à un avocat anversois, la personnalité civile pour son Académie. Un an plus tard, il débarquait en Belgique avec un statut de résident étranger. Sa notoriété de scientifique est grande et prestigieuse. Il a obtenu le prix Lénine en 1957. Mais ce qu'il va entreprendre en Belgique, dans un pays où la protection des titres universitaires est couverte encore par une loi de 1933 et où règne une très grande liberté d'enseignement, relève de la plus grande plaisanterie.

Selon ses statuts, l'Académie est "une association internationale à but philanthropique, scientifique et pédagogique" qui n'a pas de but lucratif. Elle se propose, comme objectif suprême, "la formation d'un espace d'information mondial uni" et de dispenser des cours dans à peu près toutes les disciplines possibles, du cinéma jusqu'à la communication sous-marine.

Un moulin à diplômes

Mais surtout, l'Académie est ce que les Américains appellent un " moulin à diplômes ". En quelques années, l'Académie a distribué des centaines de diplômes à des gens qui, pour certains, n'avaient aucune qualification scientifique. Evreinov assure, sur ses multiples sites Internet, que pour recevoir un " Grand Doctorat " de l'Académie - appellation qui n'existe pas dans le monde universitaire belge -, il faut notamment avoir publié de 15 à 20 articles scientifiques et " trouvé une solution originale à un quelconque problème" . Il insiste sur le fait que les diplômes sont délivrés par des recteurs d'université.

A lire la liste des récipendiaires cependant, le bien-fondé de cette démarche paraît complètement fantaisiste et semble servir l'ego des heureux élus, généralement des personnalités importantes en Russie. Ainsi l'ancien dictateur du Turkménistan, Saparmourad Niazov, a reçu le grade d'académicien pour "son apport éclairé à la démocratie en Turkménistan"... On retrouve aussi les noms de l'ex-ministre russe Vladimir Boulgak et du maire de Moscou Youri Loujkov.

L'Académie - qui opère aussi sous le nom de World Information Distributed University (WIDU) - a également accordé en 2001 un certificat et une médaille à l'ancien secrétaire général de l'Onu, Kofi Annan qui a promis, dans une lettre de remerciement, de continuer à "aider à résoudre les problèmes globaux". Deux Belges - Pierre-Henry Wigny, aujourd'hui décédé, et Guy Massange de Collombs, pendant trois à quatre mois en 2000 - ont figuré parmi les membres fondateurs de l'Académie.

"La Belgique est un pays très libre pour moi", dit Eduard Evreinov. "J'essaie d'introduire un nouveau système en Belgique. Mais c'est très difficile. Le gouvernement belge ne le veut pas. Nous n'avons pas de diplômés en Belgique", assure-t-il.

Malgré de nombreuses lettres de requête, Evreinov n'a jamais reçu la moindre agréation de la Communauté française. Il n'a pas plus obtenu la naturalisation belge, étant, dit-il, "trop vieux et un peu sourd".

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In Rixensart, an old Russian scientist distributes diplomas and degrees. A real diploma mill. Even the former dictator of Turkmenistan has received one of them.

Avenue of azaleas in Rixensart. A nice neighborhood close to the department stores and cinema. A faded house.

Here we are at the headquarters of the European Academy of Informatisation (AEI). Its president, Eduard Evreinov, 80 years of Russian nationality, greets us without winking. He brings the visitor to a room directly below. His modest office and computer are the campus of the virtual university that distributes diplomas to his heart's content and gives migraines to officials of the General Directorate of Education in the French Community.

Mr. Evreinov won in 1999, thanks to a lawyer in Antwerp, civil status for his Academy. A year later, he landed in Belgium with a foreign resident's status. His reputation as a scientist is significant. He won the Lenin prize in 1957. But what he will undertake in Belgium, in a country where the protection of academic titles is still covered by a law passed in 1933, where there is a great tradition of academic freedom, is a big joke.

According to its statutes, the Academy is "an international association with philanthropic, scientific and educational goals", which is not-for-profit. It describes its primary objectives as "the creation of a global unified information space" and the offering of courses in almost every discipline possible, ranging from film to submarine communication.

A diploma mill

But above all, the Academy is what Americans call a "diploma mill." Within a few years, the Academy has distributed hundreds of diplomas to people who, for some, had no scientific qualifications. Evreinov assures, on his various Internet sites, that to receive the "Grand Doctorate" of the Academy - a title that does not exist in the Belgian academic - you must have published 15 to 20 scientific papers and found an original solution to some problem. " He maintains that diplomas are issued by the administration of a university.

To read the list of rcipients however, the merits of this approach seems completely fanciful and seems to serve the ego of the chosen, usually important people in Russia. As the former dictator of Turkmenistan, Saparmurad Niyazov, has been given the rank of Academician for "his enlightened contributions to democracy in Turkmenistan" ... There are also the names of the former Russian Minister Vladimir Boulgak and the Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov.

The Academy - which also operates under the name World Information Distributed University (WIDU) - also granted in 2001 a certificate and a medal to the former secretary general of the UN, Kofi Annan, who has promised in a letter of thanks, to continue to "help solve global problems." Two Belgians - Pierre-Henry Wigny, now deceased, and Guy Massange of Collombs for three to four months in 2000 - were among the founding members of the Academy.

"Belgium is a country that is very open for me," says Eduard Evreinov. "I am trying to introduce a new system in Belgium. But it is very difficult. The Belgian government does not want it. We have no graduates in Belgium," he assures.

Despite numerous letters of complaint Evreinov never received any approval of the French Community. He has not become a naturalized Belgian because, he says, he is "too old and a little deaf."

The court could decide on the candidate's eligibility by early February.

David P. Aey says he's proved he has the qualifications to be Mahoning County sheriff, and questions why the incumbent won't accept that.

As promised, attorneys for Sheriff Randall A. Wellington filed a legal motion in the Ohio Supreme Court asking that the Mahoning County Board of Elections remove Aey's name from the March 4 Democratic primary.

The elections board ruled Friday that Aey, of Boardman, is eligible to run for sheriff over the protest of Wellington. After the hearing, Wellington said he'd quickly file legal action with the court.

"I am on the ballot, and the voters of Mahoning County have a right to choose their elected officials by voting on March 4," Aey said. "Mr. Wellington does not want to give the voters that same right. I find that insulting."

Aey says he wants to debate Wellington on issues such as stopping violent crime, properly running the county jail and spending tax dollars in a lawful way.

"That's fine," Wellington said. "My main issue is to prove he's not qualified to run for sheriff."

Wellington, of Youngstown, contends Aey doesn't meet minimum supervisory requirements under state law to be a sheriff candidate.

Citing a 1996 Ohio Supreme Court decision that states they "must liberally construe in favor of the person seeking to hold office," elections board members voted to keep Aey on the ballot.

In Tuesday's filing, Wellington's attorneys said the elections board ignored a 2000 Supreme Court decision that says the requirements to be sheriff are not subject to "interpretative rules."

The elections board will file a response with the court, which could rule on Aey's eligibility as soon as early February. The Democratic primary is March 4. Aey and Wellington are the only candidates in that primary. Republicans didn't field a sheriff candidate. The independent candidate filing deadline is March 3.

Eligible sheriff candidates must either have at least two years of supervisory experience as a peace officer at the rank of corporal or above, or have served at the rank of sergeant or above in the five-year period before the filing deadline. If a candidate has neither of those, he must have at least two years of post-secondary education from an accredited college or university.

Aey's attorneys acknowledged their client doesn't meet the educational qualifications. Aey received a diploma from Belford Un