State of Alabama Private School Licensure Policy (October 2008): 720.01: Private School Licensure in Alabama

...IV. Minimum School Rules...

B. The Educational Program...
4. All privately licensed degree granting, post-secondary educational institutions must be accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE), the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), be a candidate for accreditation or in process of application for accreditation as determined and monitored by the Department. This requirement becomes effective beginning October 1, 2008 for any degree granting institutions applying for initial or renewal licensure. The Code of Alabama § 16-46-3 (1975) (a) (7) and (9) lists exemptions to this requirement as follows:
(7) Any private school conducting resident courses whose principal base of operation is within the State of Alabama which has been in continuous operation for 20 years or more as of April 29, 1980, and held accreditation as of that date by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education.

(9) Any proprietary postsecondary institution conducting resident courses that has been in operation within Alabama for at least five years as of July 1, 2004, and that is accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education shall be accorded the following provision: Upon proof of such accreditation, such schools shall be issued a license and representative permits after required fees are paid to the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education.

Any change of accreditation status must be reported to the Department within 30 calendar days of the change...

State of California: Proposed Assembly Bill 48, California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009.

Article 2. Transition provisions

94809...
(b) An institution that did not have a valid approval to operate issued by, and did not have an application for approval to operate pending with, the former Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education on June 30, 2007, that began operations on or after July 1, 2007, may continue to operate, but shall comply with, and is subject to, this chapter, and shall submit an application for an approval to operate to the bureau pursuant to this chapter within six months of that application becoming available. ...

(d) An institution that is permitted to operate pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) shall not use the terms "approval," "approved," "approval to operate," or "approved to operate" without clearly stating that the institution's application for approval has not been reviewed by the bureau.

Article 3. Definitions

94813. "Accredited" means an institution is recognized or approved by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education.

94814. "Accrediting agency" is an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education.

94830. "Degree" means a recognized educational credential awarded by an institution that signifies satisfactory completion of the requirements of a postsecondary educational program at the associate's level or above.

94831. "Degree title" means the designated subject area of the educational program that appears on the face of the document awarded to a student.

94832. "Diploma" means a recognized educational credential, other than a degree, awarded by an institution that signifies satisfactory completion of the requirements of a postsecondary educational program below the associate's level. A diploma is also known as a certificate.

94869. "To operate" means to establish, keep, or maintain any facility or location in this state where or from which where, or from which, or through which, postsecondary educational programs are provided.

Article 4. Exemptions

94874...
(A) The instruction is limited to the principles of that church, religious denomination, or religious organization, or to courses offered pursuant to Section 2789 of Business and Professions Code.
(B) The diploma or degree is limited to evidence of completion of that education.
(2) An institution operating under this subdivision shall offer degrees and diplomas only in the beliefs and practices of the church, religious denomination, or religious organization.
(3) An institution operating under this subdivision shall not award degrees in any area of physical science.
(4) Any degree or diploma granted under this subdivision shall contain on its face, in the written description of the title of the degree being conferred, a reference to the theological or religious aspect of the degree's subject area.
(5) A degree awarded under this subdivision shall reflect the nature of the degree title, such as "associate of religious studies," "bachelor of religious studies," "master of divinity," or "doctor of divinity."

Article 5. Bureau Powers and Duties

94877. (a) The bureau shall adopt, on or before January 1, 2011, and shall enforce, regulations to implement this chapter pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act in Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(b) The bureau shall develop and implement an enforcement program, pursuant to Article 18 (commencing with Section 94932) to implement this chapter. The enforcement program shall include a plan for investigating complaints filed with the bureau.

(c) The bureau shall establish a program to proactively identify unlicensed institutions and take all appropriate legal action.

Article 6. Approval to Operate

94885. The bureau shall, by January 1, 2011, adopt by regulation minimum operating standards for an institution that shall reasonably ensure that all of the following occur:
(a) The content of each educational program can achieve its stated objective.
(b) The institution maintains specific written standards for student admissions for each educational program and those standards are related to the particular educational program.
(c) The facilities, instructional equipment, and materials are sufficient to enable students to achieve the educational program's goals.
(d) The institution maintains a withdrawal policy and provides refunds.
(e) The directors, administrators, and faculty are properly qualified.
(f) The institution is financially sound and capable of fulfilling its commitments to students.
(g) That, upon satisfactory completion of an educational program, the institution gives students a document signifying the degree or diploma awarded.
(h) Adequate records and standard transcripts are maintained and are available to students.
(i) The institution is maintained and operated in compliance with this chapter and all other applicable ordinances and laws.

Article 8. Fair Business Practices

94897. An institution shall not do any of the following:
...
(e) Advertise, or indicate in promotional material, that the institution is accredited, unless the institution has been accredited by an accrediting agency.
...
(i) Use a name in any manner improperly implying any of the following:
(1) The institution is affiliated with any government agency, public or private corporation, agency, or association if it is not, in fact, thus affiliated.
(2) The institution is a public institution.
(3) The institution grants degrees, if the institution does not grant degrees.
...
(l) Use the terms "approval," "approved," "approval to operate," or "approved to operate" without stating clearly and conspicuously that approval to operate means compliance with state standards as set forth in this chapter. If the bureau has granted an institution approval to operate, the institution may indicate that the institution is "licensed" or "licensed to operate," but may not state or imply either of the following:
(1) The institution or its educational programs are endorsed or recommended by the state or by the bureau.
(2) The approval to operate indicates that the institution exceeds minimum state standards as set forth in this chapter.

Article 9. Recordkeeping

94900.5...
(b) The names and addresses of the members of the institution's faculty and records of the educational qualifications of each member of the faculty.

Article 18. Compliance, Enforcement, Process, and Penalties

94932.5. As part of its compliance program, the bureau shall perform announced and unannounced inspections of institutions.

94934. (a) As part of the compliance program, an institution shall submit an annual report to the bureau, under penalty of perjury, by July 1 of each year, or another date designated by the bureau, and it shall include the following information for educational programs offered in the reporting period:
(1) The total number of students enrolled by level of degree or for a diploma.
(2) The number of degrees, by level, and diplomas awarded.
(3) The degree levels and diplomas offered...

94936. (a) As a consequence of an investigation, and upon a finding that the institution has committed a violation of this chapter or that the institution has failed to comply with a notice to comply pursuant to Section 94935, the bureau shall issue a citation to an institution for violation of this chapter, or regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter.
(b) The citation may contain either or both of the following:
(1) An order of abatement that may require an institution to demonstrate how future compliance with this chapter or regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter will be accomplished.
(2) Notwithstanding Section 125.9 of the Business and Professions Code, an administrative fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation...

94943. The following violations of this chapter are public offenses:
(a) Knowingly operating a private postsecondary institution without an approval to operate is an infraction subject to the procedures described in Sections 19.6 and 19.7 of the Penal Code.
(b) Knowingly providing false information to the bureau on an application for an approval to operate is an infraction subject to the procedures described in Sections 19.6 and 19.7 of the Penal Code.

94944. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the bureau shall cite any person, and that person shall be subject to a fine not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), for operating an institution without proper approval to operate issued by the bureau pursuant to this chapter.

"Infraction" is a class of violation not punishable by incarceration under the California Penal Code. (The other categories listed in the CPC are felonies and misdemeanors.)

Here are sections 19.6 and 19.7:

19.6. An infraction is not punishable by imprisonment. A person charged with an infraction shall not be entitled to a trial by jury. A person charged with an infraction shall not be entitled to have the public defender or other counsel appointed at public expense to represent him or her unless he or she is arrested and not released on his or her written promise to appear, his or her own recognizance, or a deposit of bail.

19.7. Except as otherwise provided by law, all provisions of law relating to misdemeanors shall apply to infractions including, but not limited to, powers of peace officers, jurisdiction of courts, periods for commencing action and for bringing a case to trial and burden of proof.

State of Idaho Statutes: Title 33-- Education, Chapter 24-- Proprietary Schools

33-2402. REGISTRATION OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
(1) Unless exempted as provided herein, each postsecondary educational institution which maintains a presence within the state of Idaho, or which operates or purports to operate from a location within the state of Idaho, shall register annually with and hold a valid certificate of registration issued by the board...
(3) The board may deny the registration of a postsecondary educational institution that does not meet accreditation requirements or other standards and criteria established in rule by the board...

33-2405. PURCHASE STATEMENT.
At the time of depositing any moneys to purchase the product of any proprietary school, the proprietary school shall require the student to execute the following statement on an appropriate form which shall be maintained on record by the proprietary school in the individual student's file:

"I understand that (Name of proprietary school) is registered with the State Board of Education in accordance with Section 33-2403, Idaho Code. I also understand that the State Board of Education has not accredited or endorsed any course of study being offered by (Name of proprietary school), and that these courses will not be accepted for transfer into any Idaho public postsecondary institution."

33-2409. ENFORCEMENT.
Any violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be referred to the attorney general by the board for appropriate action including, but not limited to, injunctive relief.

State of Maine Department of Education: Degree Mills and Accreditation Mills

The web site includes a list of unaccredited degree granting entities and a link to Maine's legal code "False Academic Degrees or Certificates." Maine's law includes definitions of the terms "diploma mill" and "accreditation mill."

State of Michigan list: Non-accredited colleges and universities

State of Mississippi list: NON-APPROVED ENTITIES

State of Nevada statutes: CHAPTER 394 - PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND ESTABLISHMENTS, RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF TERMS AND GRANTING DEGREES (NRS 394.620 - NRS 394.670) and USE OF FALSE OR MISLEADING DEGREES (NRS 394.700s)

State of New Jersey Commission on Higher Education Statutes & Regulations Regarding Academic Degrees

N.J.S.A. 18A:3-15.1. Deceptive diploma practices
A person shall not with the intent to deceive buy, sell, make or alter, give, issue, obtain or attempt to obtain any diploma or other document purporting to confer any academic degree, or which certifies the completion in whole or in part of any course of study in any institution of higher education.

    L. 1986, c. 87, s. 1, eff. Aug. 14, 1986.

N.J.S.A. 18A:3-15.2. Use of fraudulent degree
A person or other legal entity shall not use, or attempt to use, in connection with any business, trade, profession or occupation any academic degree or certification of degree or degree credit, including but not limited to a transcript of course work, which has been fraudulently issued, obtained, forged or altered. A person shall not, with intent to deceive, falsely represent himself as having received any such degree or credential.

    L. 1986, c. 87, s. 2, eff. Aug. 14, 1986.

N.J.S.A. 18A:3-15.3. Letter designation restricted
A person shall not append to his name any letters in the same form designated by the Commission on Higher Education as entitled to the protection accorded to an academic degree unless the person has received from a duly authorized institution of higher education the degree or certificate for which the letters are registered. For the purposes of this section, a duly authorized institution of higher education means an in-State institution licensed by the Commission on Higher Education or an out-of-State institution licensed by the appropriate state agency and regionally accredited or seeking accreditation by the appropriate accrediting body recognized by the Council on Postsecondary Education or the United States Department of Education.

    L.1986,c.87,s.3; amended 1994,c.48,s.36.

N.J.S.A. 18A:3-15.5. Civil penalty
Any person who violates any provision of this act is liable to a civil penalty of $1,000.00 for each offense, which shall be collected pursuant to the provisions of "the penalty enforcement law," N.J.S. 2A:58-1 et seq.

    L. 1986, c. 87, s. 5, eff. Aug. 14, 1986.

---

Licensure Rules - Subchapter 8
Fraudulent Academic Degrees

N.J.A.C. 9A:1-8.1 Protected degree designations for earned degrees
(a) No person shall use or append to his or her name any academic degree designation, letters, derivatives thereof, or other designations as evidence of having earned an academic degree unless a duly authorized institution of higher education as defined in Section 3 of P.L.1986, c.87 (N.J.S.A. 18A:3-15.3) conferred the degree.

1. In states without a licensing requirement for institutions of higher education, a duly authorized institution of higher education is one that is regionally accredited or accredited by the appropriate accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education or one that is seeking such accreditation.

2. Regarding institutions located outside of the U.S. or its possessions, a duly authorized institution of higher education is one that is recognized by the appropriate body in the particular country provided that the institution's requirements for awarding degrees are generally equivalent to those accepted in the U.S. by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education.

State of Oregon Office of Degree Authorization: An Employer's Guide to College Degrees

"This guide has been developed to provide basic information to Oregon employers regarding the nature of college degrees. It covers Oregon law regarding the use of degrees, how to accurately describe degree needs when advertising for a position, how to evaluate a job applicant's claim of a degree, the growing problem of diploma mill degrees, and related issues..."

Information posted by Oregon from NACES members concerning "Berne University" (since renamed "Bernelli University")

Information about some degree-granting institutions not accredited by CHEA-recognized organizations

State of Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board:

• Fraudulent or Substandard Institutions with a Texas Connection:
  

  All institutions on this list have had some physical presence in Texas or have been affiliated in some way with an institution located in Texas...

  The Texas Penal Code (Section 35.52) prohibits the use of fraudulent or substandard degrees "in a written or oral advertisement or other promotion of a business; or with the intent to: obtain employment; obtain a license or certificate to practice a trade, profession, or occupation; obtain a promotion, a compensation or other benefit, or an increase in compensation or other benefit, in employment or in the practice of a trade, profession, or occupation; obtain admission to an educational program in this state; or gain a position in government with authority over another person, regardless of whether the actor receives compensation for the position." Violation of this law is a Class B misdemeanor.

• Frequently Asked Questions about diploma mills, fraudulent degrees, and accreditation. Among other things:
  

  Accreditation is "voluntary," so doesn't that mean it is optional and not necessary?

  Accreditation is voluntary in that the process of accreditation requires the full cooperation with and complete participation in the process of accreditation by the college or university seeking accreditation. At the heart of the accreditation process is a self-study prepared by the college or university demonstrating its commitment to the standards of accreditation.

  Since accreditation is the primary means of determining the legitimacy and quality of colleges and universities in the United States, to describe the process as "voluntary" is not to describe it as "optional" or "unnecessary."

State of Virginia code: Virginia Chapter 21.1 - Regulation of Certain Private and Out-of-State Institutions of Higher Education

State of Wisconsin Senate Bill 431 banning fraudulent degrees

Toward Effective Practice: Discouraging Degree Mills in Higher Education

Database of Institutions Accredited By Recognized United States Accrediting Organizations

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ABOUT ACCREDITATION, DEGREE MILLS AND ACCREDITATION MILLS

Qualification Standards for General Schedule Positions

Postsecondary Educational Institutions and Programs Accredited by Accrediting Agencies and State Approval Agencies Recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education

Avoid Fake-Degree Burns By Researching Academic Credentials

Diploma Mills: Degrees of Deception

Guides for Private Vocational and Distance Education Schools, Part 254, as revised August 1998

Fraudulent Medical Degrees. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care of the Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, Second Session; Congress of the U.S., Washington, D.C. House Select Committee on Aging, December 7, 1984. (12.1 MB)

Fraudulent Credentials. Joint Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care and the Subcommittee on Housing and Consumer Interests of the Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, Ninety-Ninth Congress, First Session; Congress of the U.S., Washington, D.C. House Select Committee on Aging, December 11, 1985. (9.3 MB)

Fraudulent Credentials: Federal Employees. A Report by the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care of the Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, Ninety-Ninth Congress, Second Session, Congress of the U.S., Washington, D.C. House Select Committee on Aging, April 1986. (720 kB)

Bogus Degrees And Unmet Expectations: Are Taxpayer Dollars Subsidizing Diploma Mills? Hearings Before the Committee On Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Eighth Congress, Second Session, May 11 and 12, 2004, Washington, DC. (8.5 MB)

September 23, 2004 hearing: Are Current Safeguards Protecting Taxpayers Against Diploma Mills? U.S. House Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness.

Witness list and testimony

Press release

Hearing transcript

UNESCO Portal on Higher Education Institutions.

UNESCO Higher Education; Quality Assurance and Recognition; Tools for students. (also available in French.)

ENIC - NARIC (European National Information Centres - National Academic Recognition Information Centres) site

U.K. Department for Education and Skills

U.K. Home Affairs Committee - Eleventh Report: Bogus colleges

Avoiding bogus degrees, from Direct.Gov.UK

U.K. General Medical Council information about U.K. medical schools

Australian Government Warning to potential investors concerning 'Hutt River Province'

The Australian Government does not legally or otherwise recognise the so-called 'Hutt River Province'.

The Tax Office has identified a situation where non-residents of Australia have been offered the chance to purchase international business companies and other entities purportedly incorporated or registered in the 'Hutt River Province'.

We are concerned that the companies and other entities may be sold as part of a tax avoidance or evasion arrangement.

People should avoid any arrangements involving 'Hutt River Province' international business companies and any other entities as well as any associated international dealings because they have no legal basis and could be illegal.

French government higher education information (in French)

• Links to various lists
  
• the list of recognized universities
  
• "Validation des Acquis de l'Expérience" (VAE: academic credit for life experience)

  My reading of the VAE material makes me think that only a school that appears on the French government's list of universities is legally empowered to issue French VAE-obtained degrees. This was confirmed by two of my colleagues who are directors of French university units in Marseille. If this is the case, then an unaccredited degree-granting entity that is run from the United States, and that does not appear on the French list, cannot properly award French diplomas through VAE.

Nigerian national Universities Commission

NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES COMMISSION
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

The National Universities Commission (NUC) wishes to announce to the general public, especially parents and prospective undergraduates that the under-listed "Universities" have not been licensed by the Federal Government and are, therefore, operating illegally in violation of Education (National Minimum Standards etc) Act CAP E3 Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. The "Universities" are:

1) National University of Nigeria, Keffi, Nassarawa State or any of its other campuses
2) North Central University, Otukpo, Benue State or any of its other campuses
3) Christians of Charity American University of Sci. & Tech, Nkpor, Anambra State or any of its other campuses
4) Leadway University, Ughelli, Delta State or any of its other campuses
5) Saint Clements University, along Ado-Ekiti, Iyin, Ekiti State or any of its other campuses
6) Christ Alive Christian Seminary and University, Enugu or any of its other campuses
7) Atlantic Intercontinental University, Okija, Anambra State or any of its other campuses
8) Metro University, Dutse/Bwari, Abuja or any of its other campuses
9) Southend University, Ngwuro Egeru (Afam) Ndoki, Rivers State or any of its other campuses
10) University of Industry, Yaba, Lagos or any of its other campuses
11) University of Applied Sciences & Management, Port Novo, Republic of Benin or any of its other campuses in Nigeria
12) Rev. D. O. Ockiya College of Theology and Management Sciences, Emeyal II Ogbia, Bayelsa. (The Degree awarding part of their programmes) or any of its other campuses
13) Blacksmith University, Awka or any of its other campuses
14) Volta University College, Ho, Volta Region, Ghana or any of its other campuses in Nigeria
15) Royal University Izhia, P.O. Box 800, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State or any of its other campuses
16) Houdegbe North American University or any of its other campuses in Nigeria
17) Atlanta University, Ayingba, Kogi State or any of its other campuses
18) Sunday Adokpela University, Otada Adoka, Otukpo, Benue State or any of its other campuses
19) United Christian University, Macotis Campus, Imo State or any of its other campuses
20) United Nigeria University College, Okija, Anambra State or any of its other campuses. 21) Richmond Open University, Arochukwu, Anambra State or any of its other campuses
22) Samuel Ahmadu University, Makurdi, Benue State or any of its other campuses
23) UNESCO University, Ndoni, Rivers State or any of its other campuses
24) Strategic Business School, Lagos or any of its other campuses
25) Saint Augustines University of Technology, Jos, Plateau State or any of its other campuses
26) Open International University, Akure or any of its other campuses
27) Lobi Business School, Makurdi, Benue State or any of its other campuses
28) The International University, Missouri, USA operating anywhere in Nigeria
29) Collumbus University, UK operating anywhere in Nigeria
30) Tiu International University, UK operating anywhere in Nigeria
31) Pebbles University, UK operating anywhere in Nigeria
32) Aston University, UK operating anywhere in Nigeria
33) London External Studies UK operating anywhere in Nigeria.

For the avoidance of doubt, anybody who patronises or obtains any certificate from any of these illegal institutions, does so at his or her own risk. Certificates obtained from these sources will not be recognized for the purposes of NYSC, employment, and further studies. The relevant Law enforcement agencies have also been informed for their further necessary action.

MADISON — The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a criminal complaint in Winnebago County Circuit Court on January 5, 2012, against Kenneth S. Shong. The Winnebago County Circuit Court issued a warrant for Shong’s arrest that same day. According to the criminal complaint, Shong is charged with a single count of “Fraudulent Writings,” a felony offense contrary to section 943.39(2) of the Wisconsin Statutes. Shong has been detained on the warrant issued by the court and will make an initial appearance in the case today at 2:30 p.m. in Winnebago County.

The complaint alleges that Shong was an inmate in the Oshkosh Correctional Institution in 2006 when he encouraged another inmate to enroll in “Carlingford University.” Shong allegedly made representations to the inmate about the legitimacy of “Carlingford University” as a degree granting institution and provided the inmate with written information regarding the “University.” Based on those representations, the inmate did enroll in a “Carlingford University” course of study and arranged for his mother to send a tuition payment by postal money order to a post office box in Mobile, Alabama. Investigation revealed that the post office box in Mobile, Alabama, was identified in Carlingford correspondence as the base for Carlingford University’s “Office of External Studies, North American Division.” The inmate and his mother later learned that representations made by Shong regarding the legitimacy of “Carlingford University” as a degree granting institution were untrue and the inmate made a complaint to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) in August, 2008. That complaint was eventually forwarded to the DOJ.

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) staff at the Racine Correctional Institution also became suspicious of Shong’s activities from that prison after he had been transferred there in the fall of 2007. DOC staff conducted an investigation and forwarded information to the Wisconsin Educational Approval Board (EAB) in the fall of 2008 questioning whether Shong was operating an unauthorized and fraudulent “university” in Wisconsin. The EAB investigated, determined that “Carlingford” did appear to be operating within Wisconsin without necessary approval, and issued a “cease and desist” order to “Carlingford University” at what was purported on its then-existing website to be its Green Bay “Regional Training Center.” The EAB also forwarded a request for investigation to the DOJ.

An investigation has been conducted by the DOJ Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and is ongoing. The DCI investigation was aided by the information developed by the Wisconsin DOC and EAB.

The State is represented in this prosecution by Assistant Attorneys General Michael G. Schaefer and Phillip Ferris, at the request of the Winnebago County District Attorney’s Office. The DOJ Office of Crime Victim Services is assisting the prosecutors.

Copies of the Arrest Warrant and Complaint are available at the following link:

http://www.doj.state.wi.us/news/files/criminal-complaint-arrest-warrant-shong-kenneth-20120110.pdf

The complaint contains only the State’s allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The State bears the burden of proving the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The longtime CEO of a behavioral-health agency in El Paso that receives millions annually in government grants holds a doctoral degree from an institution the federal government has called a diploma mill.

Cirilo "Chilo" Madrid runs Aliviane, an agency with a budget of more than $8 million for fiscal year 2010 and, according to its Website, gets 80 percent of its funding from government grants.

Madrid has claimed the doctoral degree several times -- including on a professional-services contract to complete work for LKG Enterprises Inc., a company that is a target of the FBI's ongoing investigation into public corruption in El Paso.

Madrid, in a deposition in a lawsuit involving LKG, said he earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from Hamilton University.

Hamilton University shut down operations in Wyoming in 2004 after the legislature there changed the law concerning organizations that offered degrees. Hamilton was described as a diploma mill by the Government Accountability Office and experts in education.

Madrid, who has run Aliviane for 15 years, could not be reached for comment after several attempts to reach him. The president of the Aliviane board of directors, Leo Geomoets, did not return calls.

And Enrique Moreno, the attorney who represented Madrid in the deposition, would not comment.

Madrid got the contract work with LKG from a subordinate at Aliviane who owned a side business, Madrid said in the sworn deposition last year.

At that time, Madrid sat on the governing board of the Border Children's Mental Health Collaborative, then an independent agency using a county-administered grant to set up services for disturbed children. The work Madrid was contracted to do ultimately was for the collaborative

Madrid was paid about $100,000 over 13 months for the work he performed under the contract with LKG. The primary product of his work is a 20-page document, which included information he says in the deposition he lifted from other documents and did not give proper credit or attribution.

The county is suing LKG, saying it didn't produce the more than $600,000 worth of work it was paid for -- including Madrid's part.

"I feel we were defrauded by everyone who got paid," County Judge Veronica Escobar said on Tuesday when asked whether she was satisfied with Madrid's work.

Elected officials who worked with Madrid were shocked by the revelations of Madrid's doctoral degree and the LKG contract. They had helped steer government business to Aliviane, received campaign contributions from Madrid and praised him and his agency.

Over the years, U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes has received more than $5,000 in campaign contributions from Madrid. Reyes' office has secured at least one $250,000 earmark for Aliviane, and it has announced millions more in federal grants for it.

Reyes has also invited Aliviane staffers to testify before Congress, and one of Reyes' staffers, Guillermo Valenzuela, was vice president of the Aliviane board in 2007 before leaving the congressman's office in December 2009 to go work for Aliviane.

Informed Tuesday of Madrid's involvement in the LKG contract and his degree from Hamilton University, Reyes said it raises concerns.

"At this time we don't have any information or details about an investigation being conducted, but given the concerns being raised, any mishandling of public funds must be investigated and any wrongdoing should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Reyes said in a statement. "Like many in our community, I have always thought of Aliviane as a well-regarded program that has provided critical services to our community."

Reyes' staff said Reyes requested an earmark for Aliviane last year after several officials -- including state Rep. Marisa Marquez, Mayor John Cook and County Commissioner Willie Gandara -- wrote letters in support of it.

Marquez also was taken aback when told what Madrid said in his deposition last year about LKG and his connection to Hamilton University.

"I'm so surprised," said Marquez, who in 2009 offered a resolution in the Legislature honoring Madrid. "I'm shocked."

Marquez said she's received $700 in campaign contributions from Madrid over the years. She said that doesn't change her view that programs he's been involved with should be investigated, if merited.

"These are taxpayer funds," she said. "We need to resolve this as quickly as possible."

The contract

Madrid was on the governing board of the children's collaborative since it started in 2001, and he has worked for Aliviane since that agency incorporated in 1972.

For the first seven years of its existence, the children's collaborative was funded partly by a $9.3 million grant from the federal Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration and partly by an $8.25 million local match.

One of the conditions of the federal grant was that the collaborative hire an outside agency to evaluate it and collect data on the new program. The mental health collaborative hired Boulder, Colo.-based TriWest Group to do the work for $25,000 a month. As part of the contract, TriWest agreed to furnish $25,000 worth of monthly "in-kind" services -- work for which it would not be paid.

A federal audit released in 2006 said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was satisfied with the work done by TriWest. But in 2005, former 65th District Court Judge Alfredo Chavez and, according to Madrid, the governing board on which he sat, raised concerns that the collaborative had no plan to make the agency financially sustainable after the federal grant ended.

Later the same year, the County Commissioners Court got rid of TriWest and hired LKG, a company run by Ruben "Sonny" Garcia, who formerly worked with Madrid at Aliviane. The new contract doubled the monthly payments for evaluation and data collection, to $100,000, and required that LKG furnish $100,000 a month in additional, unpaid services.

Garcia, in turn, hired a company called Introspectives to come up with a sustainability plan for the collaborative. Introspectives was run by Jose Soria, who also worked for Madrid at Aliviane.

In his deposition, Madrid said that he and Soria were the only two people in El Paso with the skill to devise a sustainability plan. Ill health prompted Soria to ask Madrid to do the work, Madrid said in the deposition.

"He said, 'You know, I took a little bit too much on, and, you know, I've got heart problems. My diabetes is acting out. I didn't realize it was going to be this much. I can help a little bit, you know. Are you willing to take it on, you know?'" Madrid said in the deposition.

Questionable credential

When he agreed to work with Soria's company on Dec. 14, 2005, Madrid's signature was followed by "PhD, LCDC (credentials)."

In 2007, as the Commissioners Court debated what to do about the LKG contract, commissioners referred to Madrid as "doctor" and Madrid said, "I am a Ph.D., and I'm part of the evaluation team and an original member of the governance team for the collaborative and one of the writers of the grant. ... I haven't been hired, I'm just part of the evaluation team."

In the deposition, Madrid discussed his doctoral degree

"I finished my Ph.D. online at an accredited university by the name of Hamilton University, and I did that about five years ago -- five, six years ago, and that was in clinical psychology," Madrid said in his May 24, 2010, deposition. Now defunct, Hamilton University was one of the nation's most notorious diploma mills, said John Bear, an expert on institutions that sell degrees in exchange for little or no coursework. Bear is author of "Bear's Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning," which identifies diploma mills.

Bear said Hamilton University founder Rudy Marn bought a closed-down motel in Evanston, Wyo., and began offering degrees under a religious exemption allowed by state law. Hamilton University was affiliated with the Faith in the Order of Nature Fellowship Church, according to The Associated Press. An Internet search offers a significant number of articles and reports about Hamilton University and its history in Wyoming.

In terms of sheltering diploma mills, "Wyoming was the second- or third-worst state behind Alabama and Mississippi," Bear said. State officials had to deal with several embarrassments related to Hamilton University, which shouldn't be confused with the accredited Hamilton College in New York.

In a 2004 probe into federal employees claiming academic credentials from diploma mills, the Government Accountability Office found a senior executive with the Department of Homeland Security claiming three degrees from Hamilton University.

She was among 463 federal employees claiming degrees from unaccredited schools, the GAO reported in 2004. The same report specifically names Hamilton University in a section discussing "diploma mills."

Applicants who wrote a check and a short paper for Hamilton University usually received a degree within weeks, CBS News reported.

Hamilton University suspended operations after the Wyoming Legislature in 2004 passed a law that said organizations claiming religious exemptions could award degrees only in religious areas. Marn, its owner, was later sent to prison for not paying taxes in 2003 on his Wyoming business and has been released, according to court and prison documents.

Hamilton University steered people to its Web site through a phony referral service and it claimed accreditation from an agency not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, Bear said. He added that some of its "students" have said they were fooled.

"What does it say about him (Madrid) ?" Bear asked. "If a motel in Wyoming offers you a doctorate and you don't check it out?"

Services rendered

In his deposition, Madrid said he got involved as a subcontractor for the children's collaborative in an attempt to save it.

"I -- it was a very desperate time for the collaborative," he said. "My -- my whole situation was to try to save it. It was -- we were going into the fourth year, and -- and there was no sustainability plan that had been worked on for three years. So my -- my thing was to develop a sustainability plan that would finance this -- this collaborative."

Between Jan. 15, 2006, and Feb. 12, 2007, Madrid billed taxpayers for almost 700 hours of work at a rate of $150 an hour, according to documents on file as part of the county's lawsuit, which is ongoing. In return, the county received a 20-page document titled "A Plan Regarding Title IV-E Research and Other Available Funding Streams."

Passages of some sections of the report can be found on the Google search engine. Identical passages pop up on Websites, including those run by the Social Security Administration and the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.

During Madrid's deposition, Assistant County Attorney Michael Wyatt asked Madrid whether he'd written the report himself. Madrid said he had.

Referring to a document he'd downloaded from the Internet, Wyatt said, "But it seems to me to be verbatim exactly what you've got written in your report here."

Madrid replied, "Exactly. And, you know, again, I could have been quoting from online research that we did."

Madrid didn't cite a source for the passage, and he later said he should have done so for another area he had pulled from the Internet.

Wyatt asked Madrid whether his work was worth the $150 an hour the taxpayers had given him. "Yes, sir," Madrid said. "This represents one of the work products that was worth -- that is worth $150 an hour because it included a lot of research we had done."

Other work

Also as part of the county's lawsuit, LKG produced an inches-thick stack of documents in response to a subpoena for work it had produced for the collaborative.

It includes a blank Medicaid waiver application that runs dozens of pages. Another is titled "Various Texas Newspaper Articles Supporting Substance-Abuse Treatment." It also contains a report on state-by-state changes to prison funding.

There is no narrative tying the sections together or explaining what they have to do with the collaborative.

"I guess they thought no one was going to look at this," Escobar said.

In September 2006, about a year into the LKG contract, federal auditors made a site visit. They said LKG didn't produce materials they asked for. "The contract lists specific reports of monthly deliverables," the audit report said. "These deliverables were requested by the federal site team, but not received.'

The auditors also said that a key component of sustainability -- data regarding the outcomes of the program -- had not been collected under the LKG contract for eight months because LKG hadn't gotten the required independent approval.

Just after she became a county commissioner, Escobar and Commissioner Dan Haggerty voted on Jan. 22, 2007, to terminate the LKG contract. Anthony Cobos, then the new county judge, and commissioners Miguel Teran and Luis Sariñana outvoted them.

The following May, the FBI raided the offices of Cobos, Teran and Sariñana. Among the items listed on the search warrant were documents relating to Garcia and LKG.

None of them has been charged, and each has denied any wrongdoing.

"I don't think his (Madrid's) credentials were specifically needed for the grant," Escobar said, "but he came before Commissioners Court and touted them at a time when two of us were trying to fire LKG. It would have made it far more difficult for Cobos, Teran and Sariñana to defend LKG had we known the Ph.D. had come from a diploma mill."

Garcia's lawyer, Link Beck, could not be reached for this story. Daryl Fields, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, and Mike Martinez, a spokesman for the FBI, also didn't respond to calls.

But in June 2007, as part of the ongoing FBI public corruption case, Travis Ketner, Cobos' chief of staff, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court.

Many of the documents relating to his case -- including his sentencing -- are now sealed. But his charging document says that Ketner agreed to demand a bribe from Garcia in exchange for protecting Garcia and LKG from a county lawsuit and a referral for a criminal investigation in connection with its contract with the collaborative.

The document does not say that Garcia ever paid such a bribe.

After the LKG contract and the federal grant expired, the commissioners converted the collaborative into a county department.

Asked what she might do to prevent a similar situation, Escobar said the county now has an ethics commission with some enforcement power. Also, since becoming county judge early this year, Escobar has helped make changes such as creating an online bid-tracking system so the public can follow the purchasing process.

"You can never completely stop corruption," Escobar said. "But what you can do is create obstacles and try to mitigate it as much as possible."

A researcher and laboratory director at the University of Kansas Medical Center’s brain-imaging center claims a doctorate from an institution that sold degrees but was not recognized by a legitimate accreditor, according to The Topeka Capital-Journal. University officials were aware that Kathleen Gustafson’s Ph.D. had been awarded by Eurotechnical Research University, an institution that had no academic prerequisites (Ms. Gustafson, according to the article, does not have a bachelor’s degree) and was accredited by the World Association of Universities and Colleges, which has also accredited diploma mills. In 2007 a faculty committee looked into Ms. Gustafson’s qualifications and found them to be adequate. She told the Capital-Journal that it was “not my intention to mislead anyone or get a fraudulent degree.”

Freehold Regional High School Board of Education President Heshy Moses thought discussion about the Breyer State University scandal that has clouded the district for the past four years was over, but public dissenters disagree. At the Monday, Nov. 29 meeting of the Board of Education, several members of the public expressed their opinion about the diploma-mill incident, saying that the reparations are not enough.

At the Board of Education meeting on Monday, Nov. 15, President Moses announced that Assistant Superintendent Donna Evangelista would be paying back the district $5,400 - a refund of the tuition paid and stipends she earned from receiving a doctorate degree from the non-accredited Breyer State University. Evangelista has until 2016 to refund the money to the district.

Evangelista was one of several employees of the FRHS district to earn a degree from BSU in 2007, however, she is currently the only employee still working in the district who has one. Therefore, Evangelista is the only diploma recipient asked to refund the money the district spent on her unofficial degree. Moses announced at the last Board meeting that an expensive legal procedure would have to be fought in order to regain funds from prior employees.

Last night, Moses said that when he and Board Member Carl Accettola met with the State Comptroller, they were advised that the district could not demand a refund of the money from Evangelista, they could only request that the sum be returned. A formal letter was drafted to Evangelista and she agreed to reimburse the district.

The Board Attorney said that the correspondence with Evangelista and the Board is a personnel matter and the conversation between the Board and the Assistant Superintendent about the reimbursement is confidential.

Marlboro resident Jim Sage was not satisfied with this response and confused as to how the records would not be public information or a payroll matter, but the Board remained silent on advice of counsel.

Gloria Close, a resident of Manalapan, was displeased with the five year time period given to Evangelista to pay back the money. “Isn’t it an insult to the taxpayers to wait five years to get paid back, when in fact the County Superintendent took the doctorate away so long ago?” Close asked. “It is just common decency that the money should be paid back as soon as possible.”

“I thought that this was over now, that we’re getting the money back, that it would be closed, but you still find the fly in the ointment and I don’t know if we’d ever be able to satisfy you,” Moses said, in response to Close’s comments.

Leon Sirulnick, also a Manalapan resident, echoed Close’s statements and stated, “it’s not over until it’s over.” Sirulnick said that the resolution to the Breyer State University scandal is unsatisfactory because Evangelista makes over $155,000 and she only has to pay a small sum over five years.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s a penalty to Ms. Evangelista and it doesn’t sound like a satisfactory response to us,” Sirulnick said.

Gov. Sam Brownback accepted the resignation Tuesday of the executive branch's new chief information technology officer following disclosure the $150,000-a-year appointee's college degree was acquired from a diploma mill.

Jim Mann, 58, submitted a brief letter of resignation to Brownback — hours after the governor defended him in the wake of inquiries regarding Mann's possession of a business administration degree from the University of Devonshire.

The University of Devonshire isn’t accredited by leading higher education agencies in the United States and United Kingdom. The school is affiliated with an umbrella company regarded as one of the leading marketers in off-the-shelf college diplomas.

"The questions surrounding my qualifications to perform and deliver in this position have compromised confidence in me and in my integrity," Mann's letter said. "As such, I am no longer an asset to your team and your IT mission."

Brownback led a news conference Monday announcing the hiring of Mann to lead an aggressive centralization of technology systems in the state government's executive branch. The Republican governor expressed confidence Mann had the background and skills to reduce costs and improve performance of the network relied upon by state agencies.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported Monday afternoon the University of Devonshire was part of a consortium of schools in the University Degree Program, a company viewed as one of the most prolific diploma-production enterprises.

The University of Devonshire isn’t accredited by the Council of Higher Education Accreditation in the United States or the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in the United Kingdom.

On Tuesday morning after a Statehouse news conference, Brownback reinforced his confidence in Mann's capacity to reform the state's information technology network. He said he selected Mann based on a thorough review of his record with former employers.

The hiring had nothing to do with Mann's acquisition in 1995 of a business degree through a distance-learning program, Brownback said. The governor wasn't aware until after announcing his hiring the unaccredited institution was a featured actor in the diploma-mill industry.

Brownback said the governor's staff didn't spend much time examining Mann's scholarly record. His resume listed studies at the University of Maryland and the University of Devonshire.

"The education was not a factor in his hiring," Brownback said.

Under questioning, the governor said Mann should be judged by his performance as a state government leader in Topeka.

Brownback joked that he wished Mann possessed a degree from Kansas State University, where the governor graduated before completing law school at The University of Kansas.

Mann submitted his resignation Tuesday afternoon, and Brownback accepted it. The search for a new state chief information technology officer was immediately reopened, a spokeswoman for the governor said.

"Please accept my sincerest apology," Mann said in the resignation letter. "I wish you and all Kansans nothing but the best as you strive to bring excellence to Kansas' information technology systems."

Mann, of St. Augustine, Fla., started work Oct. 31 in the $150,000-a-year job overseeing computer projects and systems for the executive branch. All state agencies, except the Kansas Board of Regents, were directed by Brownback to report to Mann.

Mann most recently worked at Service Brands International in 2010, but he resigned after less than one year in that job amid a philosophical dispute with colleagues at the company.

Before the resignation was submitted, Brownback said he understood many people in the information technology sector performed at a high level without earning a college degree. The governor, a Kansas agriculture secretary from 1986 to 1993, said his technology specialist at that agency did a fine job without a diploma.

"My IT guy was a former meat cutter," the governor said.

Dozens of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided offices at the University of Northern Virginia's Annandale campus Thursday.

The University of Northern Virginia is an unaccredited, for-profit private university that calls itself the most popular American university for students from India. Thousands of students are registered at three locations in northern Virginia.

Agents have removed boxes of documents from a building on Little River Turnpike where the university leases two suites.

The university temporarily can't accept any foreign students, reads a notice posted on the door of the offices. UNVA students must leave the country immediately if they are unable “to continue to attend classes and maintain their active status in a manner required by federal government regulations,” the notice reads.

“Today, officials from ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) served University of Northern Virginia officials with a Notice of Intent to Withdraw (NOIW) UNVA’s authorization to admit foreign students,” read a statement released by ICE spokeswoman Cori W. Bassett.

The school was told it can no longer participate in that program, but no specific reason was disclosed.

No charges have been filed nor people arrested but the school is being investigated to see whether it conforms to federal regulations for the administration of student visas. Those regulations were tightened after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The school is not closed, and students can attend class.

Foreign-born students at the campus Thursday said they have attended classes in the building and earned degrees from the school. One said the school helps students get their student visas.

If the investigation discovers the school improperly handled student visas, the school could face severe penalties.

Trinity University is suing an entity that offers online degrees, accusing it of trademark infringement.

The San Antonio liberal arts and sciences university seeks a federal court order barring Trinity Learning Foundation from using “Trinity University” on its website or using that name to promote its programs.

The suit was filed Thursday in San Antonio

Trinity Learning Foundation, headquartered in Delaware, did not respond to requests for comment.

“Because they are using our name, we feel it's an infringement of our registered trademark and can lead to trademark dilution,” said Mary Denny, associate director of communications for Trinity University. “We're very proud of our reputation.”

Trinity Learning Foundation's website says it offers graduate information technology degrees, a master's in business administration and bachelor's degrees in nursing and health management, among others.

But some of those degrees are offered under “Trinity University” on the foundation's website, including degrees the San Antonio institution doesn't offer. It's “a complete infringement and could be damaging to our reputation,” Denny said.

This isn't the first time Trinity University has battled over its name. In 2007, it settled a trademark lawsuit with Trinity College in Washington over that entity's attempt to change its name to Trinity University.

Additionally, Trinity University reached a settlement in 2004 with a diploma mill then known as Trinity College & University.

That deal ended a lawsuit in which the university said Trinity College & University — registered in the British Virgin Islands but with purported offices in Louisiana — infringed on the Trinity University trademark.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—The private school principal accused of inappropriately touching young girls has decades of education experience, but some colleges and a state commission said Wednesday their records don't match the credentials he has claimed.

Robert Adams is principal of Creative Frontiers School, which was closed by police and state regulators Monday amid allegations that he inappropriately touched female students over a 15-year period. He has not been arrested or charged and held a news conference Wednesday to declare his innocence.

On a resume filed as part of a 1999 bankruptcy case, Adams stated he had earned a master's degree and received state education credentials at several California universities. But officials at those schools and the state credentialing body said Wednesday their records do not match the claims.

Adams' attorney did not immediately return a call seeking comment. A telephone number associated with the address for Adams' home in Folsom, another Sacramento suburb, was disconnected.

Adams and his wife, Saundra, filed a petition in December 1998 for protection from creditors while they reorganized their finances under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing said the school in the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights was damaged by "catastrophic floods" in 1995, and the school was sued for wrongful termination the same year.

Slow repairs and heavy legal expenses hurt the school's finances and enrollment, the couple said in documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Sacramento.

As part of the case, Robert Adams filed a resume as evidence of his experience as an educator. The document said he graduated from California State University, Northridge with two bachelor's degrees and a California teaching credential.

CSU Northridge spokeswoman Carmen Ramos Chandler confirmed Wednesday that Adams received a bachelor's degree in child development in 1972 and another in psychology in 1975. But she said the school had no record of a teaching credential issued to him.

Databases at the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing show no record of any educator credential—for teaching or administration—issued to Adams, spokeswoman Erin Sullivan said. Such a credential is not required to teach in a private school in California.

The resume also stated that Adams attended graduate school and obtained a California administrative credential in early childhood education from the University of California, Los Angeles. It said he completed a master's degree from Pacific Oaks Teachers' College in Pasadena, in "coordination" with UCLA and the now-defunct University of Beverly Hills.

UCLA spokeswoman Claudia Luther said the school could find no record that he had attended, although she said the records are not perfect. Helen Williams, a spokeswoman at the UCLA Extension program, also said there was no match in its records to any student with Adams' name and age.

A representative of Pacific Oaks College, Matt Nehmer, said its registrar's records show that a Robert B. Adams attended the school in 1980, but not that he had graduated.

News reports from the 1990s described the University of Beverly Hills as a nontraditional school that awarded degrees based on life experience, lacked accreditation for at least part of the time it operated and was described as a "diploma mill" by some critics. The school closed in 1986.

SCHENECTADY -- Less than 24 hours after being sworn in as new police recruit, John Laviano was fired Tuesday because the online college where he apparently received credit for life experiences is not accredited.

"It caught everyone by surprise," Police Chief Mark Chaires said Tuesday when asked about the embarrassing episode, which apparently came to light after a local media outlet raised questions about Ashwood University, the college where Laviano majored in criminal justice after graduating in 2010 from Guilderland High School.

"This was just an honest mistake," Chaires said.

Chaires emphasized that Laviano, 22, who also served in the Army in Afghanistan, was not trying to circumvent the system and never attempted to "mislead" city and police officials.

He was one of five recruits to take the oath of office during a City Hall swearing-in ceremony that was to start a six-month stint at the police academy Wednesday. Laviano could not immediately reached for comment.

Chaires said the department relies on the "generally very thorough" county civil service commission to do background checks to make sure the college prospective recruits attended is accredited, a prerequisite for taking the civil service exam.

In fact, the chief stressed that civil service has in the past prevented potential recruits from taking the test because the school they attended did not meet the prescribed standards.

"We operated under the assumption that he had been certified by civil service," Chaires said.

The department's own more rigorous background search also failed to flag the school.

"We'll learn from this and move on," said Chaires, noting that in the future they will double-check a prospective recruit's schooling.

In most cases, there is hardly ever a question of whether area two- or four-year schools, such as Siena College or Schenectady County Community College have the proper credentials.

There is conflicting information online about whether Ashwood is a so-called diploma mill.

One website seeks to dispel that notion and even offers testimonials to back up that contention.

Under the heading "An introduction to Ashwood University," the website, www.ashwooduniversityscam.com, states the school "provides students with authentic and accredited degrees on the basis of life and/or work experience," offers internationally recognized and widely accepted degrees and diplomas, and provides lifetime credential verification service to students.

Specifically, the web site states it is accredited from World Online Degrees Education Accrediting Commission and the Board of Online Universities Accreditation.

Still, others warn would-be students to stay away because the school is a "scam."

SCHENECTADY - Police Chief Mark Chaires admitted Wednesday that mistakes were made when hiring recruit John Laviano.

"This is just something that fell through the cracks," Chaires told NewsChannel 13.

Laviano, a 22-year-old decorated Army veteran who has seen combat in Afghanistan, was sworn in Monday with four other recruits. But when questions were raised about his online college degree from Ashwoord University, Laviano was fired two days later.

"I think what happened is just that this university is somebody that carries it to an unethical and dishonest and illegal extremes," said Chaires, suggesting that the university is a diploma mill.

The website for Ashwood University advertises the chance to get accredited life experience for your online degree, and that for $725, a student can even earn a degree in 15 days.

"Just because they say they're accredited, doesn't mean they are officially accredited," said William Stewart, a vice president with Excelsior College, a distance learning institution based in the Capital Region. He said students should do their homework before getting an online degree to make sure its programs and the accrediting body are officially recognized.

"Most employers will say you need a degree from an accredited institution so if it's not, you may run into a situation like this gentleman did," Stewart said.

"John Laviano is a really good kid he didn't try to misrepresent anything it was a honest mistake, its not police corruption," Chaires said.

The Police Chief said the former recruit showed a lot of promise, and that if he someday gets a legitimate degree, the department will consider hiring him again.

NewsChannel 13 was not able to reach Laviano for comment Wednesday.

A spokesperson for Schenectady County said because of the degree problem, Laviano should also not have been allowed to take the Civil Service exam, and they are looking at the process to see what happened.

You can check out your university at these links:

CHEA: http://www.chea.org/search/default.asp
U.S. Department of Education: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/

An elite team of computer technicians assembled by the Obama administration to protect Pentagon networks from cyberattack shockingly includes a former Clinton official who "lost" thousands of archived emails under subpoena and who more recently left the Department of Homeland Security under an ethical cloud related to her qualifications, WND has learned.

The administration in May quietly hired Laura Callahan for a sensitive post at the U.S. Cyber Command, a newly created agency set up to harden military networks as part of an effort to prevent a "cyberspace version of Pearl Harbor."

The move raises doubts about the administration's vetting process for sensitive security positions. In 2004, Callahan was forced to resign from Homeland Security after a congressional investigation revealed she committed résumé fraud and lied about her computer credentials.

Investigators found that Callahan paid a diploma mill thousands of dollars for her bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees in computer science. She back-dated the degrees, all obtained between 2000 and 2001, to appear as if she earned them in 1993, 1995 and 2000, respectively. She landed the job of deputy DHS chief information officer in 2003...

Previously, as a White House computer supervisor, Callahan threatened computer workers to keep quiet about an embarrassing server glitch that led to the loss of thousands of archived emails covered by federal subpoenas pertaining to multiple Clinton scandals.

Former co-workers say they're shocked that Callahan passed a security background check and landed another sensitive post inside the federal government.

"She's a security risk," said a government computer specialist. "I don't know how she got clearance."

"We're fuming about it," said another federal employee. "Knowing her, I don't see how she could ever be 100-percent honest."

A CyberCom spokesman said Callahan could not be interviewed and did not want her "name in public." Asked for Callahan's title, he claimed such information was "personal."

CyberCom, which began operations last year, is part of the U.S. Strategic Command located in Fort Meade, Md.

The Defense Department last week revealed it recently suffered a massive cyberattack, even as it announced a new strategy to actively combat online threats to national security.

Laura Crabtree Callahan testifying before the House Government Reform Committee in the Project X White House e-mail scandal investigation.

In March, hackers working for a foreign government broke into a Pentagon contractor's computer system and stole 24,000 files. Previous cyberattacks have been blamed on China or Russia.

A new Pentagon study stresses the need to fortify network firewalls against enemy hackers. Callahan will be part of that effort at CyberCom, which will lead day-to-day defense and protection of all Defense Department networks.

"She's a dubious hire, to put it charitably," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a government watchdog in Washington that sued the Clinton White House to retrieve missing emails.

As WND first reported, several Northrop Grumman contractors working on the White House computer system testified in early 2000 that Callahan (née Laura Crabtree) threatened to jail them if they talked about the "Project X" email scandal even to their spouses.

One technician, Robert Haas, said she warned him "there will be a jail cell with your name on it" if he breathed a word about the glitch to anybody outside their office.

Chip Sparks, a White House programmer, recounted a run-in he had with Callahan in 1997. After questioning a technical decision she made, he said she wrote him a threatening note.

"Please be advised I will not tolerate any further derogatory comments from you about my knowledge, qualifications and/or professional competence," Callahan blasted Sparks in a March 3, 1997, e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by WND.

Callahan had to do some quick backpedaling after her House testimony. The day after she testified, she sent an affidavit to the House Government Reform Committee, stating: "I wish to clarify that I did discuss e-mail issues with the Department of Justice attorneys in connection with currently pending civil litigation," referring to a lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch. She had denied such contacts at the hearing.

Callahan left the White House under an ethical cloud, only to land a top position elsewhere in the Clinton administration. Labor Secretary Alexis Herman made her deputy chief information officer at her agency, and director of its information technology center.

While there, she oversaw the development of the Privacy Assessment Model, which agencies were to use to better protect sensitive personal data managed by the government.

"It's hard for me, having worked with this individual, to believe that she was able to come in there, do what she did, leave the things in the condition that she left them in and then fly right into an SES (senior executive service) position at the Labor Department," Sparks said.

"I mean, there's political favors there," he added. "It's writ large."

House Government Reform Committee investigators at the time said Labor knew Callahan got her degree from a diploma mill, yet still employed her. They found that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management tipped Labor off to her questionable credentials.

"We have requested the Homeland Security IG to look at why flags that had been raised about her educational qualifications in her personnel file at the Labor Department were not taken further," said House Government Reform Committee spokesman Dave Marin at the time.

He told WND that the government certainly cannot risk hiring someone with "fraudulent credentials" to head a senior position in an area as "sensitive as homeland security" computer operations and communications.

Calls to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management seeking comment about Callahan's latest hiring were not returned.

Dave Serrano hasn't shied away from addressing the scrutiny of his academic credentials in the past, and he certainly wasn't planning to when he interviewed to become Tennessee's new baseball coach last month.

He said he had nothing to hide, and the members of UT's search committee felt the same way.

"I understand when you're working with higher education that it's going to be an issue," said Serrano, speaking with the News Sentinel during last week's baseball media opportunity at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. "I never tried to mask anything or hide anything."

As an assistant at Cal State Fullerton in 2003, Serrano obtained a bachelor's degree from The Trinity College and University. Classified by many as a "diploma mill," the institution is not accredited and will award the degrees for "life experience." According to its website, the The Trinity College and University is registered in Dover, Del., and based out of Spain.

Following a 2007 season in which he was named Baseball America's Coach of the Year for taking UC Irvine to the College World Series, Serrano emerged as a front-runner for the coaching vacancy at Oregon. Shortly after Serrano interviewed, a Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard story raised questions about the validity of his degree.

After Oregon athletic director Pat Kilkenny told the newspaper he was "reviewing" Serrano's degree, Serrano, who also interviewed at UT during that time, withdrew his name from consideration and ultimately landed at Fullerton.

Serrano, who spent two years at Cerritos College and one at Fullerton as a player, said he was urged by his "superiors" at Fullerton to finish the work toward his degree. The Trinity College and University was "the way they felt he could do it."

"Obviously, sometimes you make choices in life and there's scrutiny out there," Serrano said. "I would prefer to be judged by the people and the players over all my years of my coaching career, what I've done for people as a coach and a mentor and how I've led them in life and being successful.

"People could judge my education, but I know when it comes to coaching and leading young men, I feel like I have a doctorate in that area."

Shortly after former coach Todd Raleigh was relieved of his duties in May, UT, on its online job board, requested that its new baseball coach possessed a bachelor's degree, but it did not require one. That caveat in the job description was atypical of the school's previous and present requirements for its coaching positions.

Currently, UT is looking to hire three assistant coaches - two for men's track and field and one for volleyball. All three positions require a bachelor's degree and prefer a Master's, according to the job descriptions on UT's official website.

UT women's athletic director Joan Cronan, who, as interim vice chancellor of athletics, spearheaded the baseball coaching search after Mike Hamilton's resignation, said she wasn't involved in the hiring process when the job post was drafted.

"We did our due diligence and looked at (academic progress rates) and grade-point averages," Cronan said. "His history in there was as high as any of the coaches we looked at. The importance of graduating his players was very important.

"I thought he was the best total package for Tennessee."

In Serrano's final two years at Cal State Fullerton, his teams notched back-to-back APR scores of 939, 14 above the benchmark set by the NCAA. Only once, his first year at Fullerton, did a Serrano-coached team score below 925.

"I want the proof to be in the pudding with how many kids are graduated from this university and what we're doing with these kids and what they do when they get out of here," Serrano said. "And I don't just mean Major League Baseball."

Inheriting a program that was hit with APR-related sanctions during Raleigh's tenure, Serrano doesn't exactly have much room for error when it pertains to academics. With a hire that she considers to be a "home run" at the helm, Cronan said the program is in good hands with Serrano, no matter how he acquired his degree.

"Anybody who knows Joan Cronan knows that I firmly believe that they're students first and athletes second," Cronan said. "It was important that we hire somebody that academics was important to them. At the end of the day, I felt that academics were very important to Dave Serrano."

It investigated three of the university's link-ups with foreign colleges which shed light on the shortcomings of a system in which academic staff from Wales travel across the globe to vet, validate and moderate overseas links.

In response, a University of Wales spokesman said the institution was making "many transitional and transformative measures".

"In order to continue to safeguard standards and the student experience the University of Wales will, in partnership with its proposed merger institutions, develop a new international strategy which is embedded within Wales," he said.

QAA has, in line with its policy, published a statement on its findings and recommendations on its website.

Here are excerpts from the report:

Accademia Italiana, Bangkok

Reason for investigation: BBC Wales alleged the college was operating illegally, according to Thai authorities.

"The concerns team wished to investigate whether any advice had been taken on legal or financial matters, since the University had provided no papers that indicated that such investigations had taken place.

"However, when the concerns team met with the vetter in a group of Validation Unit staff, he had no memory of having made a visit to Accademia Italiana in Bangkok."

"There was no investigation of the legal status of Accademia Italiana in Bangkok at any time."

"From later correspondence with the university, it has been confirmed that the university relied on assurances from Accademia Italiana in Bangkok that they had 'verbal confirmation' of the approval of the Thai authorities, but not 'approval in writing'.

"The concerns team concluded that the university's vetting of its partner in Thailand was inadequate... The 'validations' carried out were flawed".

"In the matter of approval by the Thai authorities, it appears that the University satisfied itself with oral assurances by Accademia Italiana that approval to operate from the Thai government had been secured, with no primary written evidence from the Thai authorities themselves."

Fazley International College, Malaysia

Reason for investigation: BBC Wales alleged it was being run by a pop star with two bogus degrees.

"No appraisal of the college's accounts", "no financial advice was sought", "no legal advice was sought on the capacity of the partner to contract".

"There is no particular reason to believe in this case had such investigations been carried out, they would have discovered anything that would have undermined the university's confidence...However, this must be regarded as merely good luck".

"The pro-forma tells the university that 'Dr' Yaakob holds a DBA from 'the European Business School, UK'.

"There is a 'European Business School, UK': it is part of Regents College, and awards degrees from the Open University.

"It does not award the degree of DBA. It is a perfectly respectable institution, but 'Dr' Yaakob certainly did not do a DBA there.

"'Dr' Yaakob is not buried in the small print... (the university) had and missed the opportunity to be circumspect about the management and owners of Fazley International College".

The concerns team found no sign that as managing director 'Dr' Fadzli Yaakob had any direct influence on the standards of programmes of study validated by the university.

"However... more 'academic' due diligence might have caused the university, if not to reject the connection with Fazley International Colelge, at least to manage it in a way that gave less room for ridicule".

Turning Point Business School, Singapore

Reason for investigation: Complaints from students. Unnanounced sale of the school by one set of owners who had problems with debts and subsequent disappearance of the second owners one year later, leaving the students unsupported.

The QAA say that "to judge the financial or legal standing of a potential partner, a committee of academics needs professional advice from an accountant or a lawyer; probably, in the case of an overseas partner, a lawyer from the country in question".

In this case University of Wales vice-chancellor, Professor Marc Clement, considered it "sufficient" that one member of the validation board was "qualified as an accountant".

"The university apparently took no legal advice, either in the UK or Singapore, as to the status of the owners."

"The university had not briefed staff involved in 'vetting' on the status of the investigations and judgments they made; and members of the committees charged with making recommendations or decisions did not have a common view as to what they were deciding upon."

The second owners, who later disappeared leaving the students in the lurch, were not checked out either.

"The background of the owners was not investigated, and no information about financial stability was sought. No professional advice was taken on either matter."

The university appoints moderators who must visit partner institutions twice a year for the first five years and once a year thereafter.

Initially, moderators failed to make any visits to this college.

These were replaced by moderators who did make the requisite visits, one of whom had been assigned to 14 different colleges simultaneously even though a moderator is only supposed to be assigned a maximum of five institutions at any time.

"In the light of the disappearance of the first owners, and the long list of unfulfilled demands made by moderators and Validation Unit staff in March 2010, the university's decision to accept the assertions of the new owners at face value... seems culpably credulous".

BEIJING police have arrested 33 suspects for allegedly selling fake diplomas and degree certificates and swindling 7.97 million yuan (US$ 1.23 million) out of 339 people, including nearly 200 senior company executives.

Police said victims paid prices ranging from 20,000 yuan to 190,000 yuan for academic credentials from bogus universities with names similar to prestigious colleges overseas, Beijing Times reported today.

In most cases, no class and test was required before victims were handed over diplomas and degree certificates that appeared authentic with embossed stamps showing recognition from a phony college and China's Ministry of Education.

The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office needs to fix its treatment of women in the department and prevent deputies from using phony educational degrees to gain pay increases, according to the El Dorado County grand jury's report released Friday.

The grand jury's 2010-11 report focused three of its 12 sections on the Sheriff's Office.

A newly elected sheriff, John D'Agostini, took over the department at the beginning of the year.

The report's section on gender bias in the department outlined a female staffing level far below national averages, and a pattern of gender bias complaints that jumped in 2010.

Roughly 5 percent of sworn officers are women, according to the report. It contrasted El Dorado's level to a national average of 12.8 percent in communities of similar sizes.

The department saw 12 gender bias complaints filed in 2010, double the number for 2008 and 2009 combined, the report said.

Six of the complaints were upheld, yet in half those cases, "individuals did not have records of disciplinary action related to the complaints in their files in the El Dorado County Human Resources Office," the report said.

It also noted a pair of discrimination lawsuits had been filed against the department by female employees.

The report called on the department to give women more opportunities to work in job areas considered critical to advancement and to recruit women and minorities for future openings.

Harassment policies need to be better communicated and enforced as well, the report said.

With respect to educational attainment, the report noted that five sworn officers, including a lieutenant, had gained pay increases – known as educational incentive pay – based on diplomas from questionable sources.

"One officer applied for entrance into Richardson University on August 20, 2004, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice only 27 days later, after completing 22 classes," according to the grand jury's investigation.

The body's report noted that the district attorney has not found enough evidence to prosecute these cases, in part because Sheriff's Office policies were vague and some evidence has been destroyed.

The grand jury called on the Sheriff's Office to cease accepting "diploma mill" credentials and to bring educational compensation in line with what officers receive in other nearby jurisdictions.

The third section of the report to focus on the Sheriff's Office acknowledged cost-cutting in the office, but suggested the department could save more.

It recommended tightening the use of take-home vehicles, reducing duplicate phones – desk and cell – for individual employees and putting civilians in some positions currently filled by sworn officers.

The civil grand jury is a body of citizens charged with looking into government operations.

The grand jury will present its full report to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Elected officials who are served with reports have 60 days to respond. Non-elected officials have 90 days.

When Washington State Patrol Trooper Daniel Mann talks about his days at Berkley – if he ever does – it's probably nothing like you imagine.

No free-speech protests or sit-ins. No dropping acid and sitting in a tree. No examination of the great pinko texts. Or any texts. Not to mention no lectures, no quizzes, no classes.

Mann's "Berkley" experience involved a single 11-page paper written in the fall of 1998, titled "Drugs Should Not Be Legalized." This was his "final" paper, as well as his "initial" paper, as well as his "only" paper. He sent a couple grand to the "University of Berkley" in Michigan and waited for his diploma to show up.

Then he started collecting a bigger paycheck for his educational advancements.

Nothing wrong with that, right?

Well, that depends. The information above comes from the scathing conclusions of an investigation into Mann's actions in 2009, in which Assistant Chief James Lever recommends his firing.

"I believe Mann knowingly submitted a phony academic degree from the University of Berkley to the WSP for increased pay and promotional points," Lever wrote. "This act clearly constitutes a violation of the rules, regulations and policies of the WSP. … It is simply not reasonable to believe that he did not realize that a Berkley degree was not legitimate. He knew what he was doing was wrong and the facts of the case clearly demonstrate continued attempts to both cover up and prevent any scrutiny of his actions."

But the State Patrol, after moving initially to fire Mann and several others, chickened out and gave them suspensions of several days. This followed the 10-month paid vacation while they were being investigated. Washington State Patrol spokesman Bob Calkins said the discipline was based on the notion that the troopers had used bad judgment, not intentionally defrauded the state. They stopped receiving the extra pay and repaid more than $50,000 – Mann alone repaid nearly $12,000.

The next move for the Diploma Mill Gang was obvious: Sue the state.

The suit – call it Chutzpah v. Common Decency – was filed in King County Superior Court in December by Mann and four other troopers. They allege that the State Patrol defamed them in some public statements – as well as in some of the minor misunderstandings the patrol didn't clear up. It takes a lot of huevos to do what Mann did and then sue the state alleging, among other things, "outrage."

The investigation into the diplomas followed the news in May 2008 that dozens of government employees had purchased counterfeit degrees from a Spokane diploma mill. While the five troopers didn't buy their diplomas from the Spokane operation, they purchased them from unaccredited online "institutions" that award diplomas based on life experience.

A prosecutor said no crime was committed, but Lever's report identified three "proven" violations of the patrol's codes of conduct and ethics. And what the patrol said about Mann publicly is nice and friendly compared to the report. A few examples:

• "It is a proven fact that University of Berkley is a diploma mill. Mann had every obligation to recognize what he was representing as a college degree was indeed a fake and invalid by any reasonable measure."

• "Despite never having taken a class, read a book, or taken a test, Mann argued that he believed his degree was legitimate. It is absurd to believe that an 11-page research paper could be evaluated and graded to determine a person's qualification to receive a four-year degree. It would not even be credible for a single upper division college course (one quarter) to simply require a single 11-page research paper without any additional reading, lectures, tests, or additional assignments."

• "Mann's deceptive behavior demonstrates the clear intent to mislead and deceive the department."

• "One primary function of a narcotics detective, that Mann performed for several years, is to constantly test information to determine reliability and credibility of information they receive. For me to believe Mann was completely duped by an Internet website is simply too much to ask."

• "Mann's dishonest and unethical actions can simply not be tolerated."

Of course, they have been tolerated. The State Patrol still issues a paycheck to Mann, who catches drunken drivers here in Spokane.

I feel a personal connection to Mann's educational experiences, because of my own. I dropped out of college my first go-round, then went back to Eastern Washington University as an adult with a full-time job. It took a lot of work and cost a lot of money, and I'm glad I did it. I didn't get a raise or anything, but it was invaluable.

Maybe that's something you have to experience to appreciate.

"It appears to the reviewer that Mann questions the real value of a legitimate bachelor's degree and therefore felt he deserved the same reward as those who actually went to school and earned a degree," the report says. "Had Mann actually gone to school, studied, and learned his way toward a four-year degree, I believe he would have a completely different perspective."

A so-called doctor fraudulently collected a total of more than $12,000 from five clients who mistakenly believed he was a qualified psychologist, court has heard.

Gregory Carter deceived his victims, most of whom were involved in child custody cases, by misrepresenting his credentials in his Whitby practice, Crown Attorney Michael Gillen told Oshawa court on Wednesday.

Carter, 64, is a psychological associate, which is a step below a psychologist. He has pleaded not guilty to five counts of fraud under $5,000.

Last year, the College of Psychologists of Ontario found Carter guilty of professional misconduct for straying beyond his capabilities in diagnosing a father, whom he never met, with "narcissistic personality disorder."

Carter, who frequently testified in family court, claimed he had a doctorate in psychology but the college didn't recognize his credentials and licensed him only as a psychological associate, Gillen said.

One of his alleged victims, who paid $1,650 for therapy sessions for his granddaughter's behavioural problems, testified that Carter identified himself as a psychologist who specialized in children.

David Bulmer, who subsequently lost custody of the child in a court case that used a report by Carter, said the term "psychological associate" never came up. Had he known Carter wasn't a registered psychologist, he never would have used him, Bulmer said.

Carter has a legitimate master's degree, but his Ph.D. is from Pacific Western University in Hawaii, which the U.S. government has denounced as a "diploma mill."

The trial continues.

ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) - A CBS Atlanta hidden camera investigation exposed a registered sex offender posing as a psychologist. It is the second time CBS Atlanta found John Bacon, 41, of DeKalb County working without a required professional license.

"I've practiced every form of psychology there is," claimed Bacon to an undercover CBS Atlanta producer posing as a patient.

Bacon and the producer met at a restaurant.

Bacon told the producer that he has been practicing psychology for twenty years and made his first million when he was 21 years old.

Bacon's outlandish claims continued. "I am licensed, certified, bonded, insured," said Bacon.

In an online profile, Bacon is listed as "Dr. J. Olis Bacon." The word "Psychologist" appears under his name.

"I do psychology because I like to help people," said Bacon to the producer.

"I've got this gift. After five minutes of talking to you, I can pretty much tell what kind of person you are."

Bacon is listed on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation website as a registered sex offender. He was pleaded guilty in 1994 to charges of child molestation and aggravated sodomy. He was also convicted of sex crimes against a child while in the Navy in 1990.

In November, CBS Atlanta found Bacon working as an unlicensed plumber after the state professional licensing board had ordered him to stop.

Bacon is not allowed to work as a psychologist because he does not have a state-issued license.

Dr. Kip Matthews, a licensed psychologist and educator with the Georgia Psychological Association, said he is disturbed by the undercover video we showed him. He said it appeared Bacon committed numerous ethical violations. He said he is concerned for Bacon's patients. "Unfortunately, individuals who prey on potential victims do have good social skills. They come across in a very engaging, personal way that pulls you in," said Matthews.

Matthews said he was particularly concerned with Bacon's supposed assessment of the patient's risk of suicide.

"It is just clinically inappropriate," said Matthews.

Investigative reporter Jeff Chirico interrupted the meeting to ask Bacon the Tough Questions.

"You're a registered sex offender. Do you think you should be operating as a psychologist?" asked Chirico.

"I have no problem with it," responded Bacon.

Bacon claimed to have an online doctorate degree. CBS Atlanta learned that school is considered by some to be a diploma mill.

Bacon insisted he is not going to hurt anyone.

Since the interview, Bacon removed the word "psychologist" from his online profiles and replaced it with "hypnotherapist

BALLSTON SPA — A man who worked for four years as a psychologist for the Saratoga County judicial system under allegedly false credentials pleaded guilty Friday, May 27 to first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, a felony in Saratoga County Court.

Steven B. Feldman was under contract with Saratoga County Court from 2006 to 2010 to perform as a psychologist for the office of the public defender and Saratoga County Family Court where he evaluated people petitioning the court and people accused of crimes.

Feldman pleaded guilty to only one of the four charges levied against him including two counts of first-degree falsifying business records and third-degree grand larceny. The initial indictment of Feldman alleged that Feldman "received payment checks from the county of Saratoga for psychologist services that he was not licensed to perform."

The case was prosecuted by Clinton County Chief Assistant District Attorney Timothy Blatchly and was presided over by Clinton County Acting Supreme Court Judge Kevin K. Ryan. They were called in after several Saratoga County Court officials recused themselves from the case because of personal involvement in cases Feldman had worked on.

Blatchley said the guilty plea to the one count is "in satisfaction of all four charges."

"Our main concern was getting a felony conviction," said Blatchley. He said Feldman did have some legitimate licenses, but "he is not a psychiatrist or a psychologist," and a felony conviction for that crime would "absolutely," jeopardize his license.

"We wanted to make sure he wasn't out there doing this kind of stuff again," he said.

Feldman is scheduled to be sentenced July 25. There were no sentencing conditions accompanying his guilty plea. "It is up to the court to decide," said Blatchley.

While Blatchley said Feldman could face up to 1-1/3 to four years in prison, he does not expect him to see the inside of a cell.

"He is in his sixties, in the mid-stages of Parkinson's disease and given the charge jail probably isn't appropriate," he said. "That is what the judge will decide."

The judge has requested a pre-sentencing-report from law enforcement, probation and county officials outlining Feldman's crimes to use in the sentencing.

According to Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III at the time of the original indictment—before he had recused himself — Feldman claimed to have degrees and certifications that were later found to be fabricated as well as a degree from Hamilton University, a university that was described as a "diploma mill" in a "60 Minutes" report in 2004.

As an alleged Hamilton University alum, Feldman joins the ranks of Laura Callahan, the former senior director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who purchased bachelor's and master's degrees from the college and used them to further her career in government, according to the report. It described the college as an office with a few clerical workers and no instructors.

Click here to read the text of the bill, as downloaded from the United States Govenment Printing Office..

A federal grand jury here has indicted the president of a Pleasanton, Calif., university on 33-criminal counts, charging her with an array of violations, including visa fraud, money laundering and alien harboring, as a result of a two-year investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Tri-Valley University President Susan Xiao-Ping Su, 41, who also served as the school's chief executive officer, is accused of engaging in a two-year scheme to defraud the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by submitting phony documents in support of Tri-Valley University's applications to admit foreign nationals on student visas. The indictment further alleges that after obtaining such approvals, Su fraudulently issued visa-related documents to student aliens in exchange for "tuition and fees."

Su was taken into custody Monday morning at her Pleasanton, Calif., home by HSI special agents. She made her initial appearance here in federal court shortly after her arrest.

In carrying out the scheme, Su is accused of making multiple false representations to DHS through Tri-Valley University's use of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), which the U.S. government uses to monitor the "F-1" student visa program. Through her false representations, Su was able to unlawfully obtain and issue F-1 visa-related documents without regard to the students' academic qualifications or intent to pursue a course of study required to maintain a lawful immigration status.

According to the indictment, Su admitted and maintained foreign students in exchange for tuition and other payments. In furtherance of the F-1 visa scheme, Su also allegedly harbored multiple Tri-Valley University student-employees to assist her in making the false representations to SEVIS. The indictment further alleges the defendant engaged in multiple money laundering transactions totaling more than $3.2 million using proceeds she derived from the visa fraud scheme.

"Today's indictment alleges a visa fraud scheme through which the defendant accrued millions of dollars and took advantage of others' eagerness to come to the United States," said United States Attorney Melinda Haag. "My office remains committed to working closely with ICE Homeland Security Investigations to identify and prosecute those who undermine the integrity of this country's immigration laws through fraud and for personal enrichment."

"Student visas are intended to enable people from around the world to come to this country to enrich themselves with the wealth of educational opportunities available here," said ICE Director John Morton. "ICE is committed to protecting the integrity of that proud tradition and ensuring it is not corrupted by those seeking only to enrich themselves financially. ICE Homeland Security Investigations will aggressively pursue those who exploit America's legal immigration system solely for their personal gain."

The "F-1" student visa program is designed to allow foreign nationals who are bona fide students to be admitted to the United States on a temporary basis to study at an approved school. F-1 students are admitted for a temporary period during which they are required to pursue a full course of study at an approved school. When a student stops pursuing a full course of study, the duration of status ends and the temporary period for which the individual was admitted expires. In administering the F-1 visa program, DHS relies on the representations made by the schools and students.

The 33 counts contained in the indictment carry maximum penalties ranging from one to 20 years imprisonment. The charges include wire fraud; mail fraud; visa fraud and conspiracy to commit visa fraud; use of a false document; making false statements to a government agency; alien harboring; unauthorized access to a government computer and money laundering.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hartley M.K. West and Wade M. Rhyne with the aid of Janice Pagsanjan and Rania Ghawi.

Please note, an indictment contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Su must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

A high-ranking city school official, whose resume includes degrees from institutions that require little or no classroom work and which academic watchdog groups have referred to as "diploma mills," resigned abruptly Thursday after questions about his credentials were raised by The Baltimore Sun.

Kevin Seawright, deputy chief operating officer with an annual salary of $135,200, said he resigned his post to enter the private sector. Schools CEO Andrés Alonso revealed the resignation in an email to school system staff Thursday, saying that Seawright "worked tirelessly during my administration to improve our responsiveness to schools."

Seawright's resignation from the position, which he has held since 2008, came one day after The Sun asked school officials to explain Seawright's academic credentials, which include a bachelor's degree in accounting from Rocklands University and a master's degree in business administration from Almeda University.

Rocklands, which is believed to be based in the United Kingdom, and Almeda, which offers degrees based on "life experience," are not accredited or recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, according to a department spokeswoman.

Because they are not accredited, they are not eligible for federal funds and are often not recognized for employment eligibility by public agencies. In addition, private agencies are not required to accept them for employment. Degrees from both universities have also been banned in several states.

Almeda "is a diploma mill for sure, no doubt about it," said George Gollin, a board member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, an organization of degree-granting colleges and universities and national accreditation oversight body.

"It should be a tremendous embarrassment to the Baltimore schools, and the person who vetted these things should really have their head on a plate," said Gollin, who is a physics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "This is pretty serious."

The city school system said that while it could not comment on specific personnel issues, it believes that during the hiring process, a candidate's experience should be taken into consideration along with educational qualifications. A spokeswoman said that online degrees may meet requirements for some jobs.

"As long as a person is honest about their credentials, and the value of their performance is proven, the online credentials might be appropriate for some high-ranking positions, but not others," said schools spokeswoman Edie House-Foster.

"Clearly, they would not be appropriate for educational leadership positions," she said. "But they might have a different significance in the context of a person's experience for operational leadership positions. Ultimately, the question should be what can a person do to serve our kids."

On Wednesday, The Sun asked Seawright about his education, and he provided copies of his degrees and transcripts from both universities. He said he included the information on his resume to the school system as well.

Seawright said he had no reason to believe his degrees were illegitimate. He said Thursday that his resignation was not related to questions surrounding his academic record, adding that he was leaving the district to head project management at a private firm.

"I appreciated working with the district, and I am moving on to the private sector," said Seawright shortly after his resignation. "I feel as though I have served the children of Baltimore to the best of my ability. It was pleasure serving under Dr. Alonso and [chief operating officer] Keith Scroggins and improving operational facilities for Baltimore City children."

On Wednesday, Seawright defended his credentials and qualifications for the deputy chief operating officer position, saying they fit the job description — overseeing, among other things, school facilities, maintenance, transportation, food and nutrition. The deputy COO's responsibilities include managing up to 1,500 personnel, a $150 million operating budget and a $52 million capital budget. The deputy position is the only one of its kind throughout the school system.

According to public personnel reports, Seawright was hired as a special assistant in the Office of the Chief Operating Officer on Jan. 24, 2006, at a salary of $96,000. Seawright had previously worked as the chief fiscal officer for Baltimore City's Department of Parks and Recreation for about six years.

In 2008, he was promoted to the deputy chief operating officer at a salary of $130,000 and received a cost-of-living adjustment that brought him to his current salary of $135,200, city school officials said. City school officials said that Seawright was promoted based on his performance, not his credentials.

Both positions require a bachelor's degree in business, management, finance or a related field, but a master's degree is preferred, according to the job descriptions. On Wednesday, Seawright said he believed he was "more than qualified to do the job."

"There's nothing about accredited degrees in my job," he said. "It was based on experience, too."

Rocklands University, where Seawright said he graduated in 1998, has no current website. A search of Internet archives yielded a website with no description of when the university operated or who operated it, nor any information on how to enroll or obtain a degree. The website also did not indicate if or when the university stopped operating.

An inquiry to the college using an email address on the archived website, the only contact information available, resulted in a return error message.

When asked why there was no record of Rocklands University, Seawright said, "It must have gone out of business."

"When I got [the degree], they did exist," Seawright said. "I paid for the classes, and I don't know if it's accredited."

The Nevis-based Almeda University, where Seawright said he obtained his master's degree in business administration in 2006, awards degrees after staff use a "reliable Prior Learning Assessment method to review your life experience, competencies, skills and knowledge to determine your level of mastery in your field," according to its website. "Based on this evaluation, you can earn a degree commensurate with your level of experience."

Almeda University did not return phone calls and emails requesting information about its academic programs.

The school converts life experience into coursework to provide a transcript. According to Seawright's transcript, his experience equated to 10 courses, including Quantitative Management; Law, Business and Society; and Economics of the Firm.

The enrollment form notes that "college experience is not required to receive your college degree … but could be helpful if you do not have the work experience required by the degree you are seeking." A master's degree assessment costs $499, Almeda's website says.

Degrees from Almeda University have been banned in several states, including Oregon, Michigan, Maine, Florida and Connecticut. Rocklands University degrees have also been banned in Oregon.

Education experts said that both schools are clear examples of "diploma mills" — which have made national headlines as a result of employees in various public sectors receiving raises and promotions based on false degrees.

Almeda University was also the source of a 2004 controversy after a New York man was able to obtain an associate's degree in childhood development for his 7-year-old dog. The university responded on its website that the man had created a false identity to prove a point.

Several state government agencies indicated that Rocklands was operating out of the United Kingdom, and Seawright said he believed it was based in London. Philip Vine, an official with the United Kingdom Department for Education and Skills, responded to an inquiry about Rocklands University by pointing to the department's list of recognized university programs. The list did not include Rocklands University.

"If Rocklands was a legitimate school at some point, or went belly up, I would expect some news story that said Rocklands went belly-up," Gollin said.

"If Rocklands had changed its name, then I'd expect to see that, too. And I would certainly expect to see some information telling people who to contact to get transcripts from their alma mater."

While Almeda University is accredited by private agencies, none of the accrediting bodies are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The school also warns that "Almeda University is unable to guarantee acceptance of its degree programs in other postsecondary institutions; public sector employers will not recognize a degree accredited by a private accreditor."

The Baltimore City school board approves appointments via a personnel, employment and payroll agenda, but the school system staff is responsible for vetting candidates to ensure they meet the necessary experience and education for a position, according to Neil Duke, the school board president.

Duke said he could not comment on a personnel matter, but added that "the confirmation of a candidate's credentials and references has been a particular point of emphasis for the district during the last two years."

In 2009, The Sun revealed that Brian D. Morris, a city school board president whom Alonso hired to an unadvertised, $175,000-a-year deputy CEO position, had not been awarded a degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, which was listed on his official resume.

That detail, which resulted from two incomplete classes in his final semester and which Morris said he had been unaware of, was apparently not discovered by city and state officials on multiple levels.

The district then pledged more scrutiny of credentials. The school system said it has checked the credentials and references of every person on a PEP report after establishing the protocol in July 2009.

Seawright was hired before Alonso came to the district, and House-Foster said "it is possible that under a former administration the credentials were checked by [human resources]."

She said that when he was promoted, because "his credentials had been vetted in the past, they were not vetted anew."

Baltimore Sun reporter Yeganeh June Torbati contributed to this article.

The resignation of Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg marks a turning point for Germany's political culture. He may still make a comeback but he will never become chancellor.

What a drama! Just the blink of an eye ago, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg was Germany's most popular politician, the hero of his party, the darling of the tabloid press. He was even feted as a potential future chancellor. Now he's gone, evaporated in just 14 days, like a shooting star.

For starters, Guttenberg's departure is a shame. A lot of hopes were pinned on him. He exuded charisma. He had the ability to explain policies and to get people interested in politics. The troops liked their defense minister and voters did too. What more could one expect from a politician?

The Guttenberg case is nevertheless a blessing for Germany's future political culture. It has shown that politicians remain subject to high expectations regarding decency, honesty and reliability -- without exception.

Politicians are role models. Guttenberg violated these standards and is now, very belatedly, paying the price. At first he didn't want to step down, believing that his popularity would save him. But in the end he had to learn that the same rules apply to him that apply to every other politician. He was driven out of office by a storm of outrage over the PhD he obtained through cheating: on the Internet, in the influential academic community and in the middle classes. Guttenberg and the chancellor who protected him for so long weren't able to withstand it. And that's how it should be.

Departure Will Unleash Misunderstanding and Bitterness

The Guttenberg case is a problem for the reputation of the political process. He's the second popular politician to step down in less than a year, after Horst Köhler quit as German president last May. Guttenberg's departure will trigger a lot of criticism and bitterness among the many people who are disenchanted with politics and who saw a kind of messiah in him.

But Guttenberg himself has also contributed to fuelling these sentiments. In his resignation speech, he murmured about the "public and media attention" that had been concentrated so intensely on his person. He said that had created additional burdens for the soldiers in Germany's armed forces, the Bundeswehr. By saying that, Guttenberg concocted a legend of having been stabbed in the back that could soon be making the rounds amongst the chattering classes: Namely that a group of envious politicians and reporters in Berlin exerted so much pressure on the popular man that he was driven out of office. Or at least something like that.

Guttenberg is a phenomenon. Many seem prepared to forgive any mistake he makes. They have, if you will, blind faith in him. The parties will eventually feel the rage of these voters -- perhaps during the next election or perhaps in a few years when the first right-wing populist party is founded. Something is brewing and it isn't good -- that much is certain.

Guttenberg Could Still Have a Future in Politics

Incidentally, this doesn't necessarily have to be the end of Guttenberg's political career. History has shown that repentant sinners in politics -- in Germany, too -- often get a second chance. The country's parliament is filled with people who have fallen and then risen again, including Cem Özdemir, who had to resign after getting involved in a personal loan scandal and returned to the political stage again to become the co-head of the national Green Party. Or Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who had to resign as head of the Christian Democratic Union party in 2000 after a campaign finance scandal that also ensnared former Chancellor Helmut Kohl. After a cooling-off period -- in Özdemir's case by taking a seat in the European Parliament in far-away Brussels -- it's possible to come back to Berlin.

But history also shows us another thing: People like that do not become chancellor. Guttenberg has lost his shot at the chancellery. A German leader who cheated to get his doctorate? Unthinkable.

As of today, the race for a successor to Angela Merkel is open again. And it's not a pretty sight, either. Guttenberg appeared to be the ideal candidate -- and all of the hopes in the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, had been placed on him. One thing, more than anything else is evident, if one peruses the leadership ranks of the two parties for a potential successor: the emptiness.

Opposition lawmakers sought to entangle German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the plagiarism scandal embroiling her defense minister, even as the public seemed largely willing to forgive him for borrowing large sections of his doctoral thesis without attribution.

Meanwhile, the University of Bayreuth, where Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg received his doctoral degree in 2007, considered his scholarly transgressions serious enough that it revoked the doctorate Wednesday evening. University president Rüdiger Bormann said a panel of professors unanimously agreed "that Mr. zu Guttenberg violated his academic duty to a substantial degree."

Mr. zu Guttenberg, Germany's most ...

Nicki Harrington, who will step down in June as chancellor of the Yuba Community College District, named Al Alt interim chancellor until her successor's term begins — an appointment that spurred support as well as questions from faculty.

"He's a very competent administrator," said Tim May, president of the Academic Senate for Yuba College. "I'm comfortable with Al Alt as interim administrator."

May did cite concerns with what he believes is support on the board of trustees for increasing the $232,429 yearly salary when the new chancellor is named.

"You watch," May said, "they're going to come in at $250,000 to $260,000."

Trustees are scheduled to take up the consultant search for the college district executive and that person's salary when they meet Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Woodland Community College.

Greg Kemble, secretary for the academic senate, said Alt's doctorate from a Mississippi-based business described as a diploma mill is part of the reason he questions Alt's appointment.

"As human resources director, his expertise should be to identify diploma mills — such as the one where he got his Ph.D.," Kemble said.

After a "no confidence" vote by the faculty in 2008, Alt was named vice chancellor of administrative services for the college district the following year.

Alt, the former director of personnel services for the college district, could not be reached for comment Monday. He has said that the doctorate was not a requirement of his Yuba College district job.

"In hindsight, I needed to do a lot more digging," Alt said in 2008 of Madison University. A representative of the Mississippi-based school had said Madison closed in 2006 after five years.

David Wheeler, who began as a college district trustee in December, said Monday that he sought to have the board discuss pay for the new chancellor.

"I don't want to keep escalating it," Wheeler said of the salary. "I don't think it's necessary."

Trustee Jim Kennedy, who also took office in December, said that the new chancellor's salary has not been set. Citing the current $232,429 compensation, Kennedy said, "I hope we can attract somebody for less than that."

"You pay what you need to get the right candidate," he said. "I don't know what it will take."

Xavier Tafoya, president of the board of trustees, could not be reached Monday for comment. Tafoya has voted to increase the chancellor's pay.

Trustees in November approved a $15,000 raise for Harrington that boosted her annual salary to $232,429. They had approved a $29,282 raise for Harrington a year ago — an action that led to a rally and petition opposing her pay boost. Trustees then rescinded the raise and cited a public perception that they violated a state open meeting law by approving the salary increase.

Yuba College professor May said Monday that salary is the focus of many executives at community colleges in California.

"This is the way the club does it," May said. "They jump from job to job."

"It's all part of the management game being played," he added. "It's about money."

Paige Marlatt Dorr, spokeswoman for the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office in Sacramento, said of executive compensation that, "We generally don't comment on issues like that. It is set locally."

ASSURANCE OF DISCONTINUANCE

WHEREAS Stratford Career Institute, Inc. ("SCI') is a District of Columbia corporation with offices at 8675 Damley Road, Mount Royal, Quebec, Canada H4TIX2;

WHEREAS SCI offers and provides non-accredited "distance education" or correspondence programs at the high school level and in a number of vocational areas, including medical office assistant, nursing assistant, and veterinary assistant;

WHEREAS SCI has enrolled students from Vermont and other states;

WHEREAS SCI also has an office that is located at 12 Champlain Commons, P.O. Box 560, St. Albans, Vermont 05478-5560, which is used primarily for shipping, receiving, mailing and some administrative functions.

WHEREAS SCI has represented its address to be in St. Albans, either alone or alongside its address in Mount Royal, including on the company's letterhead, envelopes, academic materials, diplomas, and website;

WHEREAS, effective January 5, 2006, the State of Vermont began to limit the use of Vermont addresses to describe the location of a company that is not based in Vermont, through the promulgation of Consumer Fraud Rule (CF) 120;

WHEREAS CF 120.07(a) (Company Location) provides that "[n]o person shall use a Vermont address in any representation to describe the location of the seller, solicitor, producer, distributor or other person associated with a good or service unless the company is based in Vermont";

WHEREAS under CF 120.01(a), a company is "based in Vermont" if it "currently discharges substantial functions in Vermont. For this purpose, 'substantial functions' do not include such activities as the original development of the goods or services, mail handling or banking, or the presence of sales, distribution or similar staff alone.";

WHEREAS it is an unfair and deceptive trade act and practice in commerce under the Consumer Fraud Act, 9 V.S.A. § 2453(a), to violate Rule 120;

WHEREAS the Vermont Attorney General alleges that SCI was not based in Vermont within the meaning of CF 120, that the company nonetheless used a Vermont address to describe its location in violation of CF 120.07( a), and that as a result, the company violated the Vermont Consumer Fraud Act, 9 V.S.A. § 2453(a);

AND WHEREAS the Attorney General IS willing to accept this Assurance of Discontinuance pursuant to 9 V.S.A. § 2459;

THEREFORE, the parties agree as follows:

1. Injunctive relief SCI, itself and through its owners, officers, directors, managers, employees and other agents, shall comply strictly with CF 120, including, but not limited to, the provisions of CF 120 relating to the use of the word "Vermont" in any representation of geographic location. Notwithstanding, nothing herein shall preclude SCI from stating a Vermont mailing address in its communications to third parties, students or consumers, so long as SCI maintains an office in Vermont and clearly and conspicuously discloses in each communication (a) the functions discharged at that location (e.g., "shipping and handling"); and (b) no less prominently, the address of its principal place of business, identified as such, except in the case of a self-addressed envelope, post card, or business reply card, an additional address containing the principal place of business will not be required provided the Vermont address contains a reference to "shipping address," "mailing address," or a similar phrase.

2. Civil Penalties and costs. Within 10 (ten) business days of signing this Assurance of Discontinuance, SCI shall pay to the State of Vermont, in care of the Vermont Attorney General's Office, the total sum of $10,000.00 (ten thousand dollars) in civil penalties and costs.

3. Binding effect. This Assurance of Discontinuance shall be binding upon SCI, its officers, directors, managers, employees, and other agents of SCI, and its successors and assigns. The injunctive relief provisions shall become effective upon the date of execution by the parties below.

4. Final resolution. This Assurance of Discontinuance resolves all existing claims the State of Vermont may have against SCI stemming from the facts described in this Assurance of Discontinuance.

Last week Kenya shut more than 100 unaccredited colleges, sending shock waves through the country's academic community as the government delivered on its promise of cleaning up the higher education sector.

The major operation to take illegal colleges out of business started on Tuesday, as Ministry of Higher Education inspectors shuttled between the main urban areas to shut down the institutions.

A list of the 110 colleges to be axed was published by the ministry in the media two weeks ago.

The closures have triggered massive transfer of students from the colleges on the list, with thousands of other students left out of school.

The latest development has also fuelled anxiety and confusion among graduates of such colleges, who have been left holding certificates from institutions whose credibility has been called into question.

The closures follow a string of warnings issued by education officials over the past five years. During this period unregistered colleges have mushroomed in the country's main cities, to cash in on the growing demand for higher education.

Rising transition rates from primary and secondary schools, and limited university places available annually for prospective students whose grades make them eligible for higher education study, have fuelled the demand for college attendance.

Government investment in the education sector over the past five years has reached new heights. The requirement that all tertiary colleges register afresh and have their premises inspected for suitability to offer certificate, diploma and degree courses has been part of a bid to bring sanity to this crucial sub-sector, offering an assurance of quality to students and their parents alike.

Government concluded its college vetting process and published a final list of accredited institutions in December.

Kenya is also spending US$56 million in donor funding on building vocational and technical training countrywide, to help boost the country's skills base.

The number of private post-secondary schools suspected of operating illegally in B.C. is growing.

A list on the Regional Economic and Skills Development Ministry website has 45 names, including the American University of London (which was part of the Kingston College scandal from 2006), Rutherford University (also known as Senior University and subject to an investigation in B.C.), the notorious Vancouver University Worldwide (which is believed to have closed following the death in 2007 of owner Raymond Rodgers) and Armstrong University (also part of the Kingston College scam).

Some of the schools have grand names, such as Canada Princeton College, George Washington University, Manhattan University, Kennedy Open University and the Asia Pacific International Graduate School of Management. Others are less pretentious: Bible University, Brainwells University, Generale University and Covenant Life College.

But don't be fooled. The ministry says it has reason to believe the institutions on the list are - or were - breaking the law by offering degrees in B.C. without government authorization.

Find the list here. This government initiative follows a similar effort to raise awareness about bogus institutions several years ago by Robert Clift of the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of B.C (CUFA-BC). Clift, a diligent researcher, was a great source of information on the subject.

The ministry says it has taken many steps during the past two years to protect students, enhance quality and strengthen the accountability of private post-secondary institutions.

"Publishing the names of institutions that do not have legal authority to operate in B.C., but may be linked with B.C. in some way, is another important way for us to ensure students can make well-informed decisions about where they wish to study, and we have been doing this since August of last year. We're the first jurisdiction in Canada to do this, but it is common practice in the U.S.," the ministry told me in a statement.

"Our list includes institutions who, in the past, may have been advertising, providing or granting degrees from or within B.C., Some of these institutions have long since shut down - so while the list may have grown from CUFA's previous list, it's not necessarily due to an influx of new issues. Our post-secondary institutions are widely known for the quality of their programs, and our actions are essential to maintaining that reputation.

"In the past, we have been successful in taking action against various institutions including an injunction against Vancouver University Worldwide - but it can be very difficult to track down the individuals responsible. With the internet, anonymity and multi-jurisdictional issues, unauthorized institutions are often able to operate under the radar. It takes significant resources to take action against them."

Anyone with information or concerns about the authority of an institution to offer degrees in B.C. should call 250-387-2040.

• Alternative Medicine Research Institute
• American Liberty University
• American University of London (Kingston College)
• Armstrong University
• Asia Pacific International Graduate School of Management
• Austin College
• Bible University
• Bircham International University
• Brainwells University
• Brixton University
• Canada International Education Center
• Canada Princeton College
• Canadian College of Management and Technology
• Canadian Institute of English
• Can-National Business College (formerly Canada Institute of Business & Technology and HGK International Institute of Business & Technology)
• Covenant Life College
• Distance Learning University
• Generale Polytechnic Institute
• Generale University
• George Washington University Inc
• Information University of America
• International Academic Correspondence Inc.
• Kennedy Open University
• Manhattan University
• Merlion International University
• Mission Institute of Canada
• Mission Institute of Distance Education
• Neurontology University
• Newton University
• Rutherford University
• Saint Michael University
• Senior University Inc.
• Southern College British Columbia
• Stanton University
• Stratford International University
• The Distance University
• The Open University of America
• University Consortium International Inc.
• University of Northern Washington
• University of NorthWest
• Vancouver University Worldwide
• Washington College & University
• Western Imperial College of Canada
• Weston Reserve University
• Windsor Education Academy, Inc.

Congratulations go to several of our colleagues at WHNT NEWS 19 who are now Emmy winners.

WHNT NEWS 19 took home an Emmy for Investigative Series on Saturday, at the 25th Midsouth Emmy Awards.

The Emmy is for 'Breach of Trust', an investigative series that exposed local military members and contractors who purchased diplomas online and then got promotions and higher pay.

WHNT NEWS 19's former investigative reporter Wendy Halloran won the award, along with photojournalist Shane Hays, news director Denise Vickers and graphic artists Joe Glotzbach and Jacob Greene.

WHNT NEWS 19 was nominated in six other categories, in competition with other stations from around the southeast.

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COUNTRY INFORMATION
ASCENSION ISLAND
Blackpool University (in Ascension Island, England, and Ireland) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

AUSTRALIA
Golden State University [also known as Honolulu University of Arts, Sciences and Humanities] (in Australia, Lebanon, and Hawaii and U.S. Virgin Islands) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

AUSTRIA
American College of Metaphysical Theology [also known as American College of Theology] (in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

BAHAMAS
Richardson University (known in the United States as American State University in Hawaii and as Hamilton University in Wyoming) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution under any one of the three names in either country.

BELGIUM
American College of Metaphysical Theology [also known as American College of Theology] (in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Ateneo di Studi Superiori pro Pace (Institute of Higher Studies for Peace) (in Belgium and Italy) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country.

CANADA
Taylor University College and Seminary (in Edmonton, Alberta) was renamed Taylor College and Seminary in June 2009 and is no longer authorized to offer bachelor's degree programs.

CHINA
Clayton University (in China, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Nigeria, San Marino, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries. [NOTE: Clayton State University (in Morrow, Georgia, United States) is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.]

Yorker International University (in China, Italy, United Arab Emirates, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE
The Council of Europe, a membership organization of 47 countries in Europe, does not officially recognize any higher education institution or program. No legitimate institution or organization would claim that it does.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Concordia College and University (in Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Italy, Liberia, Pakistan, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

ENGLAND
American University in London is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

American University of London (in London, England; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Sri Lanka; St. Kitts & Nevis; and Houston, Texas, USA), established in 1984 as American College of Science and Technology, is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of the six countries.

Ashbourne University (in London) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Bircham International University (in Bahamas; Oxford, England; Nairobi, Kenya; New Zealand; Spain; Taiwan; Delaware and Florida, United States), established in 1992 as Oxford International University, is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of the seven countries.

Blackpool University (in Ascension Island, England, and Ireland) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Cambridgeshire University [not in England, but in Malaysia and in the United States: Alabama (claimed authorization), California (fax number), New York (office and Web site), and Virginia (telephone number)] is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country.

Earlscroft University (in London, England; Ireland; Seychelles; and Texas USA) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Institute of Professional Managers and Administrators is not an officially recognized professional association.

International Institute of Management is not an officially recognized professional association.

Manchester College of Professional Studies, established in 2006 but closed by the United Kingdom Home Office in July 2008, was not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

National Distance Learning College is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Oxford International University, established in 1992 and renamed Bircham International University in 2000, was not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

EUROPE
Distance Learning Council of Europe [DLCE] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

European Committee for Home and Online Education [ECHOE] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

European Council for Distance and Open Learning [ECDOL] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

FRANCE
Adam Smith University (in France, Italy, Liberia, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Ecole Superieure Robert de Sorbon (Higher School of Robert de Sorbon) [also known as Universite Francophone Robert de Sorbon (Francophone University of Robert de Sorbon)] is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

GERMANY
American College of Metaphysical Theology, also known as American College of Theology (in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

HONG KONG
Clayton University (in China, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Nigeria, San Marino, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries. [NOTE: Clayton State University (in Morrow, Georgia, United States) is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.]

INDIA
Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka State, has been renamed Bengaluru (which was its original name, in the Kannada language).

Clayton University (in China, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Nigeria, San Marino, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries. [NOTE: Clayton State University (in Morrow, Georgia, United States) is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.]

INDONESIA
Concordia College and University (in Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Italy, Liberia, Pakistan, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

IRELAND
Blackpool University (in Ascension Island, England, and Ireland) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Earlscroft University (in England, Ireland, Seychelles, and Texas USA) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Irish International University is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

ITALY
Accademia de Belle Arti di Mendicino (Academy of Fine Arts of Mendicino) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Adam Smith University (in France, Italy, Liberia, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

American College of Metaphysical Theology, also known as American College of Theology (in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Ateneo di Studi Superiori pro Pace (Institute of Higher Studies for Peace) (in Belgium and Italy) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country.

Bernelli University (in Italy and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country.

Centro di Tecnologia Universitaria Straniera (Center for Foreign University Technology) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Clayton University (in China, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Nigeria, San Marino, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries. [NOTE: Clayton State University (in Morrow, Georgia, United States) is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.]

Concordia College and University (in Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Italy, Liberia, Pakistan, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Eurasia Community College is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

European Institute of Technology (in Italy and San Marino) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country. [NOTE: This is not the same as the European Institute of Technology [EIT] established by the European Union in 2010.]

Instituto Latinoamericano de Psicobiofisico (Latin American Institute of Psychobiophysics) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Istituto di Firenze (Institute of Florence) [also translated as Florence Institute of Design International], a private institution in Florence, is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution. Istituto di Firenze is officially recognized by the Region of Tuscany as a postsecondary vocational institution that offers one-year and two-year diploma programs. Students who complete a two-year diploma program can obtain the title of graphic designer or interior designer. Istituto di Firenze also offers post-Laurea programs that lead to a Master diploma (not a Laurea Magistrale or a Master Universitario). The language of instruction is English.

James Monroe International University is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Libera Universita degli Studi di Formello (Free University of Formello) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Libera Universita Internazionale G. W. Leibniz (G. W. Leibniz Free International University) [also known as Leibniz Campus] is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Libera Universitas Multidisciplinare Umanitaria per la Cultura Internazionale (Multidisciplinary Humanitarian Free University for International Culture) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Marquis Open University is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Miranda International University is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Non Traditional University of USA [also known as University of USA] is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Pebble Hills University is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Phoenix International University Europe is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Saint Bernard University is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

St. Paul Ottawa College and University is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Universite Intercontinentale Le Bon Samaritain (International University of the Good Samaritan) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

West Coast University is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Yorker International University (in China, Italy, United Arab Emirates, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

LEBANON
Golden State University [also known as Honolulu University of Arts, Sciences and Humanities] (in Australia, Lebanon, and Hawaii and U.S. Virgin Islands) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

LIBERIA
Adam Smith University (in France, Italy, Liberia, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Concordia College and University (in Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Italy, Liberia, Pakistan, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

MALAYSIA
Cambridgeshire University [not in England, but in Malaysia and in the United States: Alabama (claimed authorization), California (fax number), New York (office and Web site), and Virginia (telephone number)] is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these locations.

NIGERIA
Clayton University (in China, Hong Kong, India. Italy, Nigeria, San Marino, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries. [NOTE: Clayton State University (in Morrow, Georgia, United States) is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.]

PAKISTAN
American University of London (in London, England; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Sri Lanka; St. Kitts & Nevis; and Houston, Texas, USA), established in 1984 as American College of Science and Technology, is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of the six countries.

Concordia College and University (in Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Italy, Liberia, Pakistan, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of the six countries.

PHILIPPINES
The academic year at Philippine Christian University is June to March. A student can enroll in a maximum of 9 credits in the six-week summer term. Educational credentials that listed 20 credits completed in one summer term and which showed a graduation date in October were confirmed not to be authentic.

SAN MARINO
Clayton University (in China, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Nigeria, San Marino, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries. [NOTE: Clayton State University (in Morrow, Georgia, United States) is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.]

European Institute of Technology (in Italy and San Marino) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country. [NOTE: This is not the same as the European Institute of Technology [EIT] established by the European Union in 2010.]

SAUDI ARABIA
American University of London (in London, England; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Sri Lanka; St. Kitts & Nevis; and Houston, Texas, USA), established in 1984 as American College of Science and Technology, is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of the six countries.

SEYCHELLES
Earlscroft University (in England, Ireland, Seychelles, and Texas USA) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

SINGAPORE
Brookes Business School is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

Brookes University is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

SOUTH AFRICA
Cambridge International University (in South Africa and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country.

SRI LANKA
American University of London (in London, England; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Sri Lanka; St. Kitts & Nevis; and Houston, Texas, USA), established in 1984 as American College of Science and Technology, is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of the six countries.

ST. KITTS & NEVIS
American University of London (in London, England; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Sri Lanka; St. Kitts & Nevis; and Houston, Texas, USA), established in 1984 as American College of Science and Technology, is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of the six countries.

SWEDEN
Greenleaf University (Sweden and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country.

SWITZERLAND
Freie und Private Universitat Herisau (Free and Private University of Herisau) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution.

UNESCO
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] does not accredit educational institutions, it does not grant official recognition to accrediting organizations, and it does not maintain a registry of higher education institutions. Institutions and organizations that claim official approval from UNESCO have made false claims.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Yorker International University (in China, Italy, United Arab Emirates, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

UNITED STATES
Accreditation Governing Commission [AGC] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

Adam Smith University (in France, Italy, Liberia, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Adult Higher Education Alliance [AHEA] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

American Association for Higher Education and Accreditation [AAHE or AAHEA] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

American College of Metaphysical Theology, also known as American College of Theology (in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

American Council of Private Colleges and Universities [ACPCU] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

American Council on Post-Secondary Accreditation [ACOPA] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

American Naturopathic Medical Accreditation Board [ANMAB] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

American Open University (in Alexandria, Virginia) is not listed in “2008-2009 Accredited institutions of Postsecondary Education,” a publication of the American Council on Education.

American State University (in Hawaii USA as American State University; in Wyoming USA as Hamilton University; and in Bahamas as Richardson University) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country.

American University of London (in London, England; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Sri Lanka; St. Kitts & Nevis; and Houston, Texas, USA), established in 1984 as American College of Science and Technology, is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of the six countries.

American World University (in Mississippi and South Dakota) is not listed in “2008-2009 Accredited institutions of Postsecondary Education,” a publication of the American Council on Education.

Ashwood University is not listed in “2008-2009 Accredited institutions of Postsecondary Education,” a publication of the American Council on Education.

Bernelli University (in Italy and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country.

Board of Online Universities Accreditation [BOUA] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

Cambridge International University (in South Africa and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country.

Cambridgeshire University [not in England, but in Malaysia and in the United States: Alabama (claimed authorization), California (fax number), New York (office and Web site), and Virginia (telephone number)] is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country.

Clayton University (in China, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Nigeria, San Marino, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries. [NOTE: Clayton State University (in Morrow, Georgia, United States) is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.]

Concordia College and University (in Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Italy, Liberia, Pakistan, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Council on Post Secondary Christian Accreditation [COPCE] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

Earlscroft University (in England, Ireland, Seychelles, and Texas USA) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Educational Quality Accrediting Commission [EQAC] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

Faith in the Order of Nature [FION] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

Global Accreditation Organization for Life Experience and Education [GAOLEE] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

Golden State University [also known as Honolulu University of Arts, Sciences and Humanities] (in Australia, Lebanon, and Hawaii and U.S. Virgin Islands) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

Government Accreditation Association of Delaware [GAAD] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

Greenleaf University (Sweden and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country.

Hamilton University (in Hawaii USA as American State University; in Wyoming USA as Hamilton University; and in Bahamas as Richardson University) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in either country.

Higher Education Accreditation Commission [HEAC] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

International Accreditation Agency [IAA] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

International Accreditation Agency for Online Universities [IAAOU] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

International Accreditation Association of Universities and Colleges [IAAUC] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

International Accreditation Recognition Council [IARC] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

International Open University (in California and Texas) [also known as Standford University] is not listed in “2008-2009 Accredited institutions of Postsecondary Education,” a publication of the American Council on Education. [NOTE: Stanford University (in Stanford, California) is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.]

International University Accrediting Association [IUAA] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

Kennedy-Western University [also known as Warren National University] is not listed in “2008-2009 Accredited institutions of Postsecondary Education,” a publication of the American Council on Education.

Lacrosse University (in Louisiana and Mississippi) is not listed in “2008-2009 Accredited institutions of Postsecondary Education,” a publication of the American Council on Education. [NOTE: University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (in La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA) is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.]

Richardson University (in Bahamas; known in Hawaii, USA as American State University, and in Wyoming, USA as Hamilton University) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution under any one of the three names in either country.

Standford University (in California and Texas) [also known as International Open University] is not listed in “2008-2009 Accredited institutions of Postsecondary Education,” a publication of the American Council on Education. [NOTE: Stanford University (in Stanford, California) is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.]

United Congress of Colleges [UCC] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

Universal Council for Online Education Accreditation [UCOEA] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

Warren National University [also known as Kennedy-Western University] is not listed in “2008-2009 Accredited institutions of Postsecondary Education,” a publication of the American Council on Education.

World Association of Universities and Colleges [WAUC] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

World Online Education Accrediting Commission [WOEAC] is not an officially recognized accrediting organization.

Yorker International University (in China, Italy, United Arab Emirates, and United States) is not officially recognized as a degree-granting institution in any of these countries.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WASHINGTON: Hundreds of Indian students who have gotten scammed by a dodgy California-based university had it coming. Tri-Valley University (TVU) had a reputation as a "Diploma Mill" that offered a spurious route to employment and immigration in the US. Inquiring students and professionals knew about it, discussed it in immigration forums, and warned others about it.

But eager beavers looking for a short cut to emigrating to the US through a questionable academic route ignored the red flags. After US authorities busted the scam, an estimated 1500 students, some of them gullible victims, some of them scheming immigrant hopefuls, face financial loss, loss of credits, loss of time, loss of face, and in some cases, even face deportation. ( Read: Hard times ahead for 'sham' US varsity students )

Here's how the scam unfolded: India, from among all countries, has been sending the maximum number of students to US colleges over the past decade – some 10,000 to 15,000 each year. Most aspiring students try and get into the top 50 schools, which have stringent qualifying standards, including exams such as GRE and GMAT, besides TOEFL, an English proficiency test. The process involves gaining admission on the basis of test scores, in lieu of which the university, if it accredited and complaint with US rules, sends an I-20 document to the accepted student, which he or she presents to the embassy or consulate in the home country to get an F-1 student visa. ( Read: Govt probing if agents duped students )

But in recent years, several dodgy universities have come up which waive GRE/GMAT requirements as long as students can pay thousands of dollars up front in the form of various 'fees.' More pertinently, these colleges dubiously facilitate Optional Practical Training(OPT) and Curricular Practical Training (CPT), the two routes to employment at the end of the college degree, from the first day of enrollment.

Typically, in recognized, well-regarded universities, all students must be enrolled as full-time students for a year before receiving CPT/OPT. For the hundreds of thousands of Indian students who have eventually become US citizens, OPT and CPT are the first steps to employment--based visa (usually H1-B), Green Card, and citizenship, in that order.

TVU and similar schools had a "well-earned" reputation of shortening the process by offering OPT/CPT from day one – which meant "students" could get on the employment track even as they began "college." In fact, TVU didn't even have a campus in the traditional sense. It had a solitary, sorry-looking building, bought in April 2010, which housed everything from administrative offices to classrooms, from which random lectures were transmitted over the internet to "students" across the US, including those working other jobs. Under current US law, students cannot take only online courses while on an F-1 status, a scam TVU managed to perpetrate.

Founded by Susan Xiao-Ping Su and run mainly by Chinese Christians, with a few Indians in the "faculty," the school boasted that its mission "is to make Christian scientists, engineers, business leaders and lawyers for the glory of God, with both solid academic professionalism and Christian faith, therefore to live out Christ-like characters, value and compassion in the world, to make an impact and shine as its light."

If that wasn't enough to set off alarm bells, prospective students could have at least seen the writing on the wall – internet forums -- had they bother to trawl any. In an exchange that began in April 2010, students, both prospective, inquiring ones, and those already committed to TVU, duked it out online about the university and its practices. "Has any one got any experience with Tri-Valley University?" inquired one person on an immigration forum. He had heard they offer "hassle free admission, gre, gmat not mandatory, tofel (sic) is pretty much the only requirement low semester fee, OPT, CPT from the day the course starts. no tests, no mandatory online classes, a perfect way to bypass the visa process!"

In no time, there were red flags galore. "TVU is NOT accredited, so you can NOT get a degree from them. Any 'degree' they issue is worthless," wrote one forum member on May 19. "If you use a 'degree' from them for any immigration purpose, it would be fraud. You can also NOT use OPT or CPT from them. Any such use would be fraud." Unperturbed, the inquirer wrote back: "the degrees are worthless, but i thought that its enough to get CPT."

Other immigration forum members, some of them partisans and flaks for TVU, then argued about how if the university was not accredited, it could generate I-20, a document for prospective students that enables them to apply for and get F-1 student visa in their home country. "You are grasping at straws. Probably because you have signed up with them and now have been told that you got scammed. Scamming victims are often in denial...," wrote a user named Jo1234, warning, "I think TVU will eventually get into trouble with authorities...Their "degrees" are worthless. If you try to use them for an H1 or a GC, you would be committing fraud. Spend your money with a real university, not these fraudsters."

It took till January this year for US authorities to cotton on to the scam – or, to look at it charitably, to put together the manpower for a nationwide crackdown. Although TVU was based in Pleasanton, California, it's 'students' were scattered throughout the country, from the East Coast to Midwest to Deep South. Many of them were illegally employed. Although it was allowed only 30 foreign admissions pending accreditation, TVU had managed to work the system to enroll more than 1500 students. Apparently, there were companies across the US which used TVU's F-1 visa-based CPT/OPT to beat H1-B visa requirements, which regulate salary, insist on not replacing American workers etc.

On January 19, after raiding TVU, getting student records from the school, and shutting it down, immigration officials began knocking on the doors of TVU students across the country or serving NTAs (notice to appear) asking them to get in touch with the local office. In some cases, officials merely made preliminary inquiries. In others, students were interrogated for up to three hours. Some had their passports taken away, if they declined voluntary departure. And in rare cases, where officials found egregious violation of visa terms or questionable visas, students were shackled with electronic monitoring devices till further inquiries.

"It was terrifying," said one student who asked not to be named. "Out of the blue, all our dreams came crashing down."

But while there is the usual outrage and fire-spitting in India over the radio collar issue, it turns out that not all students are as gullible as was initially made out. Speaking on background, community leaders, attorneys, and even some students acknowledged that many people knew the whole process was questionable. One giveaway: According to representatives of the Telugu Association of North America (TANA), an estimated 95 per cent of the TVU admissions from India are from Andhra Pradesh, a fact that has prompted TANA to arrange legal representation for the students. "They are young kids whose future will be ruined. They are our people after all. We have to help them," says TANA's Jayaram Komati. According to one student, most victims paid up to $ 2800 per semester to Tri-Valley, some of them paying as much as $ 16,000 up front for a full course to obtain a shady degree.

The growing sense among officials and even the Indian community is that many students knew what they were getting into but still risked it. "They know what the rules are - problem is, some of them work within the Indian mentality that the rules are made to be avoided and that the government is a nuisance, not a power to be reckoned with," Nandita Ruchandani, a New York-area immigration attorney who has dealt with such cases, told ToI. Still, many attorneys, some of them working pro bono, are offering to help the students. Two attorneys arranged by TANA in the Bay Area are now working on several Tri-Valley cases.

On Sunday morning TANA arranged for a conference call with immigration attorneys at which more than 200 affected students called in. Among the student gripes, how could the US government undermine the process initiated by a college which it recognized enough to allow it to generate F-1 visas? And if it was a sham university as authorities were now claiming, how and why did the US consulates in India issue the visas?

Meanwhile, a steamed up Indian government, aghast at the radio tagging of a few students, has sought to free them of the ignominy even as the more gullible victims are wondering whether to return to India or keep a foot in the academic door through an appeals process. "We are in a dilemma ...Many students are afraid to go to immigration officers...they are taking away passports pending investigation, sometimes even for those going for voluntary self-departure," a Minneapolis-based student told TOI. The student, who transferred to Tri-Valley from another university, found the Pleasanton school dodgy enough to request a transfer late last year. But she says other schools declined to accept Tri-Valley credits. Stuck in the quagmire, she has gone by the advice of US authorities and phoned into the hotline they have established to provide details of her case. She hasn't heard back from them. It will be a long cold winter for many Indian students in the US.

PLEASANTON -- A Pleasanton university that catered to mostly online students is being called a sham by federal prosecutors who say the university was a front to illegally provide immigration status to foreign nationals.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Wednesday were at the Tri-Valley University campus on Boulder Court in Pleasanton and executed search warrants at three other properties owned by school founder Susan Su, including one in the gated Ruby Hill community.

The complaint, filed by the U.S. District Attorney's Office on Wednesday, claims Su was part of an elaborate scheme to defraud, using false statements and misrepresentations to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Since its inception ... Tri-Valley University has been a sham university, which Su, and others, have used to facilitate foreign nationals in illegally acquiring student immigration status that authorizes them to remain in the United States," the complaint reads.

According to the complaint, Su and Tri-Valley University have made millions of dollars in tuition fees for issuing the visa-related documents, enabling foreign nationals to obtain illegal student immigration status.

Calls to Tri-Valley University were not returned.

ICE began its investigation in May 2010. The institution received is approval to issue visas in February 2009 and had the approval for about 30 students. In May 2009 the school had 11 active students that had received F-1 visas, and 939 by May 2010.

According to the complaint, more than 95 percent of students were from India. For more than half of them, the university reported their address was a single apartment in Sunnyvale. The apartment manager told ICE agents that four university students lived there from June 2007 to August 2009 and none since.

Investigators believe TVU reported that most of its students live at the apartment to conceal they don't live in the state.

For a student to maintain the immigration status, they must show proof they are making reasonable process toward completing coursework and physically attend classes.

One of the school's professors, who did not want his name used, said Thursday he was shocked by the investigation. He said he taught online courses out of his home since 2009 and he said his experience with the university has been positive.

"I teach high quality courses and my students are good students and that's all I can tell you," he said.

He said classes were supposed to restart Jan. 10 after winter break, but there was a delay. He said he got an email from Su on Thursday that said classes would begin soon.

Pensacola State College fired a tenured professor Tuesday amid allegations that he presented college administrators with an unaccredited master's degree from an online diploma mill that he obtained while on a paid sabbatical.

Robert Michael Ardis, 48, has 10 days to appeal to the college Board of Trustees for a hearing before the board and 14 days to file a grievance that would see the matter brought before an arbitrator under the faculty union contract.

The associate professor of behavioral sciences and coordinator of the college's criminal justice program is also locked in an outside legal battle on criminal charges of violating a domestic violence injunction involving his 22-year-old wife, a former PSC student.

Charged with 14 counts of contempt of court, Ardis' case is set for trial on Jan. 24 before Escambia County Judge Joyce Williams.

The college's lawyer, Tom Gilliam, has said that the decision to dismiss Ardis is unrelated to the criminal matters. Ardis had been suspended without pay since Dec. 15.

PSC President Ed Meadows made the recommendation to the board to oust Ardis Tuesday. The board unanimously voted to dismiss Ardis who took a board-approved sabbatical in the spring term and first summer term in 2010.

Robert Larkin, a Tallahassee labor attorney who is representing the college, said that Ardis obtained his master's degree from Belford University and that "for another $25 he could have had his diploma say 'cum laude.'"

Larkin said that Ardis then submitted the degree to the college to obtain a promotion and a higher rate of pay.

This prompted Board of Trustees president John O'Connor to wonder if the college had any legal recourse to sue Ardis to obtain the money it paid him during his sabbatical.

He also asked if the college can examine other professors to see if they hold similar bogus degrees.

Larkin said the college could possibly do both.

The Better Business Bureau describes Belford University as a "diploma mill" where students can received their degree in as little as 15 days.

"Consumers report paying hundreds of dollars for diplomas and/or degrees but later discover that credentials offered by this organization are fraudulent and worthless," according to the bureau's Web site which gives Belford an "F" grade.

Belford's lists a Humble, Texas address, but the BBB says it received correspondence from the company in November that says, "We are a Panama-based educational company incorporated as per the laws of the Republic of Panama."

Tom Wazlavek, a union representative with the United Faculty of Florida, appeared at Tuesday's meeting on Ardis' behalf. Ardis did not attend.

"I don't want to go into the specifics of this case, because we are still looking through the college's case," Wazlavek said. "He looks forward to his day in court."

Wazlavek said Ardis will likely pursue the grievance path as having an appeal hearing before the same board that decided to fire him to begin with would not be beneficial.

On Nov. 30, 2009, Ardis' wife filed for a domestic violence injunction against him. The two have a child.

In the complaint, Ardis' wife reported that her husband became violent during an argument about which of them would pick up the family dog at a kennel.

She wrote that he threw a plastic tub to awaken her, dragged her from bed, kicked in a door and placed her in a stranglehold.

On Oct. 25 of last year, Ardis was arrested after his wife accused him of violating the injunction by contacting her via the Internet and discussing family members other than the couple's then-15-month-old son.

Ardis ended up spending five days in jail.

It's a college con job!

The head of a controversial center run by ex-convicts at Brooklyn's Medgar Evers College obtained a "doctorate" degree from an online "diploma mill," an official told The Post.

Divine Pryor, founder of the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions, is suing the CUNY school to block his group's eviction from the campus for lacking credentials.

He claims he earned a Ph.D. from Suffield University.

But the Connecticut Department of Higher Education said it issued a "cease and desist" order against Suffield for operating without a license after a probe.

"We view it as a diploma mill selling unaccredited degrees . . . We shut them down," said Connecticut Higher Education spokeswoman Constance Fraser.

Suffield's Web site offers associate, bachelor, master's and doctoral degrees for upwards of $550, with discounts for multiple degrees.

It admits there are no academic requirements and says, "The whole process can often be completed within 7-10 days."

Pryor -- who was sprung in 1992 after serving 10 years for robbery and burglary -- insisted, "I worked hard for my [Suffield Ph.D.] degree."

Suffield did not return calls seeking comment.

Three people were jailed yesterday for a total of 18.5 years for setting up bogus colleges to help illegal immigrants remain in the UK, following an investigation by our London immigration crime team.

Husband and wife Tiamiyu and Christiana Bello, aged 75 and 67, were arrested following a raid on a property on New Cross Road in south London in July 2007.

Registered to the address were the 'Academic College of Education' and the 'Academic College of Training and Recruitment', institutions for which the Bellos were the principals.

Officers soon discovered that the building was a collection of bedsits and there was no evidence of lessons being taught there.

During a search a large number of documents were seized, including letters purporting to be from the 'Academic College of Education' and counterfeit qualification certificates.

39-year-old solicitor Adeyinka Adeniran was later arrested following a search of his office on Old Kent Road. Many of the files seized from that address contained documentation from the Bellos' college.

Their scam, which continued for several years prior to their arrest, involved the supply of fake qualification documents which were then used to support visa applications to the Home Office. Many applicants were then represented by Adeniran through his legal practice.

Following an 11 week trial at Croydon Crown Court, Tiamiyu and Christiana Bello were found guilty of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration and conspiracy to possess articles for use in fraud. They were both sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Adeniran was found guilty of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration. Described by the judge as a 'disgrace to his profession', he was sentenced to 8.5 years behind bars.

Chris Foster, London immigration crime team, UK Border Agency said:

'This was a sophisticated criminal enterprise, which had the explicit aim of helping those who had no right to be in the UK evade immigration controls.

'As this case shows, illegal immigration can be big business. I hope this sends out a message that we are committed to tackling the criminal groups behind it, putting the ringleaders before the courts, and, ultimately, behind bars.

'We now have dedicated teams of UK Border Agency investigators working with police officers across the country to protect our border and prosecute those criminals who undermine and abuse our immigration control.

It comes as we continue a campaign to tackle illegal immigration and organised immigration crime.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said:

'During the summer UK Border Agency officers across the country carried out a major enforcement crackdown which generated a large number of arrests, cash seizures and prosecutions. It also brought fresh intelligence which the agency is using, as seen with this operation today, to further disrupt the activities of people involved in facilitating immigration crime.

'We are also working with other law enforcement agencies to root out criminal networks behind the importation of drugs and firearms and cracking down on white collar professionals who seek to abuse immigration law.

'Illegal immigration puts huge pressure on the public purse at a time when the country can least afford it. Together with the police and the Serious Organised Crime Agency we will continue to make life as difficult as possible for those who to cheat the immigration system.'

The London immigration crime team is a specialist unit of police officers seconded from the Metropolitan Police working alongside our warranted officers to investigate organised immigration crime.

After 26 years with the Fruitland Park Department, Chief Mark Isom called it quits Wednesday after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement filed a criminal charge against him.

He likely will be stripped of his police certification, City Manager Ralph Bowers said, adding that he thinks that's part of the negotiations between FDLE and Isom's attorney.

Isom asked Bowers on Friday to place him on paid administrative leave. Bowers did so, and for now, Sgt. David Borst is the interim chief.

Bowers thanked Isom for his nearly 26 years of "dedicated service, after which he made one mistake."

"We need to forgive him and pray for his future," Bowers said. "Did he mislead the city? Probably."

The latest development comes a couple of weeks after Isom announced he planned to retire Dec. 31 if the FDLE called off its investigation into allegations he got college degrees from a diploma mill.

The state agency continued its investigation, filed the criminal charge against him and now Isom is no longer the police chief.

FDLE charged Isom, 47, with attempted official misconduct, according to records from the agency. That is a misdemeanor.

Assistant State Attorney Anthony Tatti, who is prosecuting the criminal charge against Isom, said Wednesday FDLE was working toward stripping Isom of his police certification. He wouldn't comment on whether prosecutors plan to do that.

Tatti did say that it's not unusual to take first-time misdemeanors who have already paid their restitution and put them in pre-trial diversion programs.

Isom's next scheduled court date is 8:30 a.m. Dec. 29 before Lake County Judge Donna Miller. But it's possible the case will be resolved before then, Tatti said.

Whether Isom retains his police certification or not, Bowers said last week the only job he would give Isom is volunteering for the city's fire department.

Isom was paid $70,000 a year as chief.

Even though the city is not paying Bowers now, it's still paying his l legal fees for the fake college diploma case.

Last week, city commissioners transferred $14,000 from one account to another to pay Isom's attorney fees in this case. That means city taxpayers will pay for Isom's attorney, Robert Trimle of Orlando.

Trimble was in court Wednesday and unavailable for comment.

While Borst is the interim chief, City Commissioner Jim Richardson suggested at last week's commission meeting that Fruitland Park ask Sheriff Gary Borders to send a commander to the police department to oversee it until a permanent chief is hired.

City commissioners did not agree to that proposal.

As for the criminal charge, the affidavit says that between April 15, 2009 and Jan. 29, 2010, Isom received $775.32 "based on his false claim of entitlement to incentive pay for having earned the said degree."

Isom paid the money back to the city after saying he had just learned that Youngsfield University was a diploma mill.

Emails between Isom and the "university" show that, for an $1,100 online payment, the chief would receive printed diplomas, transcripts and two letters of recommendation from professors, the affidavit says. Via his signature, the chief admitted that "I am aware that this is a non-accredited program."

Isom completed no course work with Youngsfield University or any other institution of higher learning for bachelor's or master's degrees, the affidavit said.

FDLE investigators said their efforts to contact Youngsfield University were futile.

Five state troopers investigated and disciplined for using bogus college diplomas to gain pay raises have sued the state, claiming they were defamed.

Filing a lawsuit earlier this month in King County Superior Court, the State Patrol troopers claim their reputations were stained in 2008 when the patrol released details of a probe into allegations that they had obtained bunk college degrees to gain pay raises.

In the suit, the troopers -- Bryan Ensley, Daniel Mann, Gabriel Olson, Dennis Tardiff and Spike Unruh -- each claim to hold degrees from Internet-based colleges that award credit based on "life experience."

Neither school is accredited by any body recognized by the federal Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, the two organizations on which the patrol now relies to determine if a degree is valid.

The patrol launched an audit of personnel records in May 2008 after it came to light that a Spokane diploma mill selling counterfeit degrees and transcripts counted dozens of government workers among its customers. None of the troopers involved in the suit was a client of the diploma mill; each had, instead, obtained a degree online.

In 2008, nine troopers suspected of using degrees from unaccredited colleges were placed on paid leave while the allegations were investigated by the patrol. No charges were filed and, according to the lawsuit, each of the five troopers who has now sued was briefly suspended without pay.

Speaking Wednesday, State Patrol spokesman Bob Calkins defended the department's actions against the troopers.

"This matter was thoroughly investigated, carefully considered and we think the discipline was appropriate," Calkin said.

Troopers received a 4 percent pay increase for holding a bachelor's degree and an additional 2 percent raise for a master's degree, providing a financial incentive to participate in the programs.

According to the lawsuit, Mann had been receiving educational incentive pay since 1999, when he obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Berkley -- an online institution unaffiliated with the University of California at Berkeley.

The other four troopers involved in the suit received their degrees from Almeda University -- another online university that, for a fee, also awards degrees based on an applicant's life experience -- and began drawing additional pay in 2006, attorney Aaron D. Bigby told the court.

Bigby, of the Seattle law firm Northcraft, Bigby & Biggs, argued in the civil complaint that the State Patrol had no rules for judging whether a university was properly accredited until after the investigation was launched in 2008.

Bigby recounted a July 2008 e-mail purportedly sent by a State Patrol captain investigating the troopers' educational backgrounds. The captain, Bigby told the court, noted that the State Patrol had "no real standard in place regarding what type of accreditation" is required.

Writing the court, Bigby said his clients were placed on paid administrative leave for 10 months while the patrol conducted a criminal investigation. No charges were filed and, after an initial move by the patrol to fire the deputies, the troopers were suspended for three to 10 days without pay.

Now, the troopers contend they were defamed by their employer in statements to the media after the investigation was made public. Writing the court, Bigby also claimed the patrol wrongly tied his clients to the Spokane diploma mill, which was the subject of criminal prosecution.

"Unlike the Spokane diploma mill, Almeda University and the University of Berkley operators have not been convicted of counterfeiting for their operations," Bigby told the court. "By implying a link between (the troopers) and the Spokane diploma mill, the (State Patrol) has placed the plaintiffs in a false light."

Bigby also faulted the patrol for releasing the names, personnel files and photos of his clients to reporters following a public records request.

Claiming his clients have suffered "severe emotional distress," Bigby asserted the troopers are owed payment for the harm done to their reputations, their mental anguish and invasions of their privacy.

The State Patrol has not yet responded to the suit with the court.

There are dozens of websites out there from "universities" like "University of Berkley" and "Almeda University" (not to be confused with Berkeley and Alameda) where people can log on, plug in a bunch of info on their "life experience," then pay a fee and wait while the website shits out a "degree" that they can then pad their resume with. A couple years ago, nine Washington State Patrol Troopers got caught using fake online degrees in order to get pay raises. Now the troopers are suing the state, saying they were defamed when the department implied a link between their fake degrees with those of an even more egregious Spokane-based diploma mill that was busted before the troopers were.

The P-I reported the news today.

In the suit, the troopers--Bryan Ensley, Daniel Mann, Gabriel Olson, Dennis Tardiff and Spike Unruh--each claim to hold degrees from Internet-based colleges that award credit based on "life experience."

Neither school is accredited by any body recognized by the federal Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, the two organizations on which the patrol now relies to determine if a degree is valid.

Basically, the troopers are arguing that at the time they were disciplined (they were each briefly suspended without pay) the department didn't have a policy in place to determine which universities gave degrees that were valid to use for getting pay increases, and which were bullshit scams whose degrees might as well be cutouts from boxes of Cap'n Crunch.

The state has since more clearly defined its rules, which still hold that the troopers' degrees were bogus.

The case also hinges on a Spokane-based diploma mill that was issuing counterfeit degrees from hundreds of fake schools around the world, and whose owners were criminally prosecuted and sent to prison as a result. Lawyers for the troopers say the department "implied" a link from their client's fake-but-legal diplomas to the Spokane scam's fake-and-illegal ones.

The move seems rather a ballsy slap in the face by the troopers, who were lucky to keep their jobs after the incident.

Hopefully their lawyers aren't using fake law degrees, too.

Education Minister Leighton Andrews has strongly criticised the University of Wales, accusing it of bringing Wales into ridicule and disrepute.

His comments follow BBC Wales' Week In Week Out showed a Malaysian pop star with a bogus doctorate ran a college offering University of Wales courses.

It also uncovered doubts about a college in Bangkok.

Professor Nigel Palastanga, pro vice-chancellor of the university said it noted Mr Andrews' comments.

He said: "We don't think the BBC Wales programme was a fair and accurate reflection of the University's international role, and we have already responded in detail to the specific points raised.

"We have noted the comments the minister has made and our chairman will be responding directly."

Mr Andrews said the university had to "get to grips" with the issues raised. The university has been asked to respond.

Earlier Mr Andrews met Professor Marc Clement, the University's vice chancellor, at a meeting of senior figures from higher education in Wales.

The minister told BBC Wales: "We are fed up with the University of Wales bringing the name of Wales into ridicule.

"We want to see an end to this. We want to see high quality control within the institution."

The programme revealed that Fazley Yaakob, who ran the Fazley International College (FICO) in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, was claiming to have both a masters and a doctorate in business administration. He stepped down following the programme.

Bogus university

But both came from a bogus university, and Thai authorities said Accademia Italiana, a fashion college offering University of Wales validated courses in Bangkok, Thailand, had been operating illegally.

Mr Andrews said he had been in contact with the Higher Education Funding Council and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education about the revelations.

He said: "The governance of the University of Wales will be under scrutiny in my higher education governance review."

Mr Andrews said the university still had many "strong attributes".

He added: "We want to see the University of Wales as a quality benchmark for higher education in Wales and internationally.

"Associations with dubious bible colleges, associations with institutions whose leadership have bogus degrees, that brings the name of Wales into disrepute and it brings the University of Wales itself into disrepute.

"I want to see that they are serious about this issue and they are getting to grips with it."

The University of Wales announced it had suspended its involvement with Fazley International College, pending investigation

A Malaysian pop star with a bogus doctorate has been running a college offering University of Wales degree courses, a BBC investigation shows.

A Bangkok college that Thai authorities say has been operating illegally, is also offering courses leading to degrees from the Welsh institution.

Week in Week Out examined the way in which the University of Wales validated courses in overseas institutions.

The university said it was dealing "thoroughly" with the issues raised.

The programme revealed that Fazley Yaakob, who runs the Fazley International College (FICO) in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, was claiming to have both a masters and a doctorate in business administration.

But both came from a bogus university.

The pop star, who has four hit albums to his name, claimed the qualifications from the European Business School (Cambridge), an offshoot of the Irish International University, which was exposed as a sham by the BBC in 2008.

He said the University of Wales did not ask about his credentials, which were displayed prominently on the college website until he was confronted by BBC Wales' education correspondent Ciaran Jenkins in Kuala Lumpur.

No new admissions

Professor Nigel Palastanga, pro vice chancellor at the University of Wales, said the university was "concerned" about the issues raised in the programme.

"We are not happy about what is happening, we are dealing with it and will deal with it very thoroughly and will learn lessons from what has happened," he said.

The University of Wales announced it had suspended its involvement with Fazley International College, and would take no new admissions to its business administration and MBA courses until the matter had been investigated.

Professor Palastanga said there were no concerns about academic standards at the college.

Meanwhile, Thai authorities said Accademia Italiana, a fashion college offering University of Wales validated courses in Bangkok, Thailand, had been operating illegally.

Dr Sumate Yammoon, Secretary General of the Commission on Higher Education in Thailand, said last week that the matter was in the hands of the police.

However, Professor Palastanga said the situation had now changed.

'Run its course'

"My information is that the college is now operating legally within the Thai system," he said.

Jenny Randerson AM, the Welsh Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, said she believed the University of Wales had now "run its course" and that its remaining accredited institutions in Wales - Swansea Metropolitan University, UWIC, Glyndwr University, Trinity Saint David and University of Wales, Newport - could operate independently.

Universities in Wales are bracing themselves for the outcome of a review into the governance of higher education, ordered by Education Minister Leighton Andrews.

He has now instructed the review to look at the issues raised in the Week In Week Out programme.

Cardiff University left the University of Wales in 2004 while the universities of Bangor, Swansea and Aberystwyth decided to offer their own degrees in 2008.

Severed ties

In November 2008, a BBC Wales Dragon's Eye investigation showed that the University of Wales validated courses run by a controversial bible college in the United States.

The university severed its ties with Trinity College of the Bible in Newburgh, Indiana shortly before the programme was broadcast.

Professor Palastanga said it was "not good" for the university's reputation when things went wrong, however he stressed it worked continually with its partners to uphold standards.

The University of Wales validates courses in more than 100 colleges in more than 40 countries.

There are currently 70,000 students studying for University of Wales degrees worldwide.

The university said the profits from its international validation programmes were invested in Welsh higher education.

Responding to a question from Jenny Randerson AM on the investigation, First Minister Carwyn Jones told the assembly the education minister has already asked the review of HE governance to look into this matter.

"Primarily, it's an issue for the University of Wales and its reputation," Mr Jones told AMs.

"So it's exceptionally important that the University of Wales takes note of the allegations that have been made, and then of course takes steps to ensure that if the allegations are correct, that there is no opportunity for anybody to use the name of the University of Wales in an inappropriate way."

The executive director of a Malaysian college offering University of Wales degree courses has resigned after questions about his own qualifications.

Fazley Yaakob, a pop star who runs the Fazley International College (FIC) in Kuala Lumpur, has two degrees from a bogus university.

Week In Week Out examined the way in which the University of Wales validated courses in overseas institutions.

The university has said concerns relate solely to Yaakob and not the courses.

The programme reveals that Yaakob claimed to have both a masters and a doctorate in business administration. But both were from a bogus university.

Yaakob, who has four hit albums to his name, claimed to have qualifications from the European Business School (Cambridge), an offshoot of the Irish International University - which was exposed as a sham by the BBC in 2008.

He said the University of Wales did not ask about his credentials, which were displayed prominently on the college website, until he was confronted by BBC Wales' education correspondent Ciaran Jenkins in Kuala Lumpur.

In his resignation letter, Yaakob said: "My role in Fazley International College is one of an investor.

"Though I hold a director's position, I have never been a part of the academic team nor have I sat at any of the academic meetings.

"As such, you can be assured that at no stage was the academic standards or the reputation of the university put at a compromise. To be honest I have only sat in at management meetings.

"Upon further reflection, I consider that to continue as a director could be damaging to the college, its student community and the dedicated staff who have worked hard to uphold the academic standards and integrity.

"It is quite clear that this continuing public controversy will undermine the reputation and the good relations between the college and the university, which I cannot, in any circumstances, allow.

'Public confidence'

"Therefore, I have decided to tender my resignation as the executive director of the college.

"It is my intention to keep fighting to clear my name and restore public confidence of my reputation.

"I sincerely apologise for having caused the university and its officials embarrassment.

"I do hope that the matter will be laid to rest and that the link between the university and FIC can be restored."

The University of Wales has suspended its relationship with the college - one of three educational institutions it collaborates with in Malaysia - following the controversy.

The university signed an agreement with FIC in 2007 and saw the first students admitted to its validated courses the following year, having gained provisional approvals from the Malaysian Qualifications Agency.

But it has now decided not to recognise any additional admissions to its BA (Hons) Business Administration and MBA courses at the college until concerns have been fully investigated. The 35 students currently enrolled on University-validated courses will not be affected.

University vice chancellor Marc Clement said: "The principal doesn't himself teach on the course and I don't want to pre-judge the case, but I've taken this decision as a precaution to protect the reputation of the University of Wales.

"We are proud of the work we're doing internationally to take the educational values of a great Welsh institution to people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to study on validated courses, and it is important this mission isn't diluted by doubts about any of collaborative centres.

"Our validation team is experienced and highly skilled and travels regularly to collaborative centres to check the quality of the provision and work with local people to build capacity.

"Their job is to validate the courses we recognise, not the institution itself, and we're confident the university's validated courses at FIC meet our high academic standards.

"Our concern relates solely to the fact that the head of the institution has informed us of a controversy relating to his personal academic qualifications.

"This would not normally be relevant to the validation process, but we feel we have a duty to go beyond the letter of our rules so that the integrity of our courses is beyond any doubt."

The University is the second largest degree awarding body in the UK after the University of London. In 2010, it awarded 20,000 degrees and other awards and had around 70,000 people studying on its courses, of which 13,704 were on validated programmes outside the UK.

Mario Carrillo has made a fatal political error: He has claimed as legitimate two degrees from a diploma mill in the United Kingdom.

And for that, we withdraw our endorsement of his candidacy for Vista City Council.

A reporter from The San Diego Union-Tribune raised the issue in a story last week.

Monday, Carrillo told a North County Times reporter that he isn't convinced the degrees are not legitimate. "I paid tuition, I took the courses and I received my degree, just like I would do for any extension course," he said.

Carrillo said the university told him that the three classes and work performed at Palomar College in the 1970s were enough for the bachelor's degree and that his work experience as a musician qualified him for a master's degree. The university granted him the diplomas "retroactive" to 1978 and 1980, he said.

All of this is flat-out unbelievable ---- no reasonably well-educated person could buy this with a straight face.

Unfortunately, Carrillo's apparent lack of understanding about the diploma mills or the seriousness of the issue betrays a real problem: If he doesn't understand that a couple of "courses" and $1,700 doesn't a university education make, what else doesn't he understand?

The city of Vista is a complex enterprise with a $118.5 million operating budget and a complex redevelopment district. The health of a city and its residents ride on the decisions of the council.

Because of this, we withdraw our endorsement.

We have previously endorsed John Aguilera and stand by that pick.

For the second council seat, Tom Fleming has been active in civic affairs for years, including a stint as president of the Vista Village Business Association. He is fiscally conservative and understands the needs for prudent budget decisions in this economy.

We urge voters to give Fleming a look.

A Vista City Council candidate who has touted his business degree in his campaign has removed mention of it from his website after being questioned by The U-T about the school’s legitimacy.

Mario Carrillo, 54, received his diploma from a group that the Chronicle of Higher Education in 2004 dubbed “the Granddaddy of diploma mill operations.”

“I feel duped,” Carrillo said. “The only thing I can tell the voters is that they were a legitimate institution, and no one has ever questioned me about my degree. All I can say is that I’m human and I apologize.”

Carrillo is an accomplished musician and songwriter who owns a recording studio in the city’s downtown. He is an advocate of greater offerings for Vista’s youth and young adults, and is one of the most prominent local voices supporting Vista’s development of a new skate park.

Carrillo is running for elected office for the first time. He received endorsements from the Deputy Sheriff’s Association of San Diego County and the North County Times.

On his website, he had listed a bachelor’s and MBA degrees from Shaftesbury University received in 1978. He also has mentioned his MBA in City Council forums as part of his qualifications for the elected position. Carrillo also noted his MBA in his candidate statement that appears on the sample ballot. “After I earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, I moved to Vista where I have lived for over 30 years.”

The statement conflicts with Carrillo’s explanation of events that led to his receiving the diploma. Carrillo said he called the college in the early 1990s to ask how he could obtain a degree. The university explained that it would combine his previous college credits — he took classes at Palomar College in the 1970s — with his job experience as a musician to achieve the credits needed to obtain a degree. Carrillo said he then paid a tuition fee, and then after a short home course, mailed him his diploma and transcripts, all retroactive to the 1970s.

“I didn’t see anything fraudulent about it at all,” he said. “They were giving me credit for the work I had done in the professional field. This is the way they explained it to me, and I trusted them. Again, I feel ashamed and disappointed.”

The candidate statement cannot be changed because the sample ballots have been mailed to voters, Vista officials said.

Carrillo also claimed to have taken upper graduate courses at University of California, Los Angeles, but he actually took a songwriting course through the UCLA Extension, not the university. Carrillo said he didn’t know there was a distinction.

Shaftesbury University is part of a consortium of unaccredited universities called the University Degree Programs run by Jason and Caroline Abraham starting in the 1990s. According to the 2004 Chronicle of Higher Education article, sales people at call centers in Romania and Israel recruited students over the telephone. In the past, recipients of their degrees have been prosecuted for fraud in connection with the use of their degree for employment.

Unlike many distance-learning education programs, such as University of Phoenix and Kaplan College, UDP students reportedly can pay for their degrees without completing course work. The operation was estimated to have sold more than 30,000 “degrees” and received proceeds totaling $50 million to $100 million, according to the Chronicle report.

People are not required to have a college degree or high school diploma to seek elected office. In Vista, like most municipalities, candidates are only required to be 18, registered voters and residents.

A leading political reform expert said that while Carrillo did the right thing by removing the mention of the degree from his website, he is skeptical that Carrillo was oblivious to the school’s questionable background.

“A legitimate school would have you attend classes and would not issue a degree retroactively,” said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies, a nonpartisan government think tank.

University Degree Program representatives could not be reached for comment.

When I first asked Lisa Hammond about her doctorate degree a couple of weeks ago, what mainly interested me was what she said after acknowledging she had received it from an unaccredited school.

Having a doctorate "is important to me," said Hammond, 53, who is paid a $55-per-hour consulting fee as a county contract monitor. "I plan to get another one."

She made it sound as if this was a goal like running a marathon — ambitious, but nothing that had to disrupt her life. And I wondered, can studying for a doctorate really be a part-time gig? Can you place what novelist Henry James called "those three magic letters" — Ph.D. — behind your name without the traditional two or three arduous years of class work and at least that many more years writing an original, book-length dissertation?

Yeah, sure, higher education experts told me, especially if you don't care about learning. And judging from the Senate testimony of a Coast Guard officer named Claudia Gelzer, Hammond wouldn't have had to learn much to get her doctorate from Kennedy-Western University.

Gelzer enrolled at the online California school as part of a federal investigation into diploma mills. She was promptly awarded more than half the credits she needed for a master's degree in environmental engineering, based on her work experience, she told a Senate committee in 2004.

"They asked for no proof or documentation," she said. And, "as a note, I have no formal engineering training."

Gelzer quickly picked up more credits by passing open-book exams, the answers for which could often be found in the books' glossaries. George Gollin, a University of Illinois physics professor who has made a sideline of exposing diploma mills, said it appears Gelzer could have finished all of her master's degree requirements in one 40-hour work week — even without receiving credit for life experience.

"To my mind, that makes Kennedy-Western a diploma mill, end of story," he said.

My favorite quote about the proliferation of advanced degrees came from a Washington Post story: "These days, Ph.D.'s are like opinions and pie holes — pretty much everybody's got one." That was in 2002. Due mostly to the increased reach of the Internet, the situation is worse now, Gollin said.

He estimated in 2007 that diploma mills issued between 100,000 and 200,000 university degrees annually. About a third were at the doctoral level, a number rivaling the 48,000 legitimate doctorates issued in 2008, according to a study by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center.

Even that figure may be inflated by questionable degrees awarded by for-profit universities that "have their roots in dog grooming and cosmetology and, over the past decade, have tried to move up the food chain," said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers.

In Hammond's case, the questions don't stop with the quality of the institution. In a resume she sent to the Times about three weeks ago, when Clerk of the Circuit Court Karen Nicolai offered her a full-time $105,000-a-year job (she's since been bumped back down to consultant, but could still make that much money in a year), Hammond claimed a Florida teaching certificate in psychology and economics.

Her teaching qualification has since expired, Hammond said Friday, though she didn't say that on the resume.

Also, Times researcher Shirl Kennedy found the state doesn't issue certificates in those fields, and Hammond makes no mention of them in a 2009 application to serve on the Early Learning Coalition of Hernando and Pasco — just that in 1999 she received a "temporary educator's certificate."

Weeks after it was first requested, Hammond, who also serves as chairwoman of the Hernando County Planning and Zoning Commission, still hasn't produced a transcript from the Southern Africa Policy Institute in Zimbabwe — from which she claims a "post graduate diploma" on her most recent resume. Nor could she provide a phone number or e-mail address. Researcher Kennedy found no evidence the institute even existed.

Kennedy-Western did exist, though it changed its name to Warren National University in 2007. It closed in March 2009, which happens to be the month Hammond received her degree.

Much of Hammond's work experience checked out, as did her undergraduate degree. And she has generally been praised for her performance with the county.

So maybe it's not fair to label her a fraud. But it is fair to say that phony degrees are a way of dishonestly extracting money. That's usually the whole point, Nassirian said.

Doctorates were once mostly just for academics, he said, and the "perceived value has increased because there are now so many fields in which a Ph.D. is highly lucrative."

When the degree is fake, the employer is stuck with a worker who may be unqualified and is certainly untrustworthy. And in Hammond's case, fellow Hernando taxpayers, that employer is us.

Most of the 100,000 admirals in Nebraska's "Great Navy" hold the lighthearted honor because they've done something for the state in large or small ways.

But there's a less savory, unmerited side to Nebraska admiralships.

At least in recent years, it turns out, some people have found membership in the Nebraska Navy to be an easy way to pad résumés and burnish reputations.

Increasingly, the admiralships are showing up in the hands of African rulers, people who work with diploma mills and others with no significant ties to Nebraska.

The World-Herald has discovered that some awards are collected and distributed through a web of non-Nebraskans who submit numerous nominations. In at least one case, there is an allegation that an admiralship was sold for $2,600.

Former State Sen. Kermit Brashear of Omaha, who is a Nebraska admiral, said he feels bad that some people are tainting the program.

"It's a long, rich tradition until it goes amok," Brashear said.

Earlier this month, The World-Herald reported that a Nebraska admiralship had been given to Yahya Jammeh, president of Gambia. Jammeh has been criticized for human rights violations.

Gov. Dave Heineman never intended to honor Jammeh. Instead, a San Francisco man requested the admiralship, and Heineman's staff processed it with little scrutiny. The Governor's Office has handled 7,000 or so certificates since Heineman took office in 2005, continuing a tradition that has been in effect since the 1930s.

Heineman has said it wouldn't be a good use of time or money to investigate each nomination, especially since the vast majority are legitimate.

Yet that leaves plenty of opportunity for non-Nebraskans to take advantage of the system.

The World-Herald examined a list of admiralships issued since Heineman took office in 2005 and discovered:

• A second African ruler, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, is on the list. A Slate magazine article in 2008 described Obiang as "Africa's worst dictator," outdoing even Zimbabwe's notorious Robert Mugabe.

• The Iranian-born San Francisco man who nominated Jammeh earlier this year, Nasser Heydarian, has nominated at least 10 other admirals. None apparently has any Nebraska ties.

• Heydarian reportedly was paid $2,600 for the Jammeh admiralship, although he emphatically denies that.

• At least 14 admirals from outside Nebraska are linked to unaccredited universities that have been criticized as diploma mills, or to groups that have endorsed some of those questionable schools.

It might be hard for Nebraskans to believe that the admiralship, which confers tongue-in-cheek authority over "seamen, tadpoles and goldfish," could be in much demand among those who have no allegiance to the state.

Nevertheless, admiralships show up on résumés all over the world.

"It's a big thing for some people," said Robert Ray Hill of Kentucky. "Do I have it on my résumé? I think I might."

Stephen R. Barnhart certainly does. Barnhart, who runs a security service in Kansas City, includes the Nebraska honor on his lengthy list of accolades and diplomas, including a number of advanced degrees from unaccredited schools. He also notes that he is a professor for several such institutions. Barnhart did not return telephone calls from the newspaper.

But others interviewed last week say the Nebraska admiralship — certified by the state's governor, after all — adds an extra bit of credibility for those who want to embellish their qualifications. It may help those who pitch higher education degrees, and it can help curry favor with foreign leaders who control business opportunities.

A number of non-Nebraskans with recent admiralships are members of the same organizations.

For example, Heydarian, Hill and Barnhart are listed as "full professorship holders" with the International University of Fundamental Studies, an unaccredited school.

Similarly, The World-Herald also found at least eight admirals have been linked to the International Parliament for Safety and Peace, an Italian organization. That includes Barnhart and Heydarian, as well as the leaders of Gambia and Equatorial Guinea, who are considered "international vice presidents."

In an interview, Heydarian said he nominated Jammeh for the admiralship at the request of Georg Reiff, a German man who works with the Italian group. Heydarian also obtained an admiralship for Reiff.

Heydarian, who said he is a medical doctor but is not licensed to practice in the United States, said the original deal was that he could go to Gambia to present the award and perhaps provide some humanitarian assistance. In the end, however, he was cut out of the Gambia trip.

"They're going over there to get some credit for themselves," an angry Heydarian said. "I did this favor because they asked me to do it. They are no good. They are using me."

Reiff could not be reached directly for comment. But Hill — who had nominated Heydarian for his admiralship in 2006 —said Reiff told him that Heydarian had demanded $2,600 in payment in April for Jammeh's certificate.

According to Hill, Reiff said he had no choice but to pay because he already had told the Gambian strongman that the admiralship was coming.

"This is absolutely ridiculous," Heydarian replied. "They're playing a dirty game. I never got a penny."

Heydarian said Nebraska's governor should simply void Jammeh's admiralship.

Controversy aside, Brashear said the Nebraska Navy is intended to be a way "to wrap people together in terms of a moment of humor and honor." As speaker of the Legislature, Brashear said, he served a few hours as acting governor in 2006 and doled out numerous admiralships to friends, acquaintances and relatives, including his wife.

But he said there's no reason to name admirals who have no relationship with Nebraska or its residents. He said it is up to Heineman to decide whether the rules need to be tightened.

"After all, he is the admiral of all admirals," Brashear said. "He'll have to protect the fleet."

This too:

Nebraska Navy has 'unsavory despot', Paul Goodsell and Andrea Vasquez, Omaha, Nebraska, World-Herald, October 2, 2010.

For decades, Nebraska governors have handed out thousands of admiralships in the mythical "Great Navy of Nebraska" — a way to honor celebrities, heroes and ordinary citizens.

Astronauts John Glenn and Clayton Anderson. Entertainers Bob Hope and Johnny Carson. Local school board members and police officers.

Now you can add African strongman Yahya Jammeh.

The new admiral, who is the president of Gambia, has been criticized for alleged human rights violations and has said he would "cut off the head" of any homosexuals found in the country.

"This is a real unsavory despot," said Frank Smyth of the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based organization that tries to raise awareness of press freedom issues around the world.

So the group was shocked last month when a smiling Jammeh was photographed holding the gold-framed certificate from Gov. Dave Heineman.

It isn't clear whether Jammeh read the entire tongue-in-cheek proclamation, which ordered all "seamen, tadpoles and goldfish" to obey the admiral.

Or whether he knew that Nebraska has no fleet — other than the floating covered wagon depicted on the certificate.

While the certificate declares that the honoree is "a good person and a loyal friend and counselor," Heineman doesn't know the Gambian president, never approved the admiralship and did not personally sign the certificate.

Nor did anyone on Heineman's staff give more than cursory attention to Jammeh's nomination, requested by a man in San Francisco.

It was one of more than 7,000 admiralships bestowed by Heineman since he took office in 2005.

"It's just not feasible for us to do background checks," said Jen Rae Hein, a spokeswoman for the governor. "This is in no way an endorsement from Nebraska of this person's politics."

The governor personally gives a handful of admiralships — perhaps a dozen or so per year — to visiting dignitaries or other noteworthy people, Hein said. Nearly all the awards are handled by staff members, who process nominations by state senators and others who want to honor people for their contributions to the state.

Guidelines posted on the governor's website say either the nominator or nominee must be from Nebraska, but Hein said any current admiral can nominate anyone else, even if neither is from Nebraska.

That was the case with Jammeh's nomination. It arrived in January from Nasser Heydarian, who described himself as a medical doctor but used a San Francisco coffee shop as his mailing address.

Hein said Heydarian did not identify Jammeh as the Gambian president but gave this reason for making him an admiral: "He is very good with poor people and always he is helping them."

Heineman had honored Heydarian as an admiral in 2006, after a nomination from Robert Ray Hill of Kentucky.

Hill has worked for organizations criticized as being "diploma mills."

And a Wikia website identifies Heydarian as president of the "Dominion of Melchizedek," a so-called "cyber-nation" that allegedly is a haven for banking fraud.

It's unclear whether Hill has Nebraska connections or whether he is a Nebraska admiral. Heydarian and Hill could not be reached for comment.

Hein said Jammeh's certificate was mailed to Heydarian at the coffee shop address in February, although it was dated Sept. 10 as requested.

Last month, the certificate was delivered to Jammeh by a representative of the International Parliament for Safety and Peace, an Italian organization that has drawn criticism for recognizing diploma mills.

The group also passed along two other "awards" to Jammeh, purportedly from President Barack Obama. A U.S. State Department official said Friday that the White House had no connection with those awards.

Jammeh's honors were publicized in the Gambian press and soon drew attention from outside groups. The Committee to Protect Journalists initially was concerned that Obama and others were giving awards to Jammeh but later concluded that no honors were intended.

The admiralship isn't Jammeh's first state award: Kentucky's governor made him an honorary "Kentucky colonel" in 2008.

Giving admiralships is a long-standing tradition for Nebraska governors. Hein said she didn't know how many were awarded under Heineman's predecessor, Mike Johanns, but staff members who worked for both governors told her the pace is about the same.

Nebraska has no process for rescinding the honor, she said.

Staffers try to catch the most questionable nominations, such as those requested for pets, Hein said. Otherwise, she said, little investigation is done, and few requests are denied. Nominations from current admirals are automatically approved.

"I don't know if it's always going to be automatic now," Hein said.

"There are going to be some people that game the system, but that is not something we endorse. We are relying on the good faith practices of Nebraskans and of those nominating their fellow citizens."

Rick Scott made it official this morning, introducing state Rep. Jennifer Carroll as his running mate on the Republican ticket for governor.

"I am honored that Jennifer is the first African-American Republican woman to be part of a statewide ticket in Florida," Scott wrote in a letter to supporters.

"Jennifer Carroll is the embodiment of the American Dream. She came to America as a young girl, decided to serve her country with the United States Navy, pursued a higher education, started a small business, and then was elected the first African American female Republican in the Florida State Legislature."

Carroll, 51, joined Scott on a campaign fly-around beginning in Jacksonville, a major hub of Republican voters near Carroll's home in Fleming Island. Stops were planned later today in Orlando and Tampa.

The campaign unfurled a "Scott Carroll" placard as Scott and Carroll stood on a platform outside the Jacksonville Naval Air Station, with a Blue Angel jet in the background. Carroll's husband Nolan and two of their three children were on hand, along with Scott's wife, Ann.

"Jennifer has an inspiring story to tell," Scott said.

Noting that Carroll was the first African-American Republican woman in the Legislature, Scott called her a "barrier-breaker."

Carroll, wearing a bright red suit, said she likes Scott's "energetic leadership," and added: "He is totally committed to turning around the economic conditions of this state." But she at first said Scott's "7-7-7" plan would create 7,000 jobs over seven years, not the 700,000 Scott is promising.

Carroll was a supporter of Bill McCollum in the primary, and said she kept her word and that his jobs message resonated with her. Scott declined to discuss the vetting process in detail.

"We're both outsiders and we both come from humble beginnings," Scott said. "Jennifer is clearly not perceived to be an insider."

Asked to cite her proudest accomplishment as a legislator, Carroll asked reporters to "look at my resume," and cited her work in lowering the burden on businesses in Florida.

In choosing Carroll, Scott, himself a Navy veteran, gets a woman with a distinctive personal story who could neutralize the gender appeal of his Democratic opponent, state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink:

• In a state where one in every seven voters is black — and nearly all of them Democrats — Carroll is an African-American Republican.
• As a native of Trinidad, Carroll is an immigrant who could help soften Scott's hard-line image on an issue that cuts both ways in a state with a large immigrant population.
• She packs a celebrity punch: Her son, Nolan II, is a rookie cornerback and kick returner for the Miami Dolphins, drafted out of the University of Maryland.

Carroll made Gov. Charlie Crist's short list of possible running mates in 2006. She was also among those listed as possible successors to Mel Martinez, who resigned his U.S. Senate seat last year.

Sink's running mate is Rod Smith, 60, a former state senator and elected state attorney from Alachua County who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006.

Carroll moved to Florida in 1986. She and her husband, Nolan, have three children.

She became the first black woman elected to the Legislature in a special election in 2003.

She retired after 20 years in the Navy, where she rose to the rank of lieutenant commander aviation maintenance officer.

She has a bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico and a master's degree in business administration from Saint Leo University in Pasco County.

Her official legislative biography notes that she is a lifelong member of both the NAACP and the National Rifle Association.

Her record is not free of blemishes, however.

Six years ago, after news reports said that she listed a degree from an online "diploma mill," Kensington University in California, she dropped the reference from her official resume.

"This causes me great concern," Carroll told the Florida Times-Union in 2004. "It's a lot of time, effort and money poured into a university I thought was a viable program."

They are safety engineers at nuclear power plants and biological weapons experts. They work at NATO headquarters, at the Pentagon and at nearly every other federal agency. And, as CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports, they're employees with degrees from phony schools.

"These degrees aren't worth the paper that they're printed on," says one insider, who asked CBS News to protect his identity.

The man worked at a so-called diploma mill where students pay a lot of money to get a degree online or through the mail for little or no work.

He says he's not surprised to know that there are people working at almost every level of government who have degrees from these types of operations.

Assistant Secretary of Defense Charles Abell has a master's from Columbus University, a diploma mill Louisiana shut down. Deputy Assistant Secretary Patricia Walker lists among her degrees, a bachelor's from Pacific Western, a diploma mill banned in Oregon and under investigation in Hawaii.

CBS News requested interviews with both officials. The Pentagon turned us down, saying, "We don't consider it an issue."

But using such a degree is a crime in some states. Alan Contreras cracks down on diploma mills for Oregon, a state that's taken the lead on this issue.

"You don't want somebody with a fake degree working in Homeland Security," says Contreras. "You don't want somebody with a fake degree teaching your children or designing your bridges."

But we found employees with diploma mill degrees at the new Transportation Security Administration, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Departments of Treasury and Education, where Rene Drouin sits on an advisory committee. He has degrees from two diploma mills including Kensington University.

Kensington was forced out of business by officials in California and Hawaii. Another Kensington alum, Florida State Rep. Jennifer Carroll, just stepped down from the National Commission on Presidential Scholars.

Both Carroll and Drouin say they worked hard and thought their degrees were legitimate.

"The students are being sold a bill of goods that really don't help them at all," the insider says. "There are slick people out there, and it's happening every day, every minute probably somewhere in America."

And taxpayers have paid for bogus degrees some workers used for hiring, promotions and raises

Kenyans have been cautioned against enrolling in five international universities purporting to offer degrees and diplomas.

Yesterday, the Commission for Higher Education (CHE) said Bircham International University, Dublin Metropolitan University and Dorcas International Theological College are not authorised to offer degree programmes.

Unaccredited programmes

Others that are operating illegally in the country include America World University as well as Nation University US. CHE boss Everret Standa said qualifications from such institutions would not be recognised.

"The public is cautioned against institutions that are offering dubious, unaccredited degree and diploma programmes," said Prof Standa.

The alert comes barely a week after The Standard exposed activities of the United Graduates College and Seminary, which has been dishing out honorary degrees to prominent Kenyans.

The institutions, Standa said, are not allowed to offer the degrees and diplomas either on their own or in collaboration with universities abroad.

According to the commission, Bircham International University is not accredited by any recognised accreditation agency in the US. It has also not been granted authority by CHE to collaborate with any institution in Kenya to offer any university education.

On the other hand, Dublin Metropolitan University is also not accredited by any recognised accreditation agency in Britain, and has also not been granted authority by CHE to collaborate with any local institution.

Authority to collaborate

Standa also cautioned that Dorcas International Theological College has not sought nor has it been granted authority to collaborate with any institution either locally or abroad to offer and award any degree level education and qualifications.

"Nations University, which it purports to collaborate with, does not appear in the list of institutions in USA accredited through any of the accrediting agencies recognised by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation in USA," he said.

Therefore, degrees issued by the theological college are not recognised in Kenya, said Standa.

There are seven public universities and 13 constituent colleges

A US-based college involved in a controversial dishing out of honorary degrees to prominent Kenyans is now the subject of a Federal Bureau of Investigations probe.

The state of Tennessee Department of Education through its education Commission has already launched investigations into the activities of United Graduate College and Seminary.

Speaking to The Standard on Sunday on telephone from Nashville US, an official from the Commissioner of Education office who requested anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the media, said the commission has launched its own investigations to get to the bottom of the saga.

Asked whether they will involve the FBI he said, "In such cases that go beyond our borders, we definitely have to involve the local security agencies including the FBI office."

But he was categorical that the United Graduate College and Seminary has no authority to operate in Tennessee.

It also termed claims that the college is fully endorsed as "wrong and misleading".

But faced with heavy criticism, the colleges’ chief chancellor Prof Clyde Rivers said the institution would dish out more than 2,000 doctorate degrees to Kenyans by the end of next year.

He said he would not be dissuaded by Press reports questioning the credibility of his institution and vowed to continue with his work. He said it should not be a crime to bring honour to many people.

"I have not come here to put up any university, but to honour Kenyans who would otherwise not be recognised," said Rivers.

New York — A string of VIPs in Kenya and around Africa could have paid thousands of dollars to three Americans liberally giving out doctorate degrees to the unsung heroes of Africa.

The letters inviting the selected men and women for the academic honour also asked them to make contributions towards the travel and accommodation expenses of the visiting Americans.

In one instance, the Daily Nation learnt that they asked a potential beneficiary to contribute about Sh240,000 ($3,000) to arrange for the award ceremony. The college's Chancellor of Educational Development Worldwide, Prof Clyde Rivers, at first told the Daily Nation in an interview that his team paid its own way but later admitted that the group had been asking for money.

"We pay our own way... We feel so passionate about Africa that we do it ourselves," said had Prof Rivers. The Daily Nation then confronted him with details that the letters they had been sending out to potential beneficiaries would often close with a request for money and he accepted that it was indeed true.

"We do ask people to cover our hotel. We spend $2,500 to $6,000 to fly here. We ask for that to help cost share. If someone says no, we don't disregard him. I'm just here to truly honour Africa," said Prof Rivers, flanked by two of his colleagues, a mother and her daughter.

And in an ironic twist of events, the president of the United Graduate College and Seminary, Dr Dorothy Wisor, said that she did not know how many students were enrolled in the university and had admitted that they do not have a physical campus anywhere in the US.

The college president said she did not have much details about the college because she only took up her job three weeks ago and had only a short while ago married the founder, Dr Martin Wisor.

The representatives of the internet-based institution have been on a spree around Africa, giving honorary doctorate degrees to the high and mighty. The list of those who have been honoured include House Speaker Kenneth Marende and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka.

Honorary degrees are usually given by universities to men and women for extraordinary achievements and are usually conferred at university campuses during graduation ceremonies.Neither Mr Marende nor Mr Musyoka had commented on the conferment of the degrees or whether they had given any money to the Americans despite repeated attempts by the Daily Nation to contact them through their aides.

Further afield, the Americans claim to have conferred the honorary degrees to Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni and his wife Janet, Burundi president Pierre Nkurunziza, former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo and former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano.

The university has also honoured the founder of the anti-jigger campaign in Kenya, Mr Stanely Kamau, former Nairobi mayor Joe Aketch and former Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation chairperson Zipporah Kittony.

The university is represented in Kenya by one-time Nairobi mayor Nathan Kahara who signs correspondence as a professor with a string of abbreviated titles after his name.

It is copied to Bishop Arthur Kitonga who is designated as professor and named the Special Advisor Worldwide. Prof Rivers said the institution would honour as many Africans as deserved it and said that they had contacted "Nelson Mandela's people" for the possibility of issuing him with a honorary doctorate.

He said he had been working in Africa since 2005 and had active programmes in Ghana, Mozambique, South Africa and Ghana.Prof Rivers said he had "discovered" that African achievers were hardly honoured and had decided to fill the gap.

His team was also driven by the realisation that many pastors were operating without academic credentials even though they had devoted their life in service to the Christian ministry. He said that despite the many honorary degrees awarded, they maintained a rigorous process and that through the Internet, their reach was global.

Prof Rivers admitted that his institution's Web site did not measure up to international standards and turned the blame on "people from the Third World" whom he claimed had hacked into the site and fraudulently made money out of it.

He said the college would be building a new Web site. He was accompanied at the half-hour interview by Prof Michal Pitzl, the colleges Chancellor of Education Development Worldwide and her daughter, Prof Donella Pitzl, the Vice Chancellor for communications. In Burundi, President Nkurunziza has appointed Prof Rivers as the country's honorary consul to the state of California.

Although the three American professors said that their headquarters were in Jonesborough, Tennessee, their business cards give an address in Victorville California, which is approximately 3,500 kilometres away by road or about seven times the distance between Nairobi and Mombasa.

Though it is at the discretion of a university to confer honorary degrees as they wish, most universities jealously guard the issuance and limit them to maximise their impact. The college's founder, Dr Wisor, said the "college" was able to operate anywhere because all the courses it offered were conducted online.

He also admitted that the college did not have a physical campus. At first she was hesitant to speak, saying she didn't know much about the college's workings because she'd only recently landed the job as its head. She said she was married a little while ago to Dr Martin Wisor, named on the college's Web site as the college's founder.

According to her, the college was established in 1985. Dr Dorothy Wisor also told the Daily Nation on telephone that the college did award many honorary degrees, and those that it gave were in recognition of "humanitarian services the recipients have provided to people in their countries" and because of "their service to God."

She also said that recipients had to be Christians. Asked whether the college was fully accredited, she said it was "fully endorsed."It appears that the college was what is referred to pejoratively in the US as a "diploma mill" -- meaning students can get a degree without doing much work as long as they paid whatever was required.

On its Web site, it says that the United Graduate College and Seminary is "fully endorsed by the United Association of Christian Churches and Ministries International" (UACCMI). On the UACCMI website, Dr Martin Wisor is listed as the association's founder and CEO while Dr Dorothy Wisor is listed as president of United Graduate College and Seminary. It turns out that the college that Dr Martin Wisor founded was "fully endorsed" by the association that Dr Martin Wisor founded.

A man who worked as a psychologist for the Saratoga County Public Defender’s Office and the Saratoga County Family Court was arrested by New York State Police Friday, accused of forging his degrees and other credentials.

Steven Feldman faces four felony charges: grand larceny, scheme to defraud, falsifying business records and offering a false statement. He is scheduled to appear in Ballston Spa Village Court Monday afternoon. The case will likely ultimately end up in Saratoga County Court.

According to District Attorney James A. Murphy III, Feldman "claimed he had certain degrees … and professional certifications that he does not allegedly have. He also claims he graduated from schools that State Police have advised are diploma mills."

According to Murphy, the Public Defender’s Office and Family Court used Feldman’s services to evaluate people petitioning the court or those accused of crimes.

Murphy said he believes State Police were notified about Feldman’s suspicious credentials by a person referred to Feldman for evaluation by a Family Court judge. That man researched Feldman’s credentials and came across evidence that one of the schools, Hamilton University, is not an accredited institution, Murphy said.

As an alleged Hamilton University alum, Feldman joins the ranks of Laura Callahan, the former senior director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who purchased bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the college and used them to further her career in government, according to a 2004 "60 Minutes" report.

The report described Hamilton University, located in Evanston, Wyo., as little more than an office with a few clerical workers. A former employee is quoted as saying she never saw a single teacher at the school. According to that news report, the "college" also operates a small church, which qualifies it as a tax-free institution.

In 2004, managing director of the Government Accountability Office’s office of Special Investigations, Robert J. Cramer, addressed a Congressional subcommittee on the topic of diploma mills. He mentioned Hamilton University specifically in his testimony.

"Diploma mills frequently use names similar to those used by accredited schools, which often allows the diploma mills to be mistaken for accredited schools," Cramer said. "For example, Hamilton University … which is not accredited by any accrediting body … has a name similar to Hamilton College, a fully accredited school in Clinton, New York."

Hamilton University’s website, which has since been taken down but is available through an archival website, indicated it was founded in 1976.

The website also states that the school is accredited through the American Council of Private Colleges and Universities, which is not approved by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

The District Attorney’s Office never used Feldman’s services, Murphy said. The vetting process for psychologists and other experts used by the District Attorney’s office is rigorous, he said. "We try to find someone … who has impeccable credentials; we actually do an investigation, a kind of background check, to ensure they have obtained their degree from that particular university and that they are in fact licensed."

Murphy said he could not comment on the vetting process used by either the Public Defender’s office or Family Court. No one was available for comment at either the Public Defender’s office or Family Court by press time Saturday.

Feldman did not respond to a voicemail request for comment.

While the sitting Pakistani heads of government and state continue to patronise bogus degree holders by helping them to get re-elected despite court orders, numerous countries across the globe are taking stringent actions against the elements found guilty of submitting such phoney documents to meet the eligibility criteria for recruitment, to get salary raises, to lure clients and to win seats in the legislative houses.

The very recent conviction of a Saudi woman on charges of forging her educational qualification — the impeachment of former Iranian Interior Minister Ali Kordan in 2008 on similar charges and the interrogation of Sven-Otto Littorin, the Swedish minister for Employment in 2007, for possessing an MBA degree issued by a diploma mill — serve as candid examples of how intolerant the world has been in recent years in this regard.

Other eminent international personalities who are known to have been pleaded guilty of acquiring fake educational degrees include British science fiction writer Ron Hubbard, former Senior Director at the US Department of Homeland Security Laura Callahan, former member of Canadian Parliament Jag Bhaduria, Toronto Stock Exchange’s former Vice President Terry Popowich, famous international football coach George O’Leary, Ireland’s Government Science Adviser Barry McSweeney and noted South Korean movie star Jang Mi-hee, who later became a theatre and visual arts professor at a prestigious college in her country on basis of forged documents.

All these afore-stated personalities had to relinquish their posts after they were found culpable.

By June 2009, more than 180 people from across the Gulf had been blacklisted for holding fake US academic certificates allegedly bought from non-accredited institutions, including 69 from Saudi Arabia and 68 from the UAE.

But in Pakistan, even federal ministers accused of possessing fake degrees continue to make hay without being questioned.

Although the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan is looking after all the activities related to the accreditation of universities and has publicised a list of recognised universities, absence of stern laws not only continues to facilitate unscrupulous characters to buy fake degrees from diploma mills functional both at home and abroad, but a virtually non-existent legislation in this context also encourages fraudulent elements to keep on procuring and falsifying their academic credentials without any fear of being penalised or convicted.

In India, where Section 22 of the University Grants Commission Act 1956 states that degrees can only be granted or conferred by a university established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act or an institution empowered by an Act of Parliament, the issue of fake educational degrees churned out by diplomas mills continues to plague the whole education system despite checks.

Sensing the gravity of the situation, the Bombay High Court thus went out ordering the powerful Central Bureau of Investigation in February 2010 to launch an investigation into the matter and curb this menace forthwith.

The Bombay High Court order had come in the back drop of a revelation that as many as 729 cases of fake degree certificates had been identified in the prestigious University of Pune by March 2, 2010 and another 237 phoney degrees were spotted by the Mumbai University earlier this year.

Faced with a rather arduous task to probe into the matter of fake documents submitted by candidates for recruitment, the Indian investigators are still meeting university officials to get closer to the culprits involved, which is a huge headache for the revered Indian universities at the moment.

In Australia, it is a criminal offence to call an institution a university or issue a university degree without authorisation through an act of federal or state parliaments.

Under the Australian Higher Education Support Act 2003, corporations wishing to use the term "university" require approval from the minister for education in Canberra.

Australia thus places strict controls on corporations wishing to use the term "university" and the name must not imply a connection with an existing university. The Corporations Regulations 2001 hence lists only 39 academic organisations, which are permitted to use the title "university."

Specific penalties covered by the provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974, permitting fines in excess of Australian dollars 10 million.

In Canada, the Border Services Agency had reported concerns about "visa mills" in 2006; fraudulent universities operated for the sole purpose of helping foreign nationals obtain student visas to allow them to enter Canada. This of course had led to an organised government action and cartels were unearthed.

In Finland, for the purposes of professional qualification, the use of foreign degree qualifications is regulated. It goes without saying that forging degrees is a felony in Finland too.

In Germany, it is a criminal offence to call an institution a university or issue academic degrees without the authorisation from the respective state’s ministry of education. It is also a crime to falsely claim a degree in Germany, if it does not meet accredited approval.

In Hong Kong’s case, anyone found using false documents with the intention of inducing somebody to accept the same as genuine, is liable for a 14-year imprisonment.

The HK law outlines that anyone who makes or possesses machines that create false documents is also liable for 14-year jail time.

In Malaysia, it is an offence under the Education Act 1996 to establish and operate a higher educational institution by the use of the word "university," except in accordance with any written law.

The Malaysian law prescribes a fine of 50,000 Ringgits or an imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or even both if a bogus institution is set up.

Apart from the penalties prescribed by the Act above, under the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971, anybody found guilty of promoting any activities for the purpose of establishing a university or college, unless it is being done in accordance with the provisions of this Act, may be fined 10,000 Ringgits or imprisoned for a term of five years.

In New Zealand, the Kiwi authorities announced their intention to take action against unaccredited schools in 2004 and University of Newlands, an unaccredited distance-learning provider based in Wellington, was challenged along with a few others. In Philippines, the falsification of medical certificates, certificates of merit or service is a criminal act.

The law penalises the maker or the manufacturer of such certificates, specifically a physician or surgeon in connection with the practice of his profession and a public official. It also penalises the one who procures and knowingly uses such false certificate.

In Portugal, there has been a growing effort since the year 2000 to define non-accredited universities or accredited institutions and to raise awareness about the problem. In 1999 alone, over 15,000 students enrolled in Portuguese higher learning institutions were found possessing bogus degrees.

Since 2007, Portugal has enforced more inflexible rules for all kind of public and private degree-conferring institutions.

In Romania, various universities have been listed as diploma mills.

Although these universities received accreditation from Romania’s National Council of Academic Evaluation in 2002, their accreditations were cancelled for a large number of specialisations after scams had surfaced.

In South Korea also, it is illegal to falsely educational degrees.

In March 2006, prosecutors in Seoul were reported to have broken up a crime ring selling bogus music diplomas from Russia, which helped many land university jobs and seats in orchestras.

Consequently, people who falsely used these degrees were criminally charged.

Early 2007, a university professor was criminally charged for forging and misusing a degree from the Yale University.

In Sweden, a minister was found possessing a fake degree from a diploma mill in 2007.

After he was found guilty on this count, the employment minister tried to convince the Swedish media and people that the MBA degree was granted to him in good order. Probably due to the fact that he did not let anyone peer review his thesis, he was eventually forced to remove the reference from his official curriculum vitae, but somehow managed to survive.

In Switzerland, it is a criminal offence, under the Unfair Competition Legislation, to use any unfounded academic or occupational qualifications. At least three notable diploma mills were identified in Switzerland, but law eventually took its course against them.

In the United Kingdom, it is illegal to offer something that may be mistaken for a UK degree unless the awarding body is on a list maintained by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. This is difficult to enforce on the Internet, where a site may be based abroad. However, the UK Trading Standards officers have had notable success in countering a large diploma mill group based abroad that was using British place-names for its "universities".

In the United States, no federal law strangely exists to prohibit diploma mills.

Hence, the term "university" is not legally protected on a national level. As a result, the United States is deemed a diploma mill haven from a global viewpoint.

Some degree mills have taken advantage of a relatively lenient law on this issue by representing themselves as seminaries, as religious institutions can legally offer degrees in religious subjects without government regulation in many jurisdictions.

In 2005, the US Department of Education had endeavoured to combat the spread of fraudulent degrees and a number of states have passed bills restricting the ability of organisations to award degrees without accreditation.

Almost 10,000 people had been blacklisted by the US Department of Justice by mid of 2009 for purchasing fake high school and college degrees from a "degree mill" based in Washington.

Moreover, nearly a dozen teachers, counsellors and principals in the US state of Georgia were investigated for purchasing fake advanced degrees from an unaccredited online university in Liberia that grants master’s and doctorate degrees.

On Hickory Street in Uptown New Orleans, not far from the Riverbend area, you may not notice it, but you'll find a university.

According to an FBI search warrant, a duplex in the 8200 block of Hickory is the Internet's Columbus University. The FBI confirms that it recently raided it as part of an investigation, calling it a "diploma mill," and its business of selling diplomas, a fraud.

An FBI spokesperson would not offer any additional comment, calling this an ongoing investigation. But in its search warrant, the FBI lays out a scenario that it says is designed to deceive would-be students from all over the world, and it says the university’s operators are doing so on computers inside the house.

Columbus University would mail out diplomas, law degrees and doctorates, according to FBI agents, in courses like psychology, chemistry, nursing, biology and dozens more, even though the online university has only one professor and no one qualified to award doctorates.

Additionally, Columbus University has no state accreditation from Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama, where it claims to operate, meaning the degrees are worthless.

According to the FBI, Columbus operators are getting help keeping it a secret from students, from a well-known person in a strange place.

The search warrant says Michael O’Keefe Sr., a high-ranking Louisiana state senator for 24 years, was providing instructions to the school's director, a Dr. Mary Martin. That includes not telling students about the true nature of Columbus University's operations, according to the FBI.

The FBI also alleges that the 78-year-old former senate president was doing so from inside of the Butner federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, where he's serving 19 years for stealing from a failed insurance company.

Former U.S. attorney Harry Rosenberg said O’Keefe could be a central figure in the university probe.

"It suggests that O’Keefe was actually the one being the mastermind behind all this, because he was giving instructions as to how to run this diploma mill," Rosenberg said.

When O’Keefe went to jail in 1999, it marked a third federal conviction, the end of a decades’ long legal battle, and a fall from grace and power.

"I am 67 years old. My life is about to end anyhow, but what they've put my family through. It's unbelievable," an emotional O’Keefe said in 1999 after his sentencing.

"His downfall was one of the most spectacular, in the sense of how big it was, how powerful he was, and how far he fell, in my lifetime," said Clancy DuBos, Channel 4 political analyst and Gambit political columnist.

DuBos said the power broker used to be called the "snowman."

"They said he could walk across a field of snow and not leave tracks. Well, that was in the 1970s and '80s. Nowadays, with technology and the federal government having all of its vast powers, it’s very hard to weave webs that can't be seen," DuBos said.

Also inside of Butner prison is O’Keefe's son, Michael O’Keefe Jr. He's doing 18 months for a house-flipping scam involving the federal government. Based on the search warrant of the Hickory Street duplex, the FBI confiscated five pages worth of materials, several computers and hard drives, bank and payroll records and 25 boxes of documents. One of them was listed as bank and tax records for Michael O’Keefe Jr.

"This seems to smack of uniqueness, because you've got father and son, both of whom are serving time for federal offenses," Rosenberg said. "And now both are being investigated again for criminal activities that seem to overlap with their prior offenses."

There is a history that goes back three decades between Michael O’Keefe Sr. and Columbus University's leader, Mary Martin, who was then Mary Blacksher, and served as O’Keefe's accountant. In the early 1980s, both were indicted in a $6 million bank fraud case.

Eyewitness News went to the house on Hickory Street, looking for Dr. Mary Martin and answers about the FBI's probe and the O’Keefe's alleged involvement. A young woman working on a computer in the front room answered the door and said she would get Mary Martin, who never came.

"We're not going to comment," the woman answering the door said.

According to the FBI search warrant, the working operations of Columbus University, in business for a decade, are three women on computers, including Martin. The FBI says she has no advanced degrees. Another woman identified by the FBI is Dr. Shannon O'Brien, the school’s lone professor for 50 degrees offered, whom the FBI says awarded herself a doctorate from Columbus University. The third woman, according to the search warrant, is Helen Anglade.

You can view the Columbus website in English, French or Arabic. The FBI says that’s because Columbus has an affiliate school in Saudi Arabia, and that a Saudi business partner sends money and a list of names to Hickory Street, then the diplomas are mailed back overseas to foreign students.

According to the website, degrees -- or as the website lists them, "degres," one of several misspelled words on the site -- range from $3,000 for a bachelor’s degree, to $3,600 hundred for a master’s degree and $4,200 for a doctorate.

The FBI says the money flows from students to a company called Administrative Inc., which lists 3623 Canal St. as its official address. The building used to house the O’Keefe and O’Keefe law firm as well as Citywide Mortgage, the company at the center of the scandal that sent Michael O’Keefe Jr. to prison.

WWL went to the building to find Administrative Inc., but found no evidence of any of their businesses, only stacked up desks and file cabinets from the O’Keefe law firm, and nothing that speaks to Administrative Inc. or Columbus University.

Despite multiple e-mails and calls for a response, Eyewitness News did not hear back from any Columbus representatives.

Using an alias, a reporter applied to Columbus University for next semester, leaving a phone message, and applying online.

There was this response: "While I thank you for your interest, the university is not accepting new students at this time." It was signed by Shannon O'Brien, faculty adviser for Columbus University.

Again, the FBI says O’Brien is not only the adviser, she's the faculty.

Gov. Jim Doyle has signed into law a bill that makes it a crime to manufacture or use false academic credentials.

The bill Doyle signed Wednesday targets so-called diploma mills, unauthorized schools that issue degrees to students who pay them money and do little work.

Supporters say the new law will help prosecutors go after diploma mill operators and allow employers to take action against those who try to use fake credentials to score jobs or bonuses.

The new law also prohibits unauthorized schools from using the terms "college" or "university" in their names.

A bill signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie Thursday will prohibit school employees from profiting from degrees obtained from mail-order or unaccredited colleges.

The legislation, known as the diploma mill law, was inspired by the 2008 discovery that Freehold Regional High School District superintendent, H. James Wasser, and several current and former staff members received doctoral degrees from the online, unaccredited Breyer State University.

"This bill requires that our public school employees attend only accredited institutions if they wish to receive tuition assistance," state Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth, said in a prepared statement. "Additional education should be rewarded, and this law ensures that those rewards only go to individuals attending accredited institutions, not some Internet-based diploma mill."

The state concluded in early September 2008 that Wasser, Assistant Superintendent Donna Evangelista and a former assistant superintendent must stop using their doctoral titles or face fines, which they complied with. Wasser relinquished his stipend and later apologized to the district.

The law requires several conditions be met for educators to receive tuition assistance and receive pay increases for higher degrees or other academic course work. The course or degree has to be related to an employees current or future job responsibilities and the institution must be accredited.

The law also requires either the superintendent of schools or, in the case of a superintendent, the Board of Education approve course work for which they're are seeking tuition assistance from the district.

"The cost of education is high enough in New Jersey, and there is far too much waste. I am personally very pleased that the governor has taken the correct action to turn off this particular leaky faucet," Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, R-Monmouth, said in a prepared statement. "Our public school systems must be protected."

Wasser retires in June, ending 23 years in the district. He currently earns $215,000 a year in addition to benefits such as medical insurance and a vehicle.

The legislation, signed by Christie Thursday, was sponsored by Beck; Casagrande; Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini, Assemblyman David Rible, both R-Monmouth; state Sen. Richard J. Codey, D-Essex; and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, D-Union.

Ontario is vowing to clamp down on private universities that are trying to attract foreign students by offering bogus degrees.

The changes, designed to close loopholes in existing legislation, come as the province aims to attract up to 50 per cent more foreign students to its campuses in the next five years.

New powers to be introduced Tuesday will allow the province to shut down schools that offer university degrees that have not been approved by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Until now, the only recourse for the government has been through the courts, said a spokeswoman for the ministry. "These are organizations that are calling themselves universities that have not gone through the approvals process," Annette Philips said. "They are mostly targeting international students."

At the centre of the crackdown are such schools as Hawkesbury University, which bills itself online as "an independent, co-educational business and liberal arts international institution of higher learning."

The institution, which is headquartered at Prestige Restaurant in Hawkesbury, Ont., has no approvals from the Ontario government to do business in the province as a university or as a private career college. Earlier this month, the province issued a restraining order under the Private Career Colleges Act, barring the unregistered school from advertising its unapproved programs.

Owner Ashraf Hossain Siddiky had been advertising the school on a bright yellow website, which remains up despite the restraining order handed down April 19. Efforts to reach Mr. Siddiky were unsuccessful.

The ministry says the website was tweaked during the investigation to say the school was "proposed" and that it is "not yet operating." The failure to shut down the website entirely was one reason the university was ordered to close down.

Hawkesbury Mayor Jeanne Charleboise knew something was suspicious the day she got an e-mail asking about the new university in town.

"If there was a university here I would know about it. I would have been at the opening. It’s an election year," said Ms. Charleboise, the top politician in the town of 10,870 people that sits on the Ontario-Quebec border east of Ottawa.

She alerted the province and the police, which are now investigating.

According to the ministry’s report on its own investigation, a designate met with Mr. Siddiky at the school on April 13. He told the designate he was only registered in the state of Delaware, though he tried and failed to get the school incorporated as a federal corporation in Ottawa.

Hawkesbury University had been targeted by the ministry before, but only with a warning. On Aug. 12, 2009, the Postsecondary Accountability branch of the ministry sent a letter to the school telling it to stop advertising. A local news story printed earlier this month spurred the ministry to crack down, the documents read.

All Mr. Siddiky wanted to do was start up a university after his two grown children moved away from home, said brother-in-law Nazrul Talukder from the convenience store he owns in Hawkesbury.

"For a long time he was talking about starting one," he said. "He has an idea that he’s going to make a university because there is no university down here."

He said Mr. Siddiky, a lawyer who got his degree in Britain, came to Hawkesbury about 12 years ago and owns and operates Prestige Restaurant.

As the province targets international students, Ms. Philips, the ministry spokeswoman, said it is import that courses offered to foreign students are legitimate.

In the case of Hawkesbury, the province also was able to take action because it was offering vocation training, which is policed by the province under its career college legislation.

Two Brownsville Independent School District administrators who made frequent and public use of their doctoral titles obtained the Ph.D.s from an online institution whose degrees are illegal in Texas.

Oscar Cantu Sr., administrator of the district’s Adult Continuing Education Department, and his son, Oscar Cantu Jr., special assignment administrator assigned to Brownsville Early College High School, both cite degrees in educational administration from Canbourne University obtained in 2005, and represent themselves as having doctoral degrees, according to documents obtained through a public information request.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board lists Canbourne on its roster of "Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas."

Both Cantus had been displaying their doctoral titles prominently on BISD websites and in e-mail and hard-copy correspondence, but all references to "Dr." Cantu now have been removed from BISD websites.

In addition, Cantu Sr. last week said he is in the process of removing all references to the degree from BISD websites, e-mail and hard-copy correspondence.

Susan Fox, the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources, said she told Cantu Sr. by telephone to stop using the title after Brett Springston took over as superintendent in January. She said she assumes the elder Cantu told his son of the directive.

‘NO WRONG INTENTION’

Cantu Sr. defends his Canbourne degree, saying he received a Ph.D. in educational administration by submitting transcripts of post-master’s and other completed coursework.

His resume lists a bachelor’s and a master’s from the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, as well as a mid-management administrator certificate.

"They have a program out of New York City," Cantu said of Canbourne. "We submitted transcripts to the university and we were told that they accepted those."

Canbourne later certified the transcripts and the degree with an "apostille" — a certification — issued by Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Once the apostille was issued, the degree became "a legal document," he said.

"There was no wrong intention here at all," Cantu said. "I’m not being compensated based on that degree."

Cantu Jr. at first spoke with the The Brownsville Herald about his Canbourne degree, then said confidential information was being compromised.

On Friday, Cantu Jr. did not return a voice mail request for comment left on his phone at Brownsville Early College High School.

CANBOURNE UNIVERSITY

Online, Canbourne University seems legitimate. It lists a physical address in London and has a United Kingdom-based website.

However, on that website, the biography of its chancellor, "Paul C. Crosbie, the Lord Paul of Coleshill," is identical to the biography of Richard Vincent, chancellor of Cranfield University, a legitimate and accredited post-graduate university with two campuses in Great Britain.

When informed of the nearly identical biographies, Barbara Clack, an administrator in the vice-chancellor’s office at Cranfield University, said she personally knows Richard Vincent and that the person pictured on the Canbourne site with Vincent’s identical biography is not him.

"I have passed your email to our secretary/registrar, Prof. William Stephens, for further investigation, but it would seem that Canbourne is a fraudulent organization. We will contact you further once we have investigated," Clack wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

Canbourne’s website lists no telephone number — only a fax number.

Prospective students are invited online to apply for degrees ranging from a high school diploma to a Ph.D. by submitting coursework from any collegiate institution, in addition to work and life experience that may qualify them for the degree.

Canbourne’s website lists 14,407 students, mostly outside the United Kingdom, for the 2002-2003 school year — the most recent year for which it gives figures.

DEFINING ‘ILLEGAL’

But what makes a degree from Canbourne University "illegal" in Texas?

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in the preface to its illegal degree list, defines a "fraudulent or substandard degree" as one that is issued by a non-accredited institution or one that was certified by an accreditor not recognized by the board.

Section 32.52 of the Texas Penal Code prohibits the use of such degrees to obtain employment or an employment promotion, "regardless of whether the actor receives compensation for the position."

Diploma mills like Canbourne typically are unaccredited schools or colleges that grant relatively worthless diplomas for a fee.

The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree and the organization is motivated by making a profit. These degrees are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some such organizations claim accreditation by non-recognized / unapproved accrediting bodies set up for the purposes of providing a veneer of authenticity

THE DISTRICT RESPONDS

Administrators receive no additional compensation for having a doctorate under Brownsville school district policy. Teachers, however, earn more for having a Ph.D.

Despite that, the district’s employee handbook does provide for truthful disclosure of credentials.

"It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to furnish accurate information and any falsification of either information or credentials shall be cause for dismissal or refusal to employ," according to the handbook.

Susan Fox, school district human resources administrator, said the Cantus submitted their degrees in 2005, when Johnny Pineda was administrator of the district’s Human Resources Department. Pineda is now superintendent of the Raymondville Independent School District.

Fox said former superintendent Hector Gonzales asked her to check on the degrees in December 2008. She spoke to the Cantus about the questionable nature of the degrees back then, she said, but they continued to use the credentials.

When Springston took over as superintendent, Fox asked him if he wanted her to continue to work on the situation. He told her to proceed.

Charles Lackey, dean of graduate studies at the University of Texas at Brownsville, said diploma mills undermine higher education. He said the university does not accept the fake degrees and checks to ensure prospective students and staff do not try to use them.

"There’s nothing we can do to prevent people from getting them, but they undermine the integrity of education in the U.S.," Lackey said. "Certainly, UTB discourages people from using this type of thing as an ego booster or to deceive themselves."

De naam universiteit en de Nederlandse graden krijgen een betere bescherming van de overheid. Staatssecretaris Van Bijsterveldt schrijft in een brief aan de Tweede Kamer dat ze de voorbereiding hiertoe inmiddels ter hand heeft genomen.

Nu is het nog zo dat elke instelling die dat wil de naam universiteit, hogeschool of university (of applied science) kan voeren. Ook de bachelor- en mastergraden en titels zijn vrij, zodat iedereen zich bijvoorbeeld Bachelor of Arts (BA) of Master of Science (MSc) kan noemen. Dit leidt tot onduidelijkheid bij studenten en werkgevers, oneerlijke concurrentie en regelrechte diplomafraude.

Om hier een einde aan te maken wil Van Bijsterveldt de naam universiteit reserveren voor instellingen die erkend zijn op grond van de Nederlandse wet. Titels en graden mogen dan alleen worden afgegeven door opleidingen die zijn geaccrediteerd door de Nederlands Vlaamse Accreditatie Organisatie (NVAO). Personen mogen de Nederlandse titels alleen gebruiken als ze zijn verleend door geaccrediteerde opleidingen.

Onderzoek heeft aangetoond dat een verbod op het dragen van de naam universiteit door een instelling die deze naam niet verdient, goed mogelijk is. In de onderzochte gebieden (Vlaanderen, Baden-Württemberg, Noordrijn-Westfalen, Oostenrijk, Verenigd Koninkrijk en Australië) gebeurt dit al. Een uitzondering wordt gemaakt voor buitenlandse instellingen in Nederland die in het eigen land erkend zijn, en de titels en graden van een dergelijke instelling.

---

Google translation:

The name and the Dutch university degrees have better protection from the government. Secretary Of Bijsterveldt wrote in a letter to the House that they do now to prepare has undertaken.

It is still true that any institution that is the name of university, college or university (or Applied Science) can perform. The bachelor's and master's degrees and titles are free, so everyone such as Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Master of Science (MSc) can call. This leads to confusion among students and employees, unfair competition and outright fraud diploma.

To find an end to them will of Bijsterveldt the name of university reserved for institutions approved under Dutch law. Titles and degrees may only be issued by programs that are accredited by the Dutch Flemish Accreditation Organization (NVAO). Persons Dutch titles may only be used if they are provided by accredited training.

Research has shown that a ban on wearing the name of university by an institution of that name does not deserve the best. In the investigated regions (Flanders, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Austria, UK and Australia) this is done al. An exception is made for foreign bodies in the Netherlands in the country recognized, and the titles and degrees of such an institution.

A month after West Linn city councilors censured her for unprofessional conduct, a state official contends West Linn Mayor Patti Galle may have broken Oregon law by presenting a nonaccredited "degree mill" certificate as a legitimate college degree.

The Oregon attorney general's office is investigating, but Alan Contreras, administrator of the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization, which is charged with monitoring candidates' postsecondary accreditations, said there is no wiggle room in assessing Galle's purported English degree from Redding University.

"It is a total fake," Contreras said "It's a civil violation for which she can be fined."

Galle did not return phone calls seeking comment. Her attorney, Jeffrey Seymour, said Tuesday he was not familiar with the law cited by Contreras and that he and Galle believe she will be found innocent of any wrongdoing.

The controversy, the latest for West Linn's first-term mayor, involves Voters' Pamphlet material Galle submitted before the 2008 general election. Among other accomplishments, Galle listed "degreed in English with emphasis on teaching."

Under Oregon law, it's a class B misdemeanor for someone to assert in an official document such as the Voters' Pamphlet that they have received a postsecondary degree unless it comes from an accredited institution.

$395 degree

Redding University appears to exist primarily as a Web site, advertising diplomas in 48 fields awarded for four years of work/life experience related to a major.

"Please do not get the impression that by simply applying, you will qualify for a Ph.D. in a field that you have no knowledge of or experience in," according to the Web site. "On the other hand, if you have a substantial amount of life or work experience, you might qualify for every degree available."

A bachelor's degree costs $395, with master's and doctorates going for $425 and $475, respectively. Frames and shipping are extra.

This isn't the first time an Oregon elected official has run into trouble over Voters' Pamphlet statements, which by law must be truthful and accurate.

Former Oregon Rep. Wes Cooley was convicted in 1997 of claiming that he had served in Korea. In fact, he never left the United States. He was sentenced to two years' probation, ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and perform 100 hours of community service. And in 1984, voters swiftly recalled then-Rep. Pat Gillis after he stated, incorrectly, that he had earned a master's degree.

In Galle's case, her attorney maintains that the mayor's Voters' Pamphlet statements were truthful.

Redding University may not be accredited in the same way that Oregon State University and the University of Oregon are," Seymour said, "but she has a college degree in English. That's what she said in the Voters' Pamphlet and it's true."

He added that Galle is not required to have a degree of any kind to hold the office of West Linn mayor.

"She could have an eighth-grade education and it wouldn't make any difference at all," Seymour said. "We believe that, in the end, this will work out in her favor."

The secretary of state's office first began reviewing the matter after receiving an inquiry. The office's elections division, after meeting with Galle and Seymour, referred the matter to the state Department of Justice.

Tony Green, an attorney general's spokesman, declined to elaborate on the investigation or say when it might be concluded.

String of accusations

The incident is just the latest roiling of West Linn City Hall, where the embattled mayor has rarely been seen in months.

The Feb. 8 censure resolution, passed by a 3-0 vote, claimed, among other things, that Galle has violated the confidentiality of executive sessions, exhibited unprofessional behavior, created a hostile work environment and filed false allegations about city officials to the Oregon attorney general's office.

Galle, in turn, ended up asking the state attorney general to look into allegations of what she called corruption in West Linn. After reviewing Galle's allegations, the attorney general's office rejected her claims

State officials seize West Linn Mayor Patti Galle's computer during search, Yuxing Zheng,, West Linn, Oregon, The Oregonian, April 2, 2010.

Oregon Department of Justice officials seized West Linn Mayor Patti Galle's computer from City Hall on Thursday afternoon as part of their ongoing investigation into whether Galle knowingly provided false information on her Voters' Pamphlet statement.

State justice officials arrived at City Hall around 4 p.m. Thursday with a search warrant, said Kirsten Wyatt, city spokeswoman. Galle also notified City Hall that the investigators had been at her house.

"City staff is unaware of the details of the investigation," Wyatt said.

The justice officials also requested the city to back up e-mails, she said.

A state official with the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization said last month that Galle may have broken Oregon law by presenting a nonaccredited "degree mill" certificate as a legitimate college degree.

Alan Contreras, administrator of the agency, which is charged with monitoring candidates' postsecondary accreditations, said there is no wiggle room in assessing Galle's purported English degree from Redding University.

Galle had listed a '"College Degree in English" under the educational background portion of her Voters' Pamphlet statement. In an August 2008 form she filed to run for mayor, Galle listed she was "degreed in English with emphasis on teaching." She did not name a school in either situation.

Under Oregon law, it's a class B misdemeanor for someone to assert in an official document such as the Voters' Pamphlet that they have received a postsecondary degree unless it comes from an accredited institution.

The investigation is just the latest in a series of disruptions involving West Linn officials. On Feb. 8, city councilors accused the mayor of unprofessional behavior and other problems, and asked her to make changes or resign. Galle has asked everyone from the state attorney general to the FBI to investigate what she called corruption in West Linn government.

West Linn Mayor Patti Galle resigns amid state investigation, Yuxing Zheng,, West Linn, Oregon, The Oregonian, April 17, 2010.

West Linn Mayor Patti Galle resigned late Friday afternoon, two days after The Oregonian detailed court records indicating Galle bought a college degree online and backdated the diploma to support campaign claims that she was "degreed in English."

Patti Galle"I believe that it is in the best interest of the city of West Linn and all concerned parties that I tender my resignation as mayor, effective immediately," she wrote in an e-mail to City Manager Chris Jordan at 5:05 p.m. Friday. "I do this with much regret, but I am honored to have had the opportunity to serve the citizens of the city."

Galle also said she had sent to City Hall a certified parcel containing a signed copy of her resignation, office keys and a debit card.

The West Linn City Council will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Monday to discuss how to proceed.

"We will research and prepare information for the City Council to review on Monday, and at that time the Council will decide how to address the vacancy," Jordan said.

The Oregon Department of Justice is investigating whether Galle misrepresented her education credentials when she claimed she was "degreed in English with an emphasis on teaching" while filing to run for mayor in 2008.

Knowingly making false statements on an official election document is a Class C felony punishable by as much as five years in prison and a $125,000 fine.

"The investigation is still ongoing" despite Galle's resignation, Tony Green, a Justice Department spokesman, said late Friday.

Galle and her attorney, Jeffrey Seymour, did not return messages seeking comment Friday evening.

The criminal investigation is the latest in a series of disruptions involving West Linn officials.

On Feb. 8, city councilors censured Galle, accusing her of unprofessional behavior and asking her to make changes or resign.

Galle previously had asked the state attorney general and the FBI to investigate what she called corruption in the West Linn government. The attorney general's office found no basis for Galle's allegations.

On April 1, state investigators searched Galle's home and city office and seized two laptop computers, a cell phone, the diploma and financial records. Galle quietly cleaned out her city office April 10.

The Oregon Department of Justice disclosed preliminary findings of its investigation to a Clackamas County judge last month when it requested the search warrants.

According to the affidavit, Galle's diploma from Redding University was dated 1973, but investigators said the "diploma mill" operation was not established until 2003. Court records indicate investigators also seized a computer receipt showing Galle bought the diploma Feb. 12 of this year.

Representatives of Redding University told investigators that Galle had applied for a degree Feb. 5, according to court documents. The university awards degrees in 48 fields based on life and work experience.

A week later, Galle paid Redding University for an associate of arts degree, which Redding's website lists as costing $375.

The Oregon secretary of state originally launched the investigation of Galle's education credentials after receiving a citizen complaint in January 2009. It forwarded the case to the attorney general's office in March

For only $963, anyone can get a high school diploma, an associate degree and a bachelor's degree based solely on "life experience."

The problem? All three degrees are fake.

With 53 diploma mills -- organizations that issue bogus degrees -- Texas ranks fifth in the United States, according to the British company Verifile, which tracks diploma mills. California tops the country with 134 companies, followed by Hawaii, Washington and Florida.

Some mills issue medical and other degrees that help individuals land jobs that could put people's lives at risk, according to a report co-written by Eyal Ben Cohen, Verifile's managing director.

Others worry that fake diplomas could provide terrorists an entryway into the United States.

Diploma mills tend to locate in areas with the least regulation, Cohen said. And they have become an international, $100 million-plus annual business, with the United States at the epicenter, he said

People only need to tap into online job networking sites to see the evidence.

"The threat is huge," Cohen said. "If you go to LinkedIn and do a search, you will find thousands of people who happily are boasting that they have an education from diploma mills."

Price list

Verifile defines diploma mills as mostly online companies that offer degrees without the legal authority to grant them. Prices range from $100 to thousands of dollars. Some will grant a "degree" based on a résumé detailing life experience and let applicants choose their majors and year of graduation. Others might ask applicants to write an essay, Cohen said.

Belford University, for example, will give students a bachelor's degree based on life experience for $449 and a doctoral degree for $549. Majors include civil and aerospace engineering, psychiatry and medicine, according to Belford's Web site. Package deals are also available, such as a high school diploma, an associate's degree and a bachelor's degree for $963.

Belford claims on its Web site to be accredited by the International Accreditation for Online Universities, which Cohen said is not a recognized accreditation agency. Belford states it will provide complete verification of a student's credentials by phone should an employer need them.

As is typical of such schools, Cohen said, the school provides no address, just a phone number. The Better Business Bureau places the school in Humble, north of Houston.

Ashwood University's Web site says that there's "no need to take admission exams, no need to study." You can "receive a college degree for what you already know!" Ashwood claims to be accredited by the World Online Education Accrediting Commission and the Board of Online Universities Accreditation, neither of which is recognized by the U.S. Education Department. The school has a mailbox listing in Humble, according to the Better Business Bureau

A bachelor's degree can be obtained for four years of life experience relevant to the major, according to Ashwood's Web site. A doctorate requires eight. Lifetime experience includes job experience in any field, military training, educational achievements and "independent reading, viewing, listening or writing," the Web site says.

A bachelor's degree costs $479, a doctorate, $599. The bachelor's degree recipient receives 10 documents: one "accredited degree," two transcripts, four verification letters, an award of excellence, a certificate of distinction and a certificate of membership, the Web site states. A 3.0 grade-point average (a B average) is free. A 3.9 or 4.0 GPA costs an extra $60.

"If you know anything about education, you would know that education is not something [for which] you only need your credit card number," Cohen said.

Dire consequences

The danger is that not all employers take the necessary steps to verify a degree's authenticity, Cohen said. Sometimes they just look at the document that states a person has a bachelor's degree, or they call the "university" and get confirmation that indeed a person "graduated" from it. Sometimes diploma mills give their university a name similar to those of legitimate schools.

The reputable Regis University in Denver, for example, sued in 2004, alleging that the diploma mill St. Regis University and its principals infringed on its trademark. The lawsuit was settled when the defendants agreed to cease using "St. Regis" or any name that could cause confusion with Regis University, said Donnie Veasey, Regis' director of media relations.

The deception about a person's education can have dire consequences. In North Carolina, a Laurence Perry created a doctor's office, wore a white coat and collected bogus credentials to convey that he was a legitimate medical professional, said Sam Constance, a former investigator for the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department.

In 2002, Perry was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and practicing medicine without a license in North Carolina and sentenced to 12-15 months in prison, according to court documents. He was accused of telling the mother of an 8-year-old diabetic girl, Helena Rose Kolitwenzew, to stop her insulin treatments. The girl died Oct. 21, 1999, from diabetic ketoacidosis. The complication occurs when the body cannot use sugar as a fuel source because it has no insulin or not enough insulin.

In Texas, David Karam of El Paso claimed that he had a medical degree from the St. Luke School of Medicine, a diploma mill with ties to California and the West African countries of Ghana and Liberia, said George Gollin, a physics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who researches diploma mills.

In a 2004 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Bio-Life Labs claimed that it had acquired exclusive rights from Karam to "Carcinoderm, a topical ointment that destroys skin cancer cells" without harming the surrounding healthy tissue. The statement says that Bio-Life paid Karam $250,000 plus company stock valued at $29,610. Another filing listed Karam as director of doctoral programs and an adjunct professor in neurosciences at St. Luke and said he received "his Doctor of Medicine degree from St. Luke School of Medicine."

Karam could not be reached for comment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved no drug known as Carcinoderm, FDA spokeswoman Erica Jefferson said. A 2007 SEC report says Bio-Life "has not engaged in any material business operations for approximately the last two years." The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board lists St. Luke's as having no accreditation from a recognized authority and notes that it was disowned by the Liberian government.

'Lack of oversight'

So why are these diploma companies allowed to operate? Texas law bans the use of fraudulent or substandard degrees "in a written or oral advertisement or other promotion of a business; or with the intent to: obtain employment; obtain a license or certificate to practice a trade, profession, or occupation." Violations are considered a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $2,000 and 180 days in jail.

Diploma mills are also subject to fines. Under state law, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board must identify the company and then refer the case to the Texas attorney general's office. The attorney general then can file a lawsuit, seeking penalties of up to $1,000 a day for each violation.

The Coordinating Board knows of no diploma mills currently operating in Texas. In January, the board sent a letter to Ashwood but did not receive a response, agency spokesman Andy Kesling said. The letter to Belford was returned, address unknown, but the agency has sent another letter after identifying a potential Houston address, Kesling said. The attorney general's office reported that no case had been referred in recent memory.

Diploma mills change locations all the time, Cohen said.

"The authorities should go after the money, not the addresses," he said. "In the same way as they track down the money trail helping terrorists, they should do with these institutions. They have bank accounts; they accept credit cards."

Cohen expressed hope for a bill introduced Jan. 27 by U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., that would give the Federal Trade Commission authority to shut down diploma mills nationwide. The FTC would help make the rules. Aside from having unqualified people in crucial jobs, Bishop notes, diploma mills bring the risk that foreigners, possibly including terrorists, can get student visas or visas for sought-after job skills to get into the United States.

"It's all a sham," Bishop said. "If it's all a sham, that really leaves us very exposed."

Bishop notes a 2004 Government Accountability Office investigation of a sample of federal employees that found 463 held degrees from diploma mills and other unaccredited universities. The investigation also found that federal agencies paid more than $150,000 in tuition for fake degrees on behalf of federal employees. Employees simply submitted requests for reimbursement, said Andrew O'Connell, the GAO official who oversaw the investigation.

"It's just a lack of oversight," O'Connell said. "I don't think a whole lot has changed."

A lifelong con man imprisoned in Wisconsin worked with associates outside the walls to operate a suspected diploma mill that was recruiting students for at least two years until authorities uncovered the scheme, The Associated Press has learned.

Kenneth Shong, 44, helped to run "Carlingford University" while he was behind bars, according to interviews and documents obtained by AP through the state open records law. Prison authorities uncovered the scheme in late 2008, but Carlingford's Web site was taken down only this month after AP interviewed its designer.

The school was apparently just a phony moneymaking venture, according to state regulators. Its Web site claimed Carlingford had an office in Mobile, Ala., and a "regional training center" in Green Bay, but both were merely post office boxes.

Web designer Brian Truckey acknowledged in an interview that he ran Carlingford's Web site and that it contained inaccurate information he was told to post. He said Shong, an inmate at Racine Correctional Institute whose criminal career has spanned the globe, was in charge.

"We don't move forward until I get instructions from him," said Truckey, president of a small business in Green Bay called Serpent Technologies.

But Truckey insisted Carlingford was largely legitimate and added he was earning a graduate degree in exchange for running the site, which he said was his "thesis." Hours after the interview, the site was suspended.

Higher education regulators in Wisconsin and Alabama had already sent letters to Carlingford representatives asking them to cease and desist operations.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into Carlingford, which boasted of "delivering knowledge at the speed of thought" and offering degrees that were accepted worldwide.

"It has become apparent that Carlingford University is likely part of a criminal scheme being conducted by one or more inmates or ex-inmates," David Dies, executive secretary of the Wisconsin Educational Approval Board, wrote DOJ last year in asking for the probe.

The investigation comes as Wisconsin lawmakers consider a bill that would make it easier for prosecutors to press charges against so-called diploma mills and their customers. The bill would make it a crime to issue and use false academic credentials.

Shong, who has several aliases, including Kenneth Onapolis, has not been charged in connection with Carlingford. But he was put in isolation for 45 days as punishment after prison officials uncovered his role in late 2008 by reading his mail.

A prison investigation found Shong's main partner was David Kaster, a convicted sex offender he met while serving time. Kaster, a former high school swimming coach convicted of sexually assaulting female students, was released in 2007.

He wrote to Shong on Carlingford letterhead to discuss plans to set tuition rates, design degrees and class rings for "CU" and spend money to advertise online.

At least three inmates applied to Carlingford while the prison was investigating and Kaster cashed two $35 checks covering their initial fees. The prison stopped payment on the third. Kaster also contacted groups to market the school to other inmates, the investigation found. It's unclear how many, if any, diplomas were issued or how much the scheme netted.

Investigators obtained a letter sent from Carlingford's "dean of students," another Shong associate, that congratulated inmate Kenneth Fleming for being admitted and noted he had paid $1,740 to enroll.

"Should I just send Fleming a course completion certificate with his 'grades' for the last course he took?" Kaster asked Shong in one letter. "He is looking for something like that."

Fleming wrote to an investigator last year that he considered himself a victim of the scheme and wanted restitution.

Kaster could not be reached for comment, but authorities ordered him to not have any contact with Shong or anyone associated with Carlingford.

In a telephone interview from prison, Shong acknowledged that he had advised others on how to run Carlingford but downplayed his role in the scheme.

"I would not say I'm the driving force behind anything," he said.

He claimed Carlingford was part of a legitimate London-based outfit that offered academic degrees around the world, a claim the prison investigation found untrue. Its London address was an empty storefront, it found.

Shong has been convicted of bank fraud, theft and other financial crimes and has a history of "outwitting, outplaying and outlasting authorities," as one judge wrote in 2005. After years on the run, he was captured by U.S. marshals in Vanuatu, a small island near Australia, in 2002 and returned to the United States to face federal fraud and tax evasion charges.

After his prison term ended, Wisconsin authorities brought him back to finish serving a 12-year sentence on a 1989 sentence on forgery charges. He had escaped while on parole in 1993.

Department of Justice spokesman Bill Cosh declined comment on the investigation. But Dies said investigators were poring through "a fairly large volume of material" they obtained, including bank records.

At a court hearing in 1989, Dane County prosecutor Ann Sayles said Shong used fake checks, obtained bank credit to buy an expensive car, and defrauded companies to buy plane tickets under a fake name. She called him "a professional con man" and said his shady business activities were continuing in jail. "I'm not so certain," she said, "the public is safe even with him in prison."

The New York Times published a story this week exposing the loose regulations governing the certification of medical equipment inspectors.

Norman Fenton, a well-respected medical physicist, spent three decades inspecting radiological equipment, developing safety procedures, drawing up shielding plans for X-ray rooms and teaching other professionals. He also assisted in the prosecution of Perry Beale a man who used fake credentials to pose as a medical physicist at more than 50 medical facilities, reports the Times.

In 2007, John L. Brownlee, the United States attorney who had used Fenton to help incriminate the imposter, received information that Fenton had actually bought his undergraduate degree from an online diploma mill. Despite claims that he received more than 700 hours of classroom instruction over 25 years, Fenton never formally got his undergraduate degree.

Both Fenton and Beale are currently serving prison sentences for providing false credentials to comply with a federal law that requires certification for inspecting medical equipment.

In response to the fraud cases, the state of Virginia now requires a bachelor's degree for placement on the state's approved list of medical physicists; a high school diploma was required before.

The warning bells were going off everywhere, but no one seemed to care.

Ontario's College of Psychologists had a complaint as far back as July 2008 about a Whitby man now charged with fraud for impersonating a psychologist in court during child custody battles.

But the College only recently decided to "caution" Greg Carter after accusations he was making diagnoses — even though his registration prevented him from doing so — and calling himself a doctor.

Carter is registered with the College as a psychological associate with a master's degree, and not a psychologist with a recognized doctorate in psychology. Instead, he has a PhD from Pacific Western University, the now-defunct school that awarded degrees based on "life experience" and was branded a "diploma mill" in a report by the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs.

"Mr. Carter has made frequent use of the title 'Doctor' in his reports and correspondence," agreed the College in their decision of May 2009, almost a year after the initial complaint. "He should ensure that his letterhead, business cards and signature blocks in his report and correspondence do not make any reference to the title "Doctor."

The woman who brought the first of at least three known complaints to the College lost sole custody of her daughter in April 2008 after Carter — accepted by family court in Durham as a qualified psychologist — submitted a report saying her child suffered from a "mild to moderate oppositional defiant disorder" and that her mom is a "remarkably narcissistic individual."

His diagnosis of narcissism is one popular with Carter — he made it in at least two other disputes where the court removed sole custody.

Durham Regional Police charged Carter, 63, with fraud, obstructing justice and perjury. He also faces a charge of professional misconduct by the College.

"Carter will respond to these allegations in court and it will be clear that he never did anything to mislead anyone," says lawyer Gregory Lafontaine.

"His work was good work and was far from the only evidence that led to the results in the court cases at issue.

"An obvious concern is that the publicity surrounding these charges will encourage false allegations by losing parties who try to profit from this tragedy by using it to attack the results in their own cases," he says.

Sandra insists she should never have lost custody of her daughter based on the assessment of a man everyone in court believed was a qualified psychologist.

After she'd accused her ex-husband of sexually molesting the child, she thought Carter was being paid $10,000 by CAS to determine the safety of their daughter, not to determine who should get custody.

At the time, the little girl lived full-time with Sandra while her father had supervised access. But after "Dr. Carter's" damning assessment was entered into court, Sandra's daughter was suddenly placed solely in her dad's care, with the mom allowed to visit every second weekend.

"They ripped her out of my home," says the broken woman. "If I was on drugs or alcohol or mistreating her, I would understand. I'm a good mom. This should never have happened. How could they just take your kid just because this guy said so?"

Carter told the court Sandra should lose custody because she encouraged her daughter's alienation from her father and the child was too attached to her.

So naturally, the good "doctor" recommended wrenching the little girl away.

It was only after exhausting all her savings — again, a refrain repeated by the others affected by his assessments — that Sandra won more access, so she's now with her 47% of the time.

"I'm broke or I'd still be fighting for more," she says.

In the meantime, she launched her complaint with the College after being shocked to discover the man who cost her custody of her daughter was not the psychologist everyone in court assumed he was.

"Nobody checked," Sandra says angrily. "It's meant three years that have messed up my life. How do you get compensated for that? What are they going to do for my daughter?"

Wisconsin International University could be forced to change its name. So might Heed University. And a job applicant who recently tried to claim a phony degree from Madison Business College could be criminally prosecuted.

State lawmakers are considering a bill that would crack down on the manufacture and use of phony academic credentials in Wisconsin by criminalizing both practices. It would also prohibit unauthorized schools from using the words "college," "university," "state" or "Wisconsin" in their names.

The goal is to stop the spread of diploma mills, which essentially sell phony academic degrees to students who perform little work. Higher education officials say such outfits pop up occasionally in Wisconsin, and the bill would give regulators and law enforcement officials more power to stop them.

What's more, the bill would allow employers to more easily fire and press criminal charges against workers who use fake credentials to get jobs, bonuses and professional licenses. Supporters say the bill would ensure Wisconsin does not become a haven for diploma mills as they are driven out of other states.

"I think it's a problem everywhere in the country and yes, in Wisconsin, too," said former University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John Wiley. He said diploma mills undermine confidence in higher education and help unqualified people get jobs as engineers, accountants, and even doctors.

The Assembly's colleges and universities committee will hold a hearing on the bill Wednesday.

If approved by the Legislature, Wisconsin would become the 12th state to make it a crime to use a bogus academic degree, said George Gollin, a University of Illinois professor who is an expert on the issue.

The problem is also getting attention nationally.

A bill introduced in Congress last month with bipartisan support would prohibit the federal government from hiring anyone with bogus credentials and give the Federal Trade Commission more power to regulate diploma mills.

Wisconsin regulators say they've had problems taking action in the few such cases they've investigated.

David Dies, executive secretary of the Educational Approval Board, said the law could give his agency the power to force Florida-based Wisconsin International University to change its name. Regulators have succeeded in convincing the university to stop using pictures of Milwaukee on its Web site and add a disclaimer that it is not connected to UW.

"The name still gives this image to foreign students and others that somehow Wisconsin has endorsed this school," he said.

Dies said he believed the school was "on the borderline" of being a diploma mill.

John Buuck, the university's president, disputed that notion, saying he started the school to promote higher education and form partnerships in countries including Estonia and Ghana. He said he kept the Wisconsin name because that's where he originally founded the school in the 1990s.

Buuck said the school never granted degrees to U.S. students and was turning over its programs to overseas partners. He said he had no problem with the Wisconsin bill because "we're phasing out anyway."

"And if it's an issue that someone thinks there's some confusion there, we could easily change the name," he said.

Dies said his agency has also investigated suspected diploma mill Heed University, which lists Milwaukee as its location on one of its Web sites. He said it is unclear whether the school, which offered degrees in law, business and other fields, remains active. No one returned a phone message left at a number on its site.

The bill would help employers take action when they are burned by employees with fake credentials. One business recently called the approval board to check an applicant's claim that he had a degree from Madison Business College, a once-legitimate school that closed in the 1990s.

Dies said his agency immediately knew it was a fake credential because the transcript and college seal looked nothing like the originals.

"Somebody paid an online service to generate a fake transcript," Dies said. Under the bill, that would be a misdemeanor that carries up to 9 months in jail.

REP. BISHOP ANNOUNCES BILL TO STOP DIPLOMA MILLS, from Congressman Bishop's web site, January 28, 2010.

Washington, DC—Today Congressman Tim Bishop (D-NY) unveiled new legislation to shut down fraudulent "Diploma Mills" across the country. These fraudulent businesses market worthless degrees, tricking students out of hard-earned dollars and deceiving employers by falsely claiming an attained level of skill or achievement. Moreover, diploma mills create critical issues of personal and national security via their issuance of fraudulent scientific degrees that can be utilized to obtain entrance visas into the United States.

"Diploma mills have proliferated rapidly in recent years, creating dangerous vulnerabilities to our national security, while simultaneously undermining legitimate American institutions of higher education," said Bishop, a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, who has worked on this issue for several years. "The Federal government can do more to protect the American public by preventing the expansion of these fraudulent enterprises. This is why I introduced the Diploma and Accreditation Integrity Protection Act."

During the press conference, Dr. George Gollin, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told how he aided a federal investigation into a multimillion dollar diploma mill called "St. Regis University," which ran a network of bogus universities and fake government agencies.

"We learned that St. Regis had sold ten thousand degrees to customers in over a hundred countries," said Dr. Gollin. "We do not want untrained engineers designing our airliners or untrained physicians running pharmaceutical research programs. And we certainly do not want our children taught by teachers with purchased credentials."

"CHEA applauds this legislation as a measure to protect the integrity of credentials offered by legitimate institutions, which will benefit students and employers," said Judith Eaton, President of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. "We need this legislation. This is legislation that everyone should support."

An alarming Government Accountably Office investigation of the credentials of a sampling of Federal employees revealed that, of the Federal employees selected for examination, 463 Federal employees held degrees from diploma mills and other unaccredited universities. The investigation also found that federal agencies have paid more than $150,000 in tuition payments to diploma mills and other unaccredited universities on behalf of Federal employees. More recently, an investigation undertaken in 2008 by federal authorities, including the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security, discovered that at least 20 military personnel and an additional 10 federal employees either pursued or attained degrees from unaccredited diploma mills.

Diploma mills are clearly not a new problem; however expansion can be traced to inconsistent laws across states as well as to technological advances, such as the Internet and electronic mail. Recent criminal investigations of suspected diploma mills have exposed a tangled web of fraudulent behavior spanning across state lines and the United States border.

To prevent the expansion of these fraudulent enterprises, yesterday Rep. Bishop introduced the Diploma and Accreditation Integrity Protection Act (HR 4535) to

• Legally define what it means to be a degree-granting institution
• Legally define what it means to be a legitimate accrediting agency
• Grant additional authority to the FTC to crack down on diploma mills.

The bipartisan legislation is cosponsored by Reps. Michael Castle (R-DE) and Betty McCollum (D-MN).

Background:

This WHNT/CBS investigative series provides further information on the dangers of Diploma Mills: http://www.whnt.com/news/whnt-fake-diplomas-soldiers-51209,0,5264841.story.

This Wired Magazine story details Dr. Gollin's involvement in the St. Regis investigation: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/ff_fake_physics/.

The press conference was held during the 2010 CHEA Annual Conference and International Seminar in Washington, D.C. More than 300 participants from 32 countries met to hear leaders from government, U.S. and international higher education institutions, accrediting organizations and higher education associations address a range of issues including accreditation, quality assurance and accountability; combating degree mills and accreditation mills; and quality assurance practices in countries around the world.

Also:

New Bill in Congress Would Make Diploma Mills a Federal Concern, Tom Bartlett, Chronicle of Higher Education, January 28, 2010.

People buy fake college degrees and use them to get jobs and, in some cases, visas. It's a problem that some states have tackled but that, for the most part, the federal government hasn't addressed.

Rep. Timothy H. Bishop has been trying for years to change that. Today the New York Democrat announced that he had introduced the Diploma and Accreditation Integrity Protection Act (HR 4535), a bill that would define diploma mills and accreditation mills. It also would instruct the Federal Trade Commission to take action against entities that fit those definitions and to report its findings to the Department of Education. The bill has two co-sponsors: Betty McCollum, a Democrat of Minnesota, and Michael N. Castle, a Republican of Delaware.

Representative Bishop has been pushing for such a bill since 2005. That's when a Government Accountability Office investigation found that more than 400 federal employees held degrees from unaccredited colleges. At one point, legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act contained language similar to that found in Mr. Bishop's bill, but that provision was later stripped out. Representative Bishop said he had no idea why anyone would object to cracking down on diploma mills.

So why is Mr. Bishop interested in the issue? In part, he said, it stems from his background in academe — he is a former provost of Southampton College of Long Island University. "I know how hard people work to earn their credentials," he said.

The news conference at which the bill was announced was held during the Council for Higher Education Accreditation's annual conference...

Taking Aim at Diploma Mills, Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed, January 29, 2010.

It's not easy to find fans of diploma mills -- advocates for institutions that award bogus degrees for no work don't tend to make their feelings known in polite company. But in the United States and abroad, the phony diploma industry has remained remarkably resilient, fed by often weak regulatory oversight, a ready market of workers looking for easily attained credentials needed for career advancement -- and, not unimportantly, unclear definitions of what a degree mill is that can make it difficult to crack down on them even when they are prosecuted.

While they portrayed it as far from a panacea, a U.S. Congressman and several supporters unveiled legislation Thursday that aims to make at least some progress on all of those fronts. The bill, sponsored by Reps. Timothy Bishop (D-N.Y.) and Michael Castle (R-Del.), would (1) cement in federal law definitions of "diploma mills" and "accreditation mills" (the unauthorized agencies from which the phony institutions claim to derive their authority to operate), (2) bar federal agencies from using degrees from diploma mills to provide jobs or promotions that depend on candidates' educational credentials, and (3) give the Federal Trade Commission more authority to define and crack down on deceptive practices by dubious institutions.

"We have an obligation to see to it that people have confidence in our institutions, particularly our institutions of higher education, and in the credentials they provide," Bishop said Thursday at an international forum sponsored by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, which has undertaken a series of efforts to rein in unauthorized colleges and degrees. "I don't presume that our bill will solve all the problems," but it's a start, said the New York representative, a longtime administrator at Southampton University, on Long Island.

Defining the exact scope of the diploma mill "industry" and the extent of the havoc it wreaks is difficult precisely because of the underground nature of many of the institutions, which one audience member at Thursday's meeting described as "chameleon-like" and another compared to the "Shmoo," the L'il Abner characters that "multiplied at such an incredible rate." George Gollin, a physics professor who has developed a growing side interest in unaccredited degree-granting institutions and advised Bishop, estimated that such entities award as many as 200,000 credentials a year and that the federal government spends roughly $300 million a year on raises alone for employees who got jobs or promotions using fraudulent degrees or certificates...

Assembly bill A-3671 doesn't have one of those catchy names sometimes attached to legislation. If it did, it should be called the "H. James Wasser Fake Ph.D. Prevention Act." On Monday, the final day of the lame-duck session, both the Assembly and Senate versions of the bill are expected to be voted on and — thankfully — approved.

Co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, R-Monmouth, it would prohibit school employees from receiving tuition assistance or compensation for either academic credits or completion of a degree unless certain conditions are met, including the blindingly obvious ones: namely, that the institution has to be an authorized institution of higher education, not one that sells degrees out of the back of a pick-up truck, and that coursework and degrees have to be related to the employee's current or future job responsibilities.

Casagrande has introduced an additional bill, to be taken up in the next legislative session, that would expand these rules to all public employees. That, too, deserves passage.

The shame of it is that such laws are necessary at all. Educators, of all people, should be models of dedicated scholarship and not shy away from the hard work necessary to obtain an advanced degree. And school boards and superintendents shouldn't be reimbursing teachers or administrators for college work that isn't directly related to what they are, or will be, doing as educators. But then along came the discovery in 2008 that Freehold Regional High School District Superintendent H. James Wasser and several current and former staff members received doctoral degrees from a dollars-for-degrees diploma mill.

There will always be those who are tempted, like Wasser and his ilk, to take the easy way out. This bill will deny them any such opportunity.

DEGREE mills that churn out 'graduates' at the drop of a hat are the sort of dodgy outfits we link with shadier parts of the world, but the problem is a lot closer to home and threatens to harm Singapore's name as an education centre.

Small as it is, the country appears six times on a list compiled by Oregon's Office of Degree Authorisation (ODA).

The American state has strict laws regarding the use of qualifications from unaccredited institutions and those dubbed 'degree mills' or 'degree suppliers'. It requires that a person's business cards, CV and letterhead declare if his degree is from an unaccredited university.

The term - degree or diploma mill - has been used in the United States and around the world to refer to 'substandard or fraudulent colleges that offer potential students degrees with little or no serious work'. They range from those which are simple frauds - an address to which people send money in exchange for a degree - to those that require some nominal work from the student but do not require the college-level study normally required for a degree.

Oregon's laws make its list one of the most comprehensive compiled by a state government body in the United States.

It names six institutions here as offering unaccredited qualifications: Cranston University, Templeton University, Trident University of Technology, Vancouver University Worldwide, Westmore University and Lee Community College.

Names of institutions go on the list if there are queries made by members of the public. Checks are carried out on the status of the university both in the US and with foreign governments before they are put on the list.

Checks by The Straits Times found that Westmore University's website is hosted by a company operating out of Science Park.

Vancouver University Worldwide, which was ordered to be shut by the Canadian government two years ago, had offered its courses here for a few years.

Several insurance industry professionals have MBAs, while some even have doctorates, from the university.

A few Singaporeans were also found to have degrees from Cranston University and Templeton University. Both are listed as online universities, based in Singapore and possibly Nevada.

The Palin School of Arts and Design in Bras Basah lists Trident University of Technology degrees, but Palin officials say that currently they are not offering the degree programme in advertising and design.

ODA's list says Trident was denied approval by the state of Wisconsin and it was never legal in New Jersey as claimed.

But what was surprising was the presence on the list of Lee Community College. The private school has a CaseTrust for Education quality mark and is popular for its diploma courses in counselling and psychology.

The Straits Times found that the school, in Maxwell Road, also offers a degree from the American University for Humanities (AUH), which a staff member said is accredited by the American Academy for Liberal Education.

ODA's website has this to say about the American university: 'New name for American University of Hawaii, which was closed by court order. Operations claiming accreditation from The American Academy for Liberal Education in Lebanon do not meet Oregon legal requirements and degrees are not valid here. Degrees issued from Delaware are not valid in Oregon.'

Although the school has been offering degree courses for years, a check with the Ministry of Education (MOE) revealed that Lee Community College is not approved to offer any external degree programmes.

An MOE spokesman said the matter would be investigated.

It warned that new regulations require all private schools to seek permission from the new statutory board, the Council for Private Education (CPE) before offering external degree programmes, including online programmes.

Non-compliance may lead to deregistration of the private school and prosecution of its officials.

Lee Community College's chief executive, Dr Frederick Toke, said the school spent over $100,000 to seek accreditation for the degree programme, which was from the American University for Humanities in Tbilisi, Georgia.

It was accredited by the American Academy for Liberal Education, a recognised accrediting agency in the US for liberal arts institutions, but was rejected by the MOE.

Dr Toke did not explain why the school continued to offer the degree despite the MOE rejection. He would only say that the school is now seeking MOE approval to run other degree programmes from the US.

Mr Alan Contreras, the administrator for Oregon's ODA, said Singapore never used to feature on the ODA's list.

'The problem Singapore has is that it opened the door to private post-secondary education without establishing a serious governmental oversight process to make those providers prove that they are legitimate,' he said.

'In effect, your government has allowed its name to be used inappropriately because only government authorised colleges can issue genuine degrees.'

Mr Contreras also warned: 'Without enforcement of standards by the government, anything goes. This is why the reputation of degrees issued in Singapore is falling.'

The MOE said that under the new laws that will come into effect by the end of the year, the Council for Private Education will run checks on these claimed partnerships.

'These measures will help ensure that dubious programmes offered by degree mills will not be permitted by CPE to be offered in Singapore,' said the spokesman.

But the new laws have come too late for a 26-year-old who attended evening classes and did course work for over three years for an AUH degree from Lee Community College.

The administrative manager hopes the new laws for private schools will ensure that only valid degrees are offered here.

'I took up the degree because I was interested in a counselling career. I spent more than $20,000 of my hard-earned money to study for the degree. Now I find out that it is worthless.'

It was a piece of paper that was supposed to give Carrie McCluskey a second chance.

Just 10 questions, one week and $250 later, she says the high school diploma stamped with a gold seal was mailed to her Flint home.

Except, she says, it wasn't real.

Now the Baker College student is among three people suing a reported diploma mill in a federal lawsuit to try to shut it down.

"Getting a GED can really help you start your life," said McCluskey, 26, who is studying human resources at Baker. "People who want to give you fake ones are saying they don't care where your life will go. They're just out for your money."

The lawsuit is against www.belfordhighschool.com — whose controversial diplomas have made national headlines and been called worthless by the Council of Better Business Bureau Inc.

A representative who answered a toll free number for the Humble, Texas-based www.belfordhighschool.com disputed claims that the online school is a scam. The counselor, who identified himself as Dom Wright, said the site does not claim to award GEDs — it awards actual diplomas based on life experience or testing.

"If this diploma was not accredited or recognized do you think we would still be in business?" Wright asked.

Despite a warning issued by the Better Business Bureau in August that the diplomas awarded by Belford and other online companies weren't worth the paper they were printed on, Wright contended the school has had 87,000 graduates and is accredited by the International Accreditation Agency for Online Universities and the Universal Council for Online Education.

But the Googasian Firm, a Bloomfield Hills-based law firm representing McCluskey and two other students from Arizona and California is calling Belford a "massive rip-off."

McCluskey, who attended Holly High School but never graduated, said she only recently had an opportunity to go back to school.

She was advised that online GEDs were faster and cheaper, so she typed keywords on the Internet — and that led her to Belford's Web site, which prominently displays the word "GED" on its pages, although it claims it awards actual diplomas.

Her Belford diploma came with a 3.9 GPA.

McCluskey said it was a Baker official who gave her the bad news.

"They told me they couldn't accept that because they had never heard of that school and it wasn't accredited," she said. "I was pretty upset. I had just paid $250 for something, and now I had to pay more. Most people getting their GEDs don't have that kind of money.

"You're trying to move forward and someone out there is trying to make you move backwards. I was doing all this to make a better life for me and my family."

The engaged single mother of two ended up pursuing the GED process again — this time taking an in-person test at Carman-Ainsworth High School.

Belford's Wright contended that Baker College was among a handful of colleges in Michigan that previously had accepted Belford graduates.

Baker College officials declined comment on Belford and the case but said the college does not accept Belford High School diplomas.

"It is an actual high school diploma that is accredited," Wright said. "If they provide us with the rejection letter, we will give them a refund."

But many local colleges say these types of companies are on their radar.

MCC officials said they didn't have any students in their system that listed Belford as their high school, but diploma mills were a concern.

The University of Michigan-Flint also watches for red flags but officials note that students don't necessarily have to come from a high school with specific accreditation — some were home-schooled or attended an international school.

Transcripts combined with ACT or SAT scores is what's most important, said admissions director Kimberly Williams.

"It is a concern," Williams said of mills. "But the bigger concern is that students are prepared academically. They have to show us they are prepared for the rigor of our curriculum."

This isn't the first time Belford High School and Belford University — which is also based in Humble, Texas and also has been accused of selling bogus degrees — have made the news.

George Gollin, a professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, made headlines last year for his crusade against diploma mills after being offered a doctorate in thoracic surgery at Belford University based on his experience reading newspapers and watching the news.

In 2008, Gollin helped authorities unravel a global operation that led to a list of 9,600 people who possibly purchased phony degrees — including government employees.

Along with McCluskey, students Evelyn Reisborff of Arizona and Jaime Yanez of California are also named in what could become a class-action lawsuit against Belford.

The lawsuit, which does not ask for a specific dollar amount and demands Belford be shut down, accuses the online school of fraud among other charges

"If you look around the state of our economy, especially in Michigan, people are really hurting," said Dean Googasian, of the Googasian Firm. "A lot of folks are out of work and they're looking for a way to take that first step toward a better job and better life.

"It's frankly offensive that there are people out there willing to just rip off folks who are looking to better themselves and we're hoping to put a stop to it."

Freehold Regional High School District school board has subpoenaed a news organization's Web site for the names of people who have criticized the district leadership in postings.

According to the subpoena, the district wants to identify forum posters before the board in a disciplinary hearing -- an indicator officials are hunting for district employees.

The board is demanding the full name, address and e-mail addresses registered for about 20 user names on the site, New Jersey Online, nj.com.

Listed user names have criticized Schools Superintendent H. James Wasser's obtaining a doctoral degree from an unaccredited online school. The degree had meant the district paid tuition and a $2,500 annual stipend to the superintendent. Some posts also include unconfirmed allegations about Wasser and district officials.

Howell representative William Bruno on the school board said he was in favor of the Aug. 31 subpoena.

"If they have nothing to hide, what's the problem?'' Bruno said.

But residents say this is the last in a line of attempts to intimidate and silence residents, including one residents' claim he was assaulted by a district security guard and the board's refusal to officially extend public speaker time limits from three minutes to five at meetings.

"(District officials) rule by fear and terror and this is part of it,'' said Jim Sage of Marlboro, a frequent critic of the board. "If it's true (a subpoena has been filed) I think this is a waste of taxpayers' money yet again. Is it an attempt to silence the critics? Absolutely.''

Three years ago, an Erie man pledged to pay $75,000 and move his business out of the state to settle investigators' claims that he was running an illegal online diploma mill.

The state Attorney General's Office says the defendant, Dennis J. Globosky, has not kept up his side of the bargain.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Carm Presogna has gone to Erie County Court to ask a judge to cite Globosky for contempt of court and order him to pay $130,035 in civil penalties and costs.

No hearing has been set in the matter.

Globosky, whose last known Erie address was 204 German St., has not filed any response, according to court records.

The case stems from an investigation that began in 2005 and a settlement that was reached in 2007.

The state Attorney General's Office Bureau of Consumer Protection in July 2005 filed a complaint alleging that Globosky was selling bogus degrees online in violation of consumer protection laws, the Private Licensed Schools Act and the Fictitious Names Act.

Investigators claimed that Globosky, through entities called "The University of Berkley" and "The University of Berkley Online," sold bogus online degrees, which cost between $2,065 and $4,995. The degrees were based on life experience rather than exams.

Globosky also provided customers with contact information for their employers to "verify" the authenticity of the degrees, the Attorney General's Office said.

They alleged Globosky made as much as $34 million selling the degrees. Globosky countered that his students did complete a required curriculum before earning their degrees.

To settle the complaint, Globosky agreed in 2007 to no longer conduct business with Pennsylvania residents and to post a notice on his online education Web sites that the operators of the sites were barred from doing business with Pennsylvanians.

He also agreed to pay a civil judgment of $75,000.

The state Attorney General's Office now says that a review of Globosky's several Web sites in November 2008 revealed that three of them failed to post the notice, as required, that the Web site operators were barred from doing business with Pennsylvanians.

Presogna has asked the court to order Globosky to pay a civil penalty of $15,000 for those violations, plus $34,335 to cover the costs of the state's contempt proceedings.

She also said that Globosky has failed to keep up with a schedule to pay the $75,000 judgment entered in 2007.

She wants a judge to order Globosky to pay the arrearage, $30,700, plus a $50,000 civil penalty for failing to make payments on time.

Globosky should not be permitted to operate any business in Pennsylvania or conduct business with Pennsylvania residents until the matter is resolved, the state Attorney General's Office said.

One of the bills signed by the Governor is AB 48 by Assemblymember Anthony Portantino (D-Pasadena) - Private postsecondary education: California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009.

Click here to see the text of the bill

For immediate release: September 28, 2009 (09-155)

Contact:
Media inquiries: Gordon MacCracken, Communications Office 360-236-4072
Public inquiries: Health Systems Customer Service 360-236-4700

State revokes, suspends licenses, certifications, registrations of health care providers

OLYMPIA: The Washington State Department of Health has revoked or suspended the licenses, certifications, or registrations of health care providers in our state. The department has also immediately suspended the credentials of people who have been prohibited from practicing in other states.

The department's Health Systems Quality Assurance Office works with boards, commissions and advisory committees to set licensing standards for more than 70 health care professions (e.g., medical doctors, nurses, counselors).

Information about health care providers is on the agency's Web site. Click on "Provider Credential Search" on the left hand side of the Department of Health home page (www.doh.wa.gov). The site includes information about a health care provider's license status, the expiration and renewal date of their credential, disciplinary actions and copies of legal documents issued after July 1998. This information is also available by calling 360-236-4700. Consumers who think a health care provider acted unprofessionally are also encouraged to call and report their complaint...

Pierce County

...In July 2009 the Registered Counselor and Chemical Dependency Professional Programs indefinitely suspended the credentials of David Charles Larsen (RC.RC.00021390, CDP.CP.00000530). Larsen purchased a Doctor of Psychology degree from St. Regis University, an online "diploma mill". He misrepresented his education and training on a resume he submitted for a counseling position...

In May, WHNT NEWS 19 exposed several people passing off bogus diplomas. They were all connected to the military or missile defense. Chief Investigative Reporter Wendy Halloran broke the story and promised to stay on top of it and get answers for viewers. But in some cases, that has been more challenging than we expected.

You may wonder what's the big deal? There are a lot of reasons. Among them, it's not fair to those people who got degrees the hard way and may have gotten passed over for a promotion by someone who took a shortcut. And, in a field where honesty and integrity are expected - in fact demanded - it's ultimately a breach of trust.

Our investigation exposed enlisted members of the military in Alabama who presented degrees they bought for a fraction of what it really costs and got a return on the investment with an increase in pay grade. Your tax dollars footed that bill.

Sergeant Major Tom Gills of the Army Human Resources Command told us, "To have someone who would go and do something like this sickens me." His office responded swiftly. "I can tell you that what it has caused is a great opportunity for change and we couldn't have done this without your help in discovery," he said.

We turned over more than 200 names to the Army's Human Resources Command. A number we described in our initial report as a "battalion of others who potentially flew under the radar."

Gills said, "One is too many. And, each and every one we're going to identify we're going to turn it over to their commanders for appropriate action."

As a result of our investigation, the Army is examining all records in order to identify soldiers who bought fake degrees and transcripts and turned them over for promotions. They even sent out an all-Army message from the Pentagon to raise awareness and reinforce the Army's standards.

"Each case, it is significant and it just smacks at those core values that we live by," stated Gills.

We also exposed a defense contractor with two bogus degrees.

James Samuelson works for Applied Data Trends and has security clearance. He admitted it was wrong and explained what prompted him to buy the phony credentials.

"To be 100% honest, what prompted me to get it was that my daughter was about to graduate from college and I have dealt with years of being highly experienced and not having a degree," he confessed.

We promised to follow up with his employer. ADT CEO Derrick Copeland sent us a statement which indicated the following:

'ADT has and continues to take appropriate action regarding the situation. On the advice of ADT's legal counsel, ADT does not publically discuss internal matters such as this.'

The probe widened to the Department of the Army civilian side after we exposed Army Aviation and Missile Command's Director of Readiness Chris Oleyte. He bought and used a fake degree in a resume he turned in for a promotion and got.

Our report triggered a Commander's Inquiry at Redstone Arsenal. But, getting straight answers about the Oleyte matter and the 15 other names of AMCOM employees we turned over with questionable credentials has been an uphill battle.

For weeks, we've asked for an interview with Redstone Arsenal's Commanding General Jim Myles. Instead, we received a pre-taped statement from Major General Myles supplied to us on a DVD.

In it, Myles states, "One thing I want to say right up front is that this Command is all about integrity."

We were told by e-mail that the three-minute DVD "appropriately addressed these concerns."

In the DVD, Myles went on to say, " There are no operational security issues surrounding false diplomas that anyone has. There are quite simply none."

We responded, letting them know it didn't answer all of our questions and in some cases fueled even more. But still, they wouldn't agree to an interview and relied solely on the DVD.

"Out of the 2,300 employees we looked at, there were only six that we found that still had a false diploma."

We know the actual number of people possessing fake degrees at Redstone Arsenal is a very small percentage of the workforce. A point Major Myles made in his taped remarks when he said, "99.8% of all employees are doing things properly and as they should be in accordance with what our polices are and in place."

We made it perfectly clear in our initial report that we were not suggesting Mr. Oleyte is not qualified for the job he currently holds. But, we still have questions about security, integrity, and a potential double standard. We couldn't pose those questions. All we have to go on is the prepared response in which Myles stated, "I fully support that the chain of command did what it should have done in July 2002. And quite frankly, this is old news."

Our quest for the full story has put us at odds with the Commanding General at AMCOM. He sent out a memo to Team Redstone discrediting our reports - calling them inaccurate, misleading and speculative at best.

We vigorously defend the accuracy of our reports. You can watch Major Myles' entire pre-taped response here.

We're also sharing his memo to the workforce at Redstone Arsenal about our investigation.

YOU do not have to study, seek admission or attend lectures – starting from a few hundred ringgit, you can get a degree of your choice online in a matter of minutes.

A quick Internet search by the Starprobe team resulted in a long list of alleged degree mills worldwide such as Hill University, Rochville University and Buxton University.

All these institutions of higher learning claim to be accredited, but none is recognised by the Malaysian Qualifications Authority (MQA) or the local accreditation body's respective foreign partners.

Whether to boost their career development or to improve their social standing, many Malaysians have taken the easy way of buying their paper qualifications online.

And among the holders of these dubious qualifications are some prominent people, including lawmakers from both sides of the political divide.

When the Washington-based newspaper Spokesman Review exposed a bogus degree scam in the United States in July, a list of 10,000 buyers was made public.

Phoney degrees

More than 50 Malaysians contributed to the US$7.3mil (RM25.6mil) generated by the Spokane-based syndicate, which issued phoney and counterfeit high school and college degrees from institutions such as Concordia University, St Regis University, St Lourdes University, All Saints American University and Heartland University.

However, several people who are suspected to be holding these bogus degrees declined to comment or furnish the Starprobe team with their curriculum vitae when contacted.

As the diploma mill trend shows, almost anyone can get a degree.

The standard prerequisites needed are experience, skills, knowledge or expertise in a given field of study, all which the buyer easily meets by declaring so in the registration form without needing to provide any documentary proof.

The buyer can even specify a past date or year of graduation to be stated in the degree.

These sites offer a wide and comprehensive range of qualifications, from high school certifications, Bachelors and Masters degrees to doctorates.

Buyers are promised a traditional-looking degree, which means none of the certificates contain words like online or life experience.

The offers are so comprehensive that some even provide an academic transcript, a certificate of distinction and an award of excellence, plus verification from the university's registrar to boot.

Some even offer packages, which means you could obtain your Bachelors, Masters and PhD at one go at a discounted special rate.

These syndicates promise to deliver your graduation package, which starts from US$150 (RM525), between five and 14 days by courier.

One website even goes to the extent of offering buyers the option to pay in instalments.

Many dubious organisations passing themselves off as universities are legally registered business entities.

Some even submit their annual tax returns in the country they are registered at, but do not conduct any shady dealings in their "home" country, thus not breaking any law in the nation they are registered in.

According to the Irish Embassy, the Irish International University (IIU) is registered as a private company in Ireland, while Dublin Metropolitan University (DMU) had a business address in Cyprus.

According to its website, the IIU, which is now known as the Isles International University, has its main international office in Petaling Jaya even though it was blacklisted by the Malaysian Government in 2005. Its head is executive president Hardeep Singh Sandhu, a Malaysian businessman.

In January last year, a BBC London investigation team exposed IIU as an international education scam that targets foreign students who went to study in the British capital.

"The bogus Irish International University (IIU), which offers sub-standard and worthless degrees, has been allowed to flourish in the UK – virtually unchecked by Government – for the last seven years," said BBC in the report.

Many of its programmes and courses are offered via the Internet to "students" from various nations without the need for it to set up a base in those countries.

As Irish ambassador to Malaysia Eugene Hutchinson shares, the embassy frequently gets enquiries from potential employers or students on the "dubious" institutions.

"They are not recognised as a university or as any other form of academic institution in Ireland. Any awards that they offer are not recognised by any statutory awarding bodies in Ireland and therefore have no academic standing whatsoever in our country," he says.

He adds that the Irish authorities do not view them as universities although their names were clearly intended to convey so. "As can be seen from their websites, these enterprises continue to use the term university in their business names, in contravention of Irish law.

"The IIU and other similar business enterprises are endeavouring to exploit the good name of Irish education for their own ends. Their claims of 'validation' and 'accreditation' deserve very careful critical examination," he points out.

Dubious methods

These organisations are aware that they are being monitored by the Irish authorities, and they try to keep tabs by contacting the embassy in return.

"Frequently, they call to see what we know. Sometimes they pretend to be making enquiries as a third party. We try to keep correspondence with them to a minimum as we do not want them to claim that they were in correspondence with the Irish authorities (thus making it appear as endorsed by them)," he says, adding that Ireland had distanced itself from the IIU and DMU.

Interestingly, Irish deputy ambassador to Malaysia Eoin Duggan highlights that these enterprises do not conduct any of their operations in Ireland.

"They are a registered business in Ireland. They make a tax return annually, hence they are not illegal. I have not heard of any Irish who has obtained degrees from them," he says.

To make themselves even more attractive, some of these "universities" would set up or become a member of an equally dubious "accreditation body".

Many provide hotline numbers and e-mail addresses of the "universities" and "accreditation bodies", which are usually passed on by the "graduates" to their potential employers should these companies want to verify the qualifications of their prospective employees.

Former vice-chancellor of Sunway University College Prof Jarlath Ronayne concurs, also citing the BBC report on IIU, which had claimed that its programmes were accredited and quality controlled by QAC-UK Ltd – a Quality Assurance Commission based in London.

Further investigation, however, revealed that the people behind the "university" were also co-directors of the accreditation body.

"There are a few of these accreditation agencies that are not Government sanctioned or authorised. They are 'private' accreditation bodies and cater to institutions that are not accredited by their respective governments," he says.

Echoing this, a source from the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) shares that the formal or legal national accreditation or quality assurance agency of a particular country would be a member of International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE).

Prof Ronayne highlights that one of the ways for bogus universities to gain credibility was by inviting prominent people such as politicians and business leaders to be the guests of honour at their convocations. He adds that the convocation ceremonies can sometimes be quite grand.

"They have their convocation ceremonies in Oxford and Cambridge where they rent the universities' halls. That would give students a false impression," he says.

Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (Macee) advises students to check with the particular country's educational office to verify if the programme or institution is authentic before signing up.

"If it's an American degree or institution, they should contact Macee as we provide information on all accredited universities and colleges in the United States (US)," says Macee Educational Advising Center coordinator Doreen John.

Students could also check with the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (www.chea.org) website as it has a database of institutions and programmes accredited by recognised US organisations, says John.

"If students want to opt for distance learning, they have to be extra cautious. "If the programme they want to do is such a bargain in terms of cost, and they don't need to do any work for it then it is probably fake," she adds.

British Council Malaysia Education and Programmes Director Peter Clack also advises students to check if the British course or institution they are interested in is authentic and officially recognised before signing up.

Students can take several steps, he says, including meeting the institutions' representatives at the Education UK exhibitions organised by the British Council; and logging onto the Education UK website (www.educationuk.org.my) for lists of institutions and courses.

They could also check if the name of the institution appears on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS) website (www.ucas.com), and if the institutions' own website address ends with .ac.uk.

To ensure that the institutions were empowered to offer degrees, students could check the UK's Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills' website (www.dcsf.gov.uk/recognisedukdegrees).

As for accreditation, Clack says the official quality assurance bodies were the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education website (www. qaa.ac.uk) or the British Accreditation Council website (www.the-bac.org).

Students planning to take up Irish courses are advised to consult the list of higher education providers on www.educationireland.ie or refer to Ireland's National Framework of Qualifications at www.cao.ie.

National Association of Private Educational Institutions (Napei) president Assoc Prof Elajsolan Mohan advises employers who were unsure of any prospective employees' qualifications to verify them.

"An individual once applied to my college to become a lecturer but when we checked his qualifications, we discovered the university where he claimed to have done his PhD did not exist," he says.

SO you have been accepted into California Southern University? Don't celebrate yet.

Although the university may sound like the renowned research institution University of Southern California, it is not accredited by the official accreditation agencies in the United States. It may even be a degree mill.

Similarly, University of Hawaii is a major university. Honolulu University, however, is not. Try to figure out which of the following is legitimate: the European Business School in London or the European Business School in Cambridge?

It is difficult to work out which institutions are genuine and which are bogus because the names are similar. The same applies to accreditation bodies – the Council for Higher Education Accreditation is a respected body; not so the Council for International Education Accreditation.

To complicate matters further, today's quick-buck degree mills have more sophisticated operations, complete with "professors" and alumni. Here are a few of the infamous organisations:

Irish International University

Soon after Malaysia's Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) blacklisted the institution in July 2005, it changed its name to Isles International University. It has been operating for about a decade and boasts a long list of faculty and students stretching from Europe to Asia. It still maintains an office in Petaling Jaya.

Dublin Metropolitan University

It also has an international office in the Klang Valley. It was investigated by the Irish government for illegally calling itself a university without the approval of Ireland's Department of Education and Science. The Irish government is looking at measures to deregister institutions like this, which are legally registered as business entities.

Cambridgeshire University

In 2005, an MBA student was refunded her tuition fees of RM13,672.34 by education provider NetAcademy Sdn Bhd, which offered courses from both Irish International University and Cambridgeshire, after she won her case at the Consumer Claims Tribunal. Cambridgeshire University has been blacklisted by the Government.

Preston University

Preston University is a private for-profit unaccredited university with allegedly 30 affiliated campuses throughout the world. Preston was based in Wyoming but moved to Alabama in 2007 after the state's crackdown on diploma mills. In 2009, the Alabama state administration ordered it to cease operations for failing to meet its educational standards. Preston University is now based in Los Angeles, California.

Newport University

Newport University claims to be based in California and has more than 20 branches all over the world, including Belgium, China and Malaysia. It is not recognised by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

Pacific Western University

Pacific Western University (Hawaii) was closed in 2006 by the State of Hawaii for not being accredited by any accreditation body recognised by the state. Its degrees and credits might not be acceptable to employers or other institutions.

Malaysians are so caught up with degrees that many would go to any lengths for one.

And degree mills — bodies that award degrees with little or no study — are ready to hand out the awards to many who want to boost their business position, social status or political standing.

The Starprobe's search reveals that many Malaysians are buying dubious Bachelor's, Master's and even Doctorates from popular degree "conferring" bodies, among them the American-based Preston Uni-versity and Newport University; Dublin Metropolitan University (DMU) and Irish International University (IIU).

Other dubious institutions which are not in recognised accreditation registries include Connaught University, Pacific Western University, American Northeast State University, Western University, European University, Hill University, Rochville University and Buxton University.

When the Starprobe team conducted a search, including on the Internet, for the "alumni" of these degree mills, the list included prominent personalities in different sectors:

(Photo caption) Cambodian premier Hun Sen (right) receiving his honorary degree from Irish International University head, a Malaysian called Hardeep Singh Sandhu, in 2007.

> a Selangor Umno division chief who is also chairman of a local publishing group (MBA, Connaught University, UK);

> a Kedah Umno division head and Umno Supreme Council member who became a self-made millionaire after school (MBA, Preston University, US);

> a Perak DAP state assemblyman (Bachelor of Business Administration, Paramount University of Technology, US) ;

> a retired Royal Malaysian Police department director who is now serving in a government body (MBA, Newport University, US);

> a leading Chinese educationist with three PhDs (PhD, Kensington University, US);

> a celebrity motivational speaker who has set up a private college (MBA and Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA), European Business School Cambridge of European Union);

> a top entrepreneur and chairman of one of Malaysia's leading manufacturers (DBA, Irish International University); and

> a chairman of a local IT media company who was charged with furnishing false statement to the Bursa Malaysia (Bachelor of Science in Building Construction and Management, Connaught University, Ireland; MBA, North West London University, UK; and Doctorate of Philosophy in Business Administration, Pacific Western University, US).

The questionable "qualification" is evident in the official resumes of these public figures which the Starprobe team obtained from their offices or official websites.

When contacted, some were genuinely surprised to find out that they had been duped but others evaded questions and refused to comment.

One person with two alleged doctorates did not deny receiving the bogus doctorates but simply urged Starprobe to quote his third doctorate from the Southern Cross University, Australia, which is legitimate.

All the universities mentioned claim to be accredited, but none is recognised by the national accrediting body Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) or its foreign accrediting partners.

The IIU was blacklisted by MQA(then known as National Accreditation Board) in July 2005.

A disturbing trend is that these dodgy institutions offer prominent personalities degrees so they can gain credibility with the "qualifications".

This is the standard practice for many of these bogus universities, said a senior Irish academic attached to a local private university who declined to be named.

"These institutions go to another country, especially in the less developed and developing world, and offer local prominent personalities doctorates and other degrees. These are not honorary degrees but they don't ask the VIPs for money either.

"They just invite the important people to put in a 1,500-word essay or write something about themselves, and they 'award' them their degrees.

"It becomes an endorsement of sorts — when the institutions get complaints from parents and students, they will simply point out the important people who have their degrees," he explained, adding that it is prevalent because it is win-win for both parties.

"The institutions get the chance to be set up and the important people get their paper qualification."

Republic of Ireland deputy ambassador to Malaysia Eoin Duggan highlighted another device for these universities to gain credibility.

They would invite VIPs, including politicians, to their convocations and sometimes confer on them honorary degrees.

"Their presence gives the ceremony importance. Having, say, a junior minister's name on their list meanwhile would add credibility to the institution's name," he said.

For example, IIU's previous honorary luminaries include a senator who is famous for championing minority rights, the president of one of Barisan Nasional's component parties and the director of a local think tank.

Although most have wised up and dropped the dubious qualification from their resume, a few still list it in their academic credentials.

Education blogger Tony Pua believes that half of those holding bogus degrees knew that their "qualifications" were not bona fide.

"It lends credence to the university to have VIPs on their list. But if you can get a doctorate without doing any research, it is a fake one. It is impossible to get a credible doctorate via a long distance learning programme, especially if you are studying part-time," said Pua, the Petaling Jaya Utara MP.

British Council Malaysia Education and Programmes Director Peter Clack agrees, pointing out that a degree is intended to reward academic excellence and requires hard work and commitment as that is what gives it its value with employers.

"If a degree course sounds too good to be true, then it is more than likely to be a bogus one," he said.

Unfortunately, there is nothing much that authorities can do to stamp out this fraudulent practice.

Although the respective governments are aware of these dubious institutions, they have not been able to fully eliminate them as many are legitimately registered as business entities or exist mainly in the virtual world.

Many can only advise the public about the "bogus" institutions, like Ireland, which is distancing itself from the institutions claiming to be Irish.

However, these "bogus" bodies are experts in evading authorities; further checks revealed that IIU had changed its name to Isles International University. It has even maintained an international office in Petaling Jaya.

The degree mill issue has become such that the United Nations declared a war on this worldwide industry of fraudulent qualifications in June.

Calling it "an emerging academic corruption", the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has issued a guideline for countries around the world to help eradicate these degree mills.

Seven Arab universities have recently been established in The Hague. Some of them train pilots, others offer courses in Islamic sciences or nuclear physics. But far from everybody is convinced that the degrees the universities offer hold any value.

Dr Khalil, an Iraqi man in his mid fifties, is visibly proud of the Free University in The Hague of which he is the vice-rector. He describes it as a 'non-profit organisation' providing education for Arabs who migrated to the Netherlands for economic reasons. Only a handful of people work at his office in a modern building in The Hague; there are no students to be seen. According to Dr Khalil, the actual teaching takes place at another location that is not accessible at the moment of the interview. He adds that his university also teaches by mail and through Paltalk, an internet chat programme.

All teaching at the Free University is in Arabic. "Most of the books written in the English language are translated from the Arabic anyway", explains Dr Khalil. This year, he says, 150 bachelor students, 32 master students and 25 PhD students will obtain their degrees in various subjects, including political science, philosophy and law.

'Friends'
The Free University is not the only one of its kind. There are six more in The Hague, all established by Iraqis in the past few years. In fact, Dr Khalil happens to be the rector of one of them: La Haye University, which is located in the same building. He has established this university himself, he says, because the Free University could not accommodate certain subjects. The website of La Haye University mentions an agreement with the Royal Jordanian Aviation College, to train 100 pilots and 200 aviation engineers.

Another member of the board of directors of the Free University has his own university as well, which is called the Dutch University for Science and Arts. Each of the three universities calls itself the 'friend' of the other two.

Warning
Outside the Netherlands, this mushrooming of Arab universities has already caused some commotion. Some time ago, the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education reported that a certain 'Open University' in the Netherlands sold high academic degrees to Iraqis who did not have any academic training. Some of these degrees, it said, were in very specific fields such as nuclear physics. More recently, the Swedish Ministry of Education issued a warning against fake universities, mentioning in particular the Free University of Sweden, an affiliate of the Free University in The Hague.

Dr Khalil is not concerned about the Swedish warning, saying it is based on a misunderstanding. But in the Netherlands, too, doubts are growing stronger. The Free University was recently expelled from the Dutch organisation the Platform for Recognised Private Educational Institutions (PAEPON) 'for the misleading information it distributes on its website'.

Life experience
Dr Khalil himself holds no fewer than three PhD degrees. One is from the Free University of which he himself is the vice rector. According to a publication of his university, he further obtained a PhD in Administration from the United States, but no particular university there is mentioned. And in his CV, Dr Khalil finally mentions a PhD from Suffield university. This American institute - not to be confused with the well-known Sheffield University in the United Kingdom - issues degrees on the basis of 'life experience'.

In the Netherlands anyone who takes the trouble to visit to the local Chamber of Commerce and pay about 50 euros can put a sign on his door that reads 'university'. That is not to say, of course, that this 'university' and the degrees it offers are recognised by the Dutch authorities. But Dr Khalil is optimistic. Dutch law, he knows, stipulates that a university can only apply for official recognition four years after it is established. So the recognition of the Free University is "only a matter of time."

Cheaters beware. It is now a misdemeanor in Missouri to use a fake degree or one from a diploma mill to apply for a job, admission to a college or in connection with any business, job or public office.

Gov. Jay Nixon is scheduled to sign a bill today that will make it so. In doing so, Missouri joins about a dozen other states that have similar laws on the books.

The Missouri Department of Higher Education had pushed legislators to create such a bill to make sure Missouri is not a friendly place to phony diplomas and transcripts that are readily available on the Internet.

The department discovered a couple of cases in Missouri — including a St. Charles couple who tried to pass off fake degrees from St. Charles Community College and Lindenwood University to get teaching jobs in Florida. (See my story from December that I have pasted below for more on this.)

Leroy Wade, an assistant commissioner of higher education, noted in a news release that most often the use of fake degrees goes undetected.

"Unless an employer has a reason to be suspicious, they often accept documentation at face value," he said. "The new legislation calls attention to the problem and puts people on notice that using phony documents is a crime."

A company awarded an important role in the Government's attempt to shut down hundreds of bogus colleges is run by a man who was dismissed from his post at a university, The Times has discovered.

Maurice Dimmock is the director and chief executive of an organisation that inspects and accredits private colleges which want to admit foreign students. The Accreditation Service for International Colleges (ASIC) has given 180 institutions the stamp of approval since he set it up in 2007.

Among them is a Manchester college that The Times exposed last month as the front for an immigration scam which helped 1,000 fake students to enter or stay in Britain.

The head office of ASIC, one of seven government-approved accreditation bodies, is a semi-detached house in a village near Middlesbrough. The company has five staff. Its directors are Mr. Dimmock, 59, and his wife, Margaret, 52. The company secretary is her 78-year-old father.

Until 2003 Mr Dimmock was the director of international operations at Northumbria University, with responsibility for overseas students. He and the university have refused to discuss why his employment was terminated, but The Times has established that the Home Office received, and ignored, concerns about ASIC and Mr. Dimmock before it granted the company a contract. Northumbria University wrote to the Home Office in May 2007 to question the role the company was about to be given in distinguishing between genuine and bogus colleges. Two months later Universities UK, representing Britain's 133 universities, wrote to Liam Byrne, the Immigration Minister, to "express concern about the decision to approve ASIC as one of the accreditation bodies within the new immigration system".

In a letter to the Home Affairs Select Committee, which has responded to articles in The Times by holding an inquiry into bogus colleges, Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe, chief executive of Universities UK, raised further doubts about ASIC. She said: "There is a lack of information and transparency about (ASIC's) management, governance and financial structures. Several of the colleges that it accredits have been associated with inappropriate activities."

In November, ASIC accredited King's College of Management, Manchester, which claimed to have 67 students. The Times disclosed last month that it had enrolled 1,178 foreigners and was offering places to another 1,575. Individuals at the college were selling diplomas and faking attendance records to fool the authorities into granting students leave to stay in Britain.

Mr. Dimmock told The Times that ASIC had rejected 15 of the 195 colleges that it had inspected, including Manchester College of Professional Studies. It claimed to have 50 students, but secretly enrolled 1,797, including 8 of the 10 Pakistani citizens arrested in April for suspected involvement in an al-Qaeda terror plot.

Mr. Dimmock said that ASIC used 25 inspectors, many of them former university professors experienced in international education. Their attempts to separate genuine colleges from those involved in immigration fraud were hampered, he said, by the Home Office's refusal to tell ASIC how many student visas were issued for each college it inspects. "We don't see ourselves purely as acting as policemen. We are there to identify those colleges which are genuine, as far as we can see," he said.

A UK Border Agency spokesman confirmed that concerns about ASIC had been passed to the Home Office, but said that the Home Office relied on the recommendations of Ofsted in determining which accreditation bodies should receive contracts.

An Ofsted spokewoman said that it had assessed ASIC before it became an approved accreditation body in 2007 and was "satisfied that it was operating in a satisfactory manner".

There is no suggestion that most of the 180 colleges accredited by ASIC are linked to immigration scams.

DETROIT - A Dearborn resident who submitted phony college transcripts to universities in order to get bogus transfer credits to gain students admission to graduate and medical school programs, and who helped foreign students obtain U.S. student visas based on false documents, was sentenced to two years in federal prison today, United States Attorney Terrence Berg announced.

Berg was joined in the announcement by Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI and Brian Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Nazeer Hamadneh, 40, of Dearborn, Michigan was sentenced today to 24 months in prison by United States District Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff in Port Huron, Michigan.

"This sentence reflects the serious nature of these crimes. Individuals who gain entry into the United States and into a college or university through fraud undermine the vetting process and could put the public at risk," said Brian M. Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge of the ICE Office of Investigations for Michigan and Ohio. "ICE will continue to work with our partners to close this vulnerability."

According to court records, Hamadneh pleaded guilty on March 10, 2009 to Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud and Visa Fraud. Co-defendants Abbas Obeid aka Adam Obeid, 34, of Ontario, Canada, Roni Aoub, 27, of Southfield, and Majed Mamo, 40, of Wixom, Michigan all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Abbas Obeid also pled guilty to conspiracy to commit visa fraud.

According to the indictment filed in this case, from August 2000 through August 2008, Hamadneh and his co-defendants conspired to defraud educational institutions such as Lawrence Technological University in Southfield and Madonna University in Livonia by submitting fraudulent undergraduate transcripts so that individuals, who paid a fee to the conspirators, would fraudulently obtain transfer credits from those institutions.

These credits were applied toward undergraduate degrees. Fraudulent transcripts were also submitted so that individuals would be accepted for enrollment in graduate programs. The indictment alleges that, in exchange for money, the conspirators submitted fraudulent undergraduate transcripts to medical schools located in the Caribbean and Belize on behalf of students who otherwise had insufficient undergraduate credits to enter medical school.

The indictment alleges that as a result of the defendants' actions, otherwise unqualified students were admitted to medical school based on the submission of fraudulent undergraduate transcripts. In addition, the indictment alleges that defendants Nazeer Hamadneh and Abbas Obeid conspired to submit and submitted fraudulent documents on behalf of foreign students in order to obtain student visas. The indictment further alleges that defendants Nazeer Hamadneh and Majed Mamo tampered with witnesses in an effort to prevent witnesses from providing truthful information to law enforcement.

United States Attorney Terrence Berg said, "The whole of society is victimized by a scheme that allows unqualified persons to pay for phony transcripts and college credits that will get them into a graduate or medical school where they do not belong. Of greater concern is any scheme that permits student visas to be obtained under false pretenses. We will be vigilant to protect against the abuses demonstrated in this case."

"Individuals who buy and sell fraudulent college credits not only cheat the educational system; but when used for medical school admissions may endanger public health. Additionally, this undermines the student visa program by allowing individuals into this country who fail to follow through on their obligation to continue their higher education," said Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cathleen Corken.

Timothy Johnson, the newly elected vice chairman of the state Republican party, is listed as "Dr. Johnson" on his and the state GOP's Web sites. But he's not a medical doctor or dentist. And he won't disclose where he earned his Ph.D., leaving the impression that he got it from a now-defunct school once notorious as a diploma mill.

The Indy contacted Johnson to ask whether his claimed "Ph.D., Concentration in Total Quality Management, LaSalle University (2000)" was issued by the defunct LaSalle in Louisiana, the accredited La Salle University in Pennsylvania or another LaSalle.

Johnson responded in an e-mail, "I hope you understand when I say I am not going to answer any more questions about my military experience, education background or personal history."

He added: "It just doesn't matter at this point. I am sorry, but enough is enough. Have a great weekend."

His e-mail signature read: "Timothy F. Johnson, Ph.D."

The accredited La Salle University, a Catholic institution with three campuses in Pennsylvania, confers a doctoral degree only in clinical psychology, according to its Web site.

The LaSalle in Louisiana, however, as the authoritative Chronicle of Higher Education reported in 2001, operated as a diploma mill from 1986 to mid-1997, essentially selling degrees (it advertised heavily on matchbook covers) until the FBI raided and shut it down. Its owner, Thomas J. Kirk, was imprisoned for mail and tax fraud, among other charges. That "university" employed no faculty, only secretaries to handle the paperwork and the money.

In late '97, according to the Chronicle, the Louisiana LaSalle was purchased by seemingly "serious" owners including the then-chairwoman of the Louisiana Republican party. They later folded LaSalle's assets into their newly formed company, the Orion Education Corp., after failing to win accreditation for LaSalle from the Distance Education and Training Council in 1999.

Johnson's résumé is included on the Web site of Leadership 101, a company that offers him as its CEO and "lead consultant." Leadership 101 lists its business is "training leaders for success in the 21st century."

Johnson, the Web site promises, is "entertaining, thought-provoking and inspiring."

Johnson is also employed as an adjunct faculty member at Shaw University's Asheville campus. He was in the U.S. Army from 1984 to 2007 in active and reserve roles, starting as an enlisted soldier and retiring with the rank of major, according to a document he released prior to the state GOP convention when his military service was questioned.

The 1,600 delegates to the GOP convention in Raleigh this month chose Johnson as their No. 2 official, despite the news—widely circulated by his opponents and broken publicly by the Asheville media the week before the convention—that he'd pleaded guilty in 1996 to a felonious assault on his first wife. A resident of Cleveland, Ohio at the time, Johnson received an 18-month suspended sentence contingent on his relocating to Toledo, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. (Johnson was then seeking an Ohio legislative seat as a Democrat.)

Johnson asked convention delegates to forgive his past mistake and, in accordance with his slogan ("It's Time"), make him the first African-American officer in the state GOP since the 19th century.

On the floor of the convention, Johnson campaigned wearing his "Dr. Timothy F. Johnson" name tag despite the rumors already circulating that his doctorate was bogus. At the time, the rumors took a backseat to his criminal record, though, and most delegates seemed to be unaware of questions about his educational background when they voted.

Their attention, moreover, was on the hotly contested race for party chairman, won by former Raleigh Mayor Tom Fetzer. (See "The very, very, very small tent," June 17.)

When he was elected chair of the Buncombe County Republican party in 2008, Johnson did not disclose his criminal record because, he told the Indy in an interview at the convention, it was "nobody's business" except his second wife's, and he did tell her.

Chris McClure, executive director of the state GOP, did not return a phone call or answer an e-mail asking the basis for the party's listing of Johnson, its new vice-chair, as "Dr. Timothy Johnson."

Last year after writing We have our own heroes, we don't need other people's in The National I received an e-mail from a director in the Watani programme that began: "Dear Dr Sultan." I must admit that I thought it was a nice compliment, but the thought stopped there and I promptly emailed him back, thanked him and pointed out that I do not have a PhD.

More recently, one of my students from the Dubai Men's College invited me to lecture at a young professionals network he is part of at a real estate development firm. I decided to focus on ethical and moral dilemmas in life and in the business world such as the "Trolley Dilemma" – look it up on Wikipedia.

The truth is there are plenty of moral dilemmas that confront us in the UAE, many of them dealing with education and credentials. For instance, an acquaintance of mine had casually purchased his degree from a foreign university and is currently running a branch of a major financial institution. Should I inform the authorities and "do the right thing" and potentially harm his young family's interests? There is no easy answer.

One of the most embarrassing moments in the first administration of the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came when the country's parliament voted to impeach the former Interior Minister – the former head of the very same ministry that announced Ahmadinejad's recent "landslide victory." The minister, Ali Kordan, was accused of lying about his credentials and holding a fake degree from what he called "Oxford University in London ."

The most notorious case facing the UAE was when The Spokesman-Review, a newspaper based in Washington state, exposed more than 9,600 people who had purchased their degrees from a fraudulent diploma mill. The list included dozens of individuals based in the UAE. These "students" had names that appeared to be Arab, European, African and Asian and they may or may not be currently employed in the UAE or in the region, possibly in influential positions.

A total of 68 Emiratis were among these naive "degree holders" as well as scores of other GCC nationals. These young Emiratis may have travelled abroad with the intention to study but in some cases found themselves spending too much time basking in their freedom. With limited follow up from their families or their embassies abroad, particularly in large countries such as the US and Australia, it would not have been difficult to succumb to this temptation.

This is by far not a challenge specific to the UAE. Last year Singapore announced that it had caught 400 locals and expatriates working there who had falsified their degrees. According to a report published in The Straits Times of Singapore, there are three groups of people who resort to buying degrees. The first is young people who were not successful in their studies and want to prove that they have achieved an academic qualification to get a job and support their families. The second group is comprised of employees who seek to get a raise at their current job or who are trying to find a new one. The third is a group of businessmen – who are already successful – who want the prestige of a qualification that can also help them in their business dealings. For instance, recently The New York Times profiled a UAE personality who had been referring to himself as a doctor. The newspaper discovered that the university where he studied does not even offer PhDs. His spokesperson said that even though he might not have a PhD he does in fact have two MBAs.

In the UAE the greatest danger of the practice of buying degrees is in the fields of construction and medicine. A few years ago I was looking to hire a project engineer for a construction project and the gentleman I interviewed seemed to be very capable and possessed the right qualifications. I was surprised that he was willing to leave a reputable firm to work on a relatively small project. I called his firm one day and asked for the engineering department in that construction firm. I was told that although a person with that name worked in the firm, this gentleman wasn't a project engineer at all but had a much more junior position. I thought to myself how potentially dangerous it would have been had we hired him to oversee a project for which he wasn't qualified.

Buying degrees can be very lucrative but very dangerous in the medical industry. Many people in the Gulf succumb to what amounts to witchcraft and sorcery but feel comforted in being told that these sorcerers are qualified doctors who can cure them from a disease or can save a loved one. Many victims of these tricks are too shy to admit that they have been paying for ineffective medicine. They choose silence over unwanted publicity. So sadly, in the UAE this practice can still pay.

Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is a non resident fellow at the Dubai School of Government

In the past few years many young people aspiring to obtain a university degree have been duped by glamorous and flashy web-based educational advertisements. After taking the bait, they find themselves entangled in legal, professional and ethical dilemmas arising from an affiliation with a bogus institution of higher education, better known as a "diploma mill."

Such organisations award academic degrees and diplomas for substandard or no academic work at all. Their "degrees" are awarded without any official educational accreditation.

Last week, the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research issued a statement warning prospective undergraduate and graduate students looking into academic study abroad against falling victim to such fraudulent practices.

Like money laundering and drug trafficking, the multimillion industry in fake diplomas is a global challenge that has dire consequences for local communities. As a global challenge, the diploma mill fraud can only be combated through building up a culture of achievement and excellence not only within local educational systems, but within the community at large.

For those of us who were old enough to experience higher education in the 1970s, bogus universities were rarely an issue. The rise of the internet with its capacity to reach a global audience and to present something virtual – or fraudulent – as real has made these practices viable. In cyberspace, I have come across scores of counterfeit diploma websites that instantly "award" a wide variety of degrees for fees ranging from $300 to $5,000 without the need to attend any programme of study.

In the Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning, John and Mariah Bear report that there are more than 700 diploma mills that generate more than $500 million annually. In many situations, those degrees are often awarded based on vaguely construed "life experience", suggesting, for example, that a person with 25 years of experience in field crop production should receive a doctoral degree in agricultural studies.

I am dismayed to learn that as much as the United States prides itself on having the finest educational institutions in the world, it is perceived by others to be a haven for a large number of bogus schools and universities. In the 1980s, Operation DipScam, an FBI-led investigative force, led to the closing of many diploma mills across the United States. Yet, the lack of further action by law enforcement agencies, uneven state laws and the difficulty with policing the internet have militated against making any substantive progress.

Four years ago, the US Department of Education launched www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation to combat the spread of fraudulent degrees. A number of states have passed bills making degree awarding contingent on accreditation from certified bodies. But the root of the problem derives from the fact that the United States does not have a federal law that would unambiguously prohibit these practices, and the term "university" is not legally protected or defined.

During my 25-year academic experience in different Arab countries, I remember having had only one or two first-hand experiences with fake degree holders. The bleak side of the story is not just about the potential devastation of fake degrees on a person's reputation, but the irreparable damage they cause to the integrity of their profession.

The story of Marion Kolitwenzew in North Carolina illustrates additional risks. She learnt that her daughter was a diabetic and took her to a specialist for care. According to media reports, the physician seemed impressive, with an office full of medical supplies and a slew of medical degrees on the wall. His advice to her was to take her daughter off insulin. The immediate result was the death of an eight-year-old girl. His degrees were bogus and he had no expertise.

While fingers have often been pointed at those who run the bogus operations that award degrees, I also believe that the responsibility to limit their influence must be shared by the media, by the law enforcement agencies that too often show leniency towards those perpetuating these frauds, and by the people who intentionally purchase these degrees.

Because of the current financial crisis, there may be a surge in this type of fraud that preys on people's aspirations and their desperation.

At its core, however, the issue is ethical. To combat this problem, we need a public culture that encourages merit-based promotion and rewards achievement demonstrated through hard work.

More than 60 former students are suing the now-defunct Warren National University, saying it misled them about its accreditation status.

Warren National — better known under its previous name, Kennedy Western — went belly up in March after a failed accreditation bid. For years it had been one of the most prominent unaccredited distance-education institutions in the country.

The 67 students who are suing Warren National say the university told them that it would be accredited soon or that accreditation didn't matter, according to the Associated Press.

In 2008 information on Warren National's Web site under the heading "Licensure and Regulatory Compliance" stated that the university was accepted by "business, professional, and academic communities." It also stated that the university was licensed by the state of Wyoming. That license was revoked this year, after the university failed to achieve accreditation.

A contractor was convicted Thursday on a host of federal violations involving his work with the Pantex Nuclear Facility.

Roy David Williams, 57, was found guilty of 29 separate counts, including wire fraud and false claims regarding contracts with the plant near Amarillo. He appeared in U.S. District Court in Amarillo before Judge Mary Lou Robinson.

A jury found Williams defrauded the government of nearly $170,000 by submitting falsified timecards and expense claims for contract work.

Williams engaged in unauthorized bid preparations and other management activities for his technical services company, WAATTS Inc., while he was at Pantex and then billed the plant for those hours.

As part of the scheme, Williams listed a business address in Tennessee as his business address, but Williams did little or no business in Tennessee. Williams also listed Oak Ridge, Tenn., as the permanent mailing address on his Pantex badging documents, but he and his family have lived in the Amarillo area since 1992.

Federal court records show Williams submitted 28 false or counterfeit billings to the plant from August 2007 to June 2008.

He was convicted on one count of wire fraud, 11 counts of contractors bonds, bids and public records, 16 counts of false, fictitious or fraudulent claims and one count of theft of public money.

Williams faces about 200 years in prison and $8 million in fines. He remains free on bond until sentencing, which has not been scheduled

Here is the text of the U.S. Department of Justice press release announcing Williams' indictment.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2009
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/TXN
MEDIA INQUIRIES: KATHY COLVIN
PHONE: (214)659-8600
FAX: (214) 767-2898


CONTRACTOR INDICTED FOR DEFRAUDING PANTEX OF NEARLY $200,000

AMARILLO, Texas — A federal grand jury in Amarillo returned an indictment today charging Roy David Williams, 57, of Amarillo and Lake Tanglewood, Texas, with various offenses related to his defrauding Pantex from August 2007 through June 2008, announced acting U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. The 29-count federal indictment charges Williams with one count of wire fraud, 11 counts of contractors bonds, bids and public records, 16 counts of false, fictitious or fraudulent claims and one count of theft of public money. Williams is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Clinton E. Averitte on Thursday, April 30, 2009, at 9:30 a.m. for his initial appearance

The Pantex Nuclear Facility is a nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. Pantex is managed and operated by Babcock and Wilcox (B&W Pantex) for the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration. B&W Pantex routinely employs subcontractors to perform services for Pantex.

Roy David Williams owned and operated WAATTS, Inc., from an office at the Amarillo National Bank Plaza II in downtown Amarillo. On August 28, 2007, B&W Pantex and WAATTS, entered into a contract for WAATTS to provide technical services to B&W Pantex. WAATTS' staff included Williams, his wife and daughter, and several other individuals.

As part of his scheme to defraud Pantex, Williams listed a business address in Lenoir City, Tennessee, for WAATTTS, however that business address was actually the residence of an acquaintance of Williams; Williams did little to no business in Tennessee. Williams also listed an address in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, as his permanent mailing address on his Pantex security badging documents, however, he and his family have lived in the Amarillo area since 1992 and he has no relatives or acquaintances who reside at the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, address he provided to Pantex. Williams even provided Pantex a Leonard, Texas, (approximately 350 miles from Amarillo) address for one of his employees, however, that employee has resided in Amarillo since 2004.

Additionally, as part of his scheme to defraud Pantex, Williams engaged in unauthorized future bid preparations and other WAATS management activities, while he was at the Pantex plant and off site, and billed Pantex for those unauthorized hours. Williams submitted payment requests for hours he and his employees worked at the Pantex plant, when Williams knew that neither he nor his employees were at Pantex during those hours he billed. Williams also inflated the hours he and his employees worked, claimed per diem expenses he was not entitled to, and claimed per diem expenses for an employee that he was not entitled to claim.

The indictment alleges that Williams requested that Pantex send wire transfers to his bank account that he maintained in Tennessee and then requested the bank send corresponding wire transfers from the Tennessee bank to a bank account he maintained in Amarillo, all designed to 1) conceal the fact that he resided and did business exclusively in Texas, and 2) to claim fraudulent per diem payments. Williams submitted false, forged, altered, and counterfeited time cards to Pantex in support of service invoices that included hours not worked and hours spent on non-contract work.

According the indictment, Williams fraudulently received approximately $169,858 of public money from Pantex.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. Upon conviction, however, the wire fraud count carries a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Each of the contractors bonds, bids and public records and public money counts each carries a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Each of the false claims counts carries a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case is being investigated by the Department of Energy - Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Drake of the Amarillo, Texas, U.S. Attorney's Office is prosecuting.

Thousands of young Pakistanis exploited a hole in Britain's immigration defences to enrol as students at a network of sham colleges, The Times can reveal.

The gateway, opened by fraudsters who have earned millions from the scam, has allowed in hundreds of men from a region of Pakistan that is the militant heartland of al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taleban.

Eight of the terror suspects arrested last month in Manchester and Liverpool were on the books of one college.It had three small classrooms and three teachers for the 1,797 students on its books. Another college claimed to have 150 students but secretly enrolled 1,178 and offered places to a further 1,575 overseas applicants, 906 of them in Pakistan.

The investigation has also revealed:

• those running the scam charged at least £1,000 for admission places and fake diplomas. They created their own university to issue bogus degrees;

• they also charged £2,500 for false attendance records, diplomas and degrees that were used to extend the students' stay in Britain;

• one wealthy associate, Mir Ahmad, linked to two murders in Pakistan, was arrested yesterday after The Times gave the Home Office a dossier implicating two of the colleges.

The Times has uncovered close ties between 11 colleges in London, Manchester and Bradford, all formed in the past five years and controlled by three young Pakistani businessmen.

Each of the three men entered the country on a student visa. One has fled to Pakistan after earning an estimated £6 million from the scam. Fayaz Ali Khan and another man are in the UK.

All but two of the ten students arrested last month over an alleged al-Qaeda bomb plot were enrolled over an 11-month period at Manchester College of Professional Studies. Two Liverpool universities admitted last night that they had given places to four of them, who had used a diploma from the college when they applied.

The massive fraud has fuelled a surge in student arrivals from Pakistan, which the Prime Minister has identified as the birthplace of two thirds of terrorist plots in the UK.Between 2002 and 2007, the number of Pakistani nationals with permission to enter or remain in the UK as students jumped from 7,975 to 26,935.

Manchester College of Professional Studies, set up in 2006, sold places to more than 1,000 students, including hundreds of men from North West Frontier Province, where a battle is raging between Taleban fighters and the Pakistani Army. Others came from mountainous tribal areas near the Afghan border, described by President Obama as "the most dangerous place in the world."

The college was removed from an official government register of education providers last summer but those who ran it have set up other colleges.

Tougher rules on the admission of international students, introduced last month by the UK Border Agency, aim to weed out bogus colleges and close the immigration loophole. The Times has evidence, however, that those involved in some abuses are already seeking to exploit the new system.

Phil Woolas, the Immigration Minister, said last night: "The information provided by The Times has been passed on to the UK Border Agency, which is investigating."

It has been more than a year since the last of eight defendants pleaded guilty in a federal fraud case spawned by a Spokane diploma mill. But the legal gears grind on, as they should.

Some 10,000 people worldwide paid millions of dollars for meaningless college and high school diplomas in a scheme masterminded by a 58-year-old high school dropout. Using a variety of aliases, Dixie Randock dreamed up several phony universities and operated them out of offices in Spokane and Kootenai counties. Randock and seven accomplices, including her husband, were prosecuted and sentenced.

Meanwhile, however, thousands of bogus diploma holders around the globe continue to profit from the fraud that gained them jobs and promotions, many at taxpayer expense.

Among those who acquired bogus degrees, and in some cases counterfeit diplomas from legitimate colleges and universities, were employees in such federal agencies as the CIA, the National Security Agency, the U.S. Department of Health and NASA – even the White House staff.

In February 2008, a former deputy U.S. marshal in Spokane, David F. Brodhagen, pleaded guilty to lying on a federal job promotion form because he used a sham degree to qualify him for a pay raise.

Now we learn that the Army is matching the list of the Randocks' customers against its personnel records. About two dozen Army, National Guard and Army Reserve members are facing disciplinary action over invalid academic credentials used to advance their careers. Military officials say it's a laborious process, but a thorough investigation is in order, and not just to prevent lazy soldiers from pulling a fast one. There are at least three reasons it's in the public interest for the military and other agencies to continue the search for opportunists who engaged in the masquerade.

•It's theft of public funds.

•Putting unqualified people in sensitive jobs may endanger public safety.

•Since a degree makes it easier for a foreigner to enter the United States, it could be a tool for terrorism.

With tuition levels soaring, diploma mills will be as tempting as ever. But by tracking down and dealing with service members who collected undeserved benefits, the Army lets unscrupulous and lazy people know that the shortcut isn't worth the risk, which in turn makes the scheme less attractive to potential con artists.

In the meantime, the military, the government and our public school systems need to scour their records and tighten their personnel practices against fraudulent academic credentials.

The State Health Department has accused a social worker and two counselors of using phony degrees from diploma mills. All are accused of buying doctorates.

State regulators accuse Michael Strub, a licensed social workers, with buying a doctor of philosophy in psychology degree diploma and transcript in March 2004. They came from Hamilton University, which the Health Department calls an online diploma mill.

He is accused of misrepresenting his education and training to clients and insurance companies. He worked at Cornerstone Counseling Services in Puyallup.

David Larsen, a registered counselor and chemical dependency professional, is accused of buying a doctor of psychology degree in October 2002. The Health Department said he got it from another online diploma mill, St. Regis University. He was known as "Dr. Larsen," the Health Department said.

He is accused of misrepresenting his eduction and training on a resume he submitted for a counselor job.

He worked at Crossroads Treatment Center in Tacoma and CiviGenics of Tacoma.

He has since retired, according to the Health Department.

Taylor Danard, a registered counselor, bought a doctor of philosophy in psychology degree from St. Regis University in January 2003, the Health Department said. She is accused of misrepresenting herself as a Ph.D. and providing false information to a Health Department investigator.

Investigators also looked into four other providers who got credentials from diploma mills, but they didn't use the degrees in their practices or in the application to get a state license.

She worked at the Madison Park Counseling Center in Seattle.

All three health providers have 20 days to respond to the accusations.

HUNTSVILLE, AL - A WHNT NEWS 19 Investigation into fake diplomas has exposed phony college degrees on resumes of members of the military and powerful people in missile defense.

The bombshell is sending shockwaves through Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, and has touched a nerve across the Tennessee Valley.

WHNT NEWS 19 viewers have responded passionately by posting comments on our website and sending dozens of emails.

One viewer wrote:

"It's all about integrity. Anyone who would try to pass off a fake degree is capable of anything. What has this person not done? I wouldn't want him in charge of an outhouse if he passed off a fake degree as a legitimate degree."

Another praised our reports, writing:

"Great work!!! Now, move in for the kill. This has gone on long enough. Many people already knew this and did nothing."

But, some of you also took direct aim at our investigative reports.

"Your idea of 'finding out the truth' is something to be embarrassed of, not proud."

Another viewer writes:

"I think this is a witch hunt. You should stop because you are going to hurt these people's lives and make it to where they can't get a job in this city again."

Chief Investigative Reporter Wendy Halloran broke the story and continues to uncover new information.

We exposed soldiers, a high-ranking civilian on the Army Aviation and Missile Command and a defense contractor. They all have one thing in common. It's not their military background. They bought bogus degrees. We exposed their secret and now it's making national headlines.

Newspaper after newspaper around the country printed the story. The Associated Press picked it up. It went worldwide with the web, including CNN.com.

What's the big deal, you ask?

Secrets, lies, security clearance and access to classified information… it's a recipe for disaster that presents a threat to national security and defrauds you, the taxpayer.

Brigadier General David Grange told Wendy Halloran, "Trying to get information from government employees by foreign agents is a reality that we have to understand and face."

Our 'Taking Action' investigation uncovered a key, essential leader on Redstone Arsenal at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command with a fake college degree.

AMCOM's Director of Readiness, Chris Oleyte, a powerful position with a lot of responsibility, and now there are calls for his resignation.

Brigadier General David Grange told Halloran, "The honorable thing to do is to step down be removed from that command."

We exposed a defense contractor, James Samuelson, who when confronted, admitted the degrees were phony and practically apologized.

When confronted Samuelson said, "Sometimes all of us do things that are not real bright."

Our fake diploma investigation, 'Breach of Trust' triggered an Army probe after revealing soldiers in the Army, National Guard and Army Reserve.

Now the soldiers we exposed may face discipline because they bought fake degrees and counterfeit transcripts. What's worse? They used them to secure promotions. Instead of doing the hard right, they did the easy wrong.

Sergeant Major Tom Gills told Halloran, "They've had years and years to learn and understand what's right and what's wrong. And, to do something so heinous or egregious as to buy a degree when the Army is willing to pay for it for you pay for your tuition assistance so that you can go actually get the education is just a terrible thing."

Sergeant Major Tom Gills is the Chief of enlisted promotions at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command. He said, "From the Army's point of view, the Human Resources Command's point of view, we're very happy that you brought it to our attention because we want all of our soldiers to live and operate within those Army ethics and values that they are taught. And, you bringing this information to us allows us to respond to it to correct that action and to insure that we educate all of our HR professionals and their commanders to be on the lookout for it."

Many of the soldiers we exposed have decorated backgrounds - medals, awards, commendations. It begs the question, "why?"

Wendy asked, "What would prompt a soldier to buy a degree? Is it competitiveness? Why do you think they would take the easy route?" Gills said, "Well, I think it's competitiveness. But, it's also misinformation." He continued, "I travel quite a bit around the Army to teach the soldiers about what they need to do to get promoted. And, I let them know that the evaluation report they get each year is the single most important thing for getting a promotion in the senior ranks. Unfortunately, this myth that getting a diploma equals getting a promotion is not true, yet it's still some, obviously, believed in some quarters."

For a promotion a soldier is rated in five broad categories, including competence, physical fitness, leadership, training, responsibility and accountability. There are 15 total areas where they get points. Higher education is only a fraction of the criteria.

Gills said, "Getting a degree is critically important. I don't want to misstate that it's critically important." He continued, "Education is one of our biggest investments we have in our soldiers, along with military training because that education empowers them with an academic capacity that allows commanders to delegate more authority to them larger missions because they have a better understanding of the world around them."

The Army says it's harder than the armchair naysayer might think to ferret out a fake. Gills said, "Every time we squash one type of institution, they're going to pop up with a different name attempting to lure soldiers to do the wrong thing."

Among the worst is Saint Regis University, a diploma mill operated out of Spokane, Washington.

It was a operation masterminded by Dixie and Steven Randock. A phony degree and diploma-granting racket that sold counterfeit credentials based on life experience to 9,612 buyers around the world. No coursework, no classes. Just cash! The ringleaders raked in millions. Then the Feds shut them down and prosecutors sent the Randocks to prison.

Unfortunately, they're not the only ones cranking out counterfeit credentials. Halloran asked, "Do you think diploma mills, in general, are becoming an even bigger problem in this country?" of Judith Eaton, the President of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, based in Washington, D.C.

"The press for credentials at the higher education level is so great. It is tied to so many jobs," said Eaton. "It is such an advantage to have a higher education credential in seeking employment and getting ahead, that 'yes,' there are a number of people who will say, 'Well I can do this an easier way than going to school for four years. I can go online and buy a degree.' And, they'll do it."

Eaton said, "You don't get a legitimate master's degree in two months. You don't get a legitimate doctorate by paying $2,500."

Halloran asked, "Is enough being done by lawmakers?" Eaton replied, "No." She continued, "There are negative consequences associated with having and using a fraudulent degree. People lose their jobs. People don't get promoted. People may be fired. But, right now the negative consequences are minimal. And, we need to pay more attention to it."

Ten states have passed laws making the use of a fake credential a crime and there are restrictions in Michigan and Indiana. Alabama has no laws on the books.

"I think that diploma mills are a very, very serious problem," said Congressman Tim Bishop. Bishop is a Democrat from New York. Halloran spoke with him from Capitol Hill.

"If a bogus credential is being used to acquire a particular position, whether it be an entry level position or promotion and taxpayer dollars are being used to fund that position or fund the promotion, that points once again to the fact that action must be taken," Rep. Bishop said.

Bishop sits on the House Education and Labor Committee. In that role, he's made modest gains in the effort to crackdown on counterfeit degrees. Bishop co-sponsored legislation that became law last year and for the first time, provided a federal definition of a diploma mill. But, by his own admission, that's not enough.

Bishop said, "I think that this diploma mill problem has grown more pronounced as a result of emerging technology. And, now it is the responsibility of the government to deal with a much more pronounced problem than had once been the case."

So, we made him go on record with a promise to get results. Halloran asked, "I just want to hear your commitment to getting a federal law passed that makes this a crime." Bishop replied, "I can commit to you that I will re-submit the legislation that Congresswoman McCollum and I offered now about a year and half ago and I will work as hard as I possibly can to see to it that it becomes law."

Congressman Bishop said he's interested in meeting with Army leaders to discuss the issue. The Army is taking this matter very seriously. Lieutenant Colonel Richard McNorton is the spokesperson for the Army's Human Resources Command. He said if Army leaders or soldiers who are in leadership positions purchase fake degrees, it's a career ender.

Now that we've brought this to the attention of the Army, it's in the process of identifying soldiers who conducted business with diploma mills. They're also warning soldiers about predatory diploma mills and steering them to legitimate colleges.

The issues at Redstone Arsenal are separate from the enlisted soldiers because it involves Department of the Army civilians. We've made the senior command at Redstone Arsenal aware of this problem. And, we've made them aware of additional employees who may have purchased fake degrees.

We requested an on camera interview with AMCOM Commander Major General Jim Myles. He declined our request and instead issued a statement which stated:

"An investigation is currently working to determine the truth about all the circumstances surrounding these allegations. When that effort is complete, we will be able to exactly determine any future action." -Maj. Gen. Jim Myles

We're hopeful Major General Jim Myles will respond to us.

The U.S. Army is investigating soldiers who bought degrees from an illegal diploma mill that was based in Spokane and resulted in prison time for its operators.

It's also warning soldiers to be wary of phony diploma schemes when they sign up for education and tuition assistance.

The Army's Human Resources Command is using a list of customers of the diploma mill operated by Dixie and Steve Randock obtained and posted online last summer by The Spokesman-Review.

"We're doing an inquiry into all of our records," Lt. Col. Richard McNorton, public affairs officer for the Human Resources Command headquarters in Alexandria, Va., said Friday. "It's a very laborious process."

So far, the investigation has turned up about 25 soldiers in the Army, National Guard or Army Reserve who face discipline because they bought fake degrees, and in some cases fake transcripts, and used them to secure promotions, McNorton said. Others have been found who have fake degrees in their files but have since retired.

Retirees might face some administrative action, although the Army's authority is limited after a person retires, he said.

The investigation was triggered by a series of stories by a Huntsville, Ala., television station about diploma mill customers who worked at a local military base and weapons arsenal. Reporter Wendy Halloran of station WHNT asked the Human Resources Command about some Huntsville soldiers, and the office opened an investigation using the customer database compiled by the U.S. Justice Department in the case against the Randocks, McNorton said.

They also used The Spokesman-Review's online version of the database, which lists customers alphabetically and by some e-mail addresses, including military e-mail addresses that end in ."mil." But those were the "low-hanging fruit," McNorton said, and the Human Resources Command quickly moved on to the full list.

The Army's investigation turned up one soldier who purchased eight degrees or certificates from the Randocks. Thurman Towry, a former guardsman and Army Reserve officer who submitted degrees to obtain promotions, faced administrative action short of a court-martial and opted to retire, McNorton said.

"Obviously, with something like this, your career is completely over," he said.

The Army now is concentrating on anyone who obtained a degree from one of several fake institutions, including St. Regis University, which the Randocks created. That fake school prompted a civil suit against the Randocks when Regis University, a Jesuit-run institution in Denver, sued them for damaging the real school's reputation.

Regis University is accredited by the Army and is listed in a "drop down box" on a form that education officers fill out when a soldier is reporting a degree. Some soldiers who bought St. Regis degrees may have told the education officer that it was the same school as Regis and the form was filled out accordingly, McNorton said.

A college degree is not a requirement for promotion within the enlisted ranks, but it can be the factor that leads to advancements when two soldiers are equal in all other categories. It is a requirement for promotion in the officer ranks.

Each case will be investigated by the soldier's commanding unit to see what action is warranted. Some soldiers may have purchased a degree without completing any course work and submitted it to gain a promotion, knowing it was fake, McNorton said. Others may have supplied the diploma mill with transcripts from several other schools, along with a work history, and legitimately thought they were earning a degree. "Not everybody is corrupt. Some may have just been dumb," he said.

The Human Resources Command is also concerned about soldiers, and the taxpayers, being swindled by diploma mills. The military pays soldiers to get more education but requires the education to be from accredited schools – or the costs won't be reimbursed.

They could lose hundreds of dollars of their own money, McNorton said.

This week, the Army posted a "buyer beware" admonition about diploma mills on the Web site that helps soldiers sign up for education and tuition assistance. It advises soldiers to make sure a school is accredited and warns about punishment for entering a fraudulent degrees into personnel records.

"Don't get caught with a 'bogus degree,' " advises Thursday's Tip of the Day from the Army's education Web site.

A follow-up to a Taking Action Investigation we brought you last October. At that time, we exposed three people who had bought fake diplomas.

Following that report, several people emailed WHNT NEWS 19 who said we only scratched the surface. One viewer claimed buying fake degrees is condoned and rewarded at the highest levels on Redstone Arsenal.

We dug deeper, and indeed, found more deception. This investigation has captured the attention of top leaders from Huntsville to Washington, D.C.

Our investigation reveals the use of counterfeit credentials has infiltrated all levels of the military and missile defense, the core of Huntsville's community. This breach of trust is costing you, the taxpayer, and it could put our nation's security at risk.

This week on WHNT NEWS 19 at 10:00, we'll expose soldiers, civilians and even defense contractors who possess fake degrees.

Our investigation in October 2008 started with retired Master Sergeant Albert Finley, Jr.

"I only inquired, no, I never bought nothing," said Finley.

Finley's military record testifies to a patriotic man, willing to put himself in harm's way for his country. His distinguished record shows he's done everything to be all he can be, from earning the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Kuwait Liberation Medal and the Global War On Terrorism Service Medal.

These campaign medals, decorations and awards speak volumes. Among the honor, there's another accolade Finley takes credit for: a master's degree in Sociology with a minor in Counseling from Saint Regis University.

His diploma looks official. His transcripts reflect he was an almost straight-A student. But there's one problem, it's all a lie.

The lie was good enough to fool the U.S. Army, until we brought it to their attention. Our investigation essentially shows when soldiers can't be all they can be, they buy it.

Finley told WHNT NEWS 19 he only inquired about buying a fake degree. We traveled to the nation's capitol for answers. The U.S. Army says that's not the case.

"Did Master Sergeant Albert Finley Junior, Retired, turn over a fake degree to the United States Army?" we asked of Sergeant Major Tom Gills.

"He did," said SGM Gills. "We've verified that and I have a copy of it right here for you."

SGM Gills is the Chief of Enlisted Promotions for the U.S. Army. The office is headquartered at the Army's Human Resources Command in northern Virginia.

The fake degree from now-defunct Saint Regis University cost Finley $731. It's one factor in his promotion from Sgt. First Class to Master Sergeant. The promotion meant a bump in pay for him. You've been footing the bill.

"You have a master's degree through Troy University out of Dothan, Alabama, so you know what it's like get the higher education -- the blood sweat and tears -- when you heard of Finley's case what ran across your mind? What entered your mind?" we asked SGM Gills.

"In a word, disgust," said SGM Gills.

"When I think of the hard work, and not just for myself, setting an example for our young soldiers to see what right looks like and to spend those nights and the weekends missing family events and all the other things that all of us do to achieve the degree had to go through, it's not easy of course," said SGM Gills.

"It's very worthwhile, so as you work to make that example for your subordinates and your peers hoping to inspire them, to have someone who would go and do something like this, it sickens me," he added.

"It just adds insult to injury that a senior NCO would take that, that route to go outside of what the Army authorizes as an accredited institution and pay money out of their own pocket again when the Army will pay for their tuition and books 100% to go and actually get the education," SGM Gills added.

The Army's promotions board approved it. However, Master Sergeant Albert Finley's far-from-genuine degree isn't the only fake that slipped through the cracks of the Army's screening process. There are a battalion of others who flew under the radar.

WHNT NEWS 19's Taking Action Investigation has uncovered Major Eliza Watson of Birmingham bought a fake bachelor's degree in Business.

The comment section on the Saint Regis University buyer's list reveals Major Watson took measures to make sure her secret stayed a secret.

Her post said "I am Captain in the Army Reserves and I need a degree to retain my commission; no transaction on e-mail."

Major Thurman Towry of Homewood also engaged in a covert operation, purchasing a total of eight degrees and certificates, including a bachelor's in Business Management, a master's in Management and a PhD in International Management Strategy.

Towry turn all three degrees over to the Army, and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Taxpayers paid for his salary raise.

WHNT NEWS 19 has uncovered more than 200 soldiers, Department of the Army civilians and government contractors around the world who bought fake degrees.

"Each case, it is significant, it is egregious and it just smacks right at those core values that we live by," said SGM Gills.

The group who bought fake diplomas includes dozens fighting right now on the front lines. They submitted these degrees into their official military file for consideration for promotion.

"When you're in combat, you've got to trust that man on the right, that woman on the left and certainly that leader who's behind you or in front of you telling you this is the action we're gonna take, and as soon as you give that integrity away by doing something like this, you have now chipped away at a trust factor," said SGM Gills. "How many senior commanders can trust you again or how subordinates can trust you?"

With the Army's strict codes and strict conduct, how does this happen?

"One would never expect that a seasoned leader would do something like this, so you could see how they could slip through the cracks," said SGM Gills.

"There are some civilians and people who are critical of the Army, saying that the Human Resources Command doesn't do enough to stop these bogus degrees from slipping through the cracks. What would you say to people who feel that way?" WHNT NEWS 19 asked Gills.

"Now that this command is aware of it, at this time were going to educate the Human Resources Specialists throughout the Army," said SGM Gills. "We're going to send a message out to the commanders within the Army that same message."

We also spoke with retired U.S. Army Brigadier General David Grange about our investigation.

"I think most of these cases are people getting these credentials in order to obtain a job a higher pay scale," said Grange.

Grange has three silver stars, two purple hearts and one real master's degree in public service from Western Kentucky University.

He serves as the military analyst for CBS and CNN, and spoke with WHNT NEWS 19 via satellite from Chicago.

"Does it concern you, or how concerned are you with fake academic credentials and people defrauding the United States Government?" we asked him.

"Because they're a government person, they belong to the public, in other words that this is an issue I think that the military will crack down on this immediately and weed out anyone that does have bogus credentials," said Grange. "It's not tolerated. I'm sure those that did it wittingly will be punished."

Since the start of WHNT NEWS 19's Taking Action Investigation, we have turned over 12 names of military members in Alabama who bought fake degrees from bona fide diploma mills.

The U.S. Army says it is taking the matter very seriously, conducting a review of all of their records to see if they turned over their fake degrees as part of the promotions process.

One is too many," said SGM Gills. "And each and every one we're going to identify we're going to turn it over to their commanders for appropriate action."

Gills also thanked us for the investigation.

"I just want to say God bless you for bringing this to the Army's attention, for me, at least, to find out about this at this scope or level so that we can take the action," said SGM Gills. "We couldn't do it if you hadn't have brought it to us, so that's the starting point of fixing any problem is knowing you have one."

The punishment for turning over a fake degree ranges from a general officer letter of reprimand, up to an Article 15, which is a non-judicial punishment that allows a commander to take rank, forfeiture of pay, restrict a soldier's activities to the barracks, all the way to a court martial.

If a soldier is court martialed, it becomes a matter of public record. However, because Retired Master Sergeant Albert Finley, Jr. was not court martialed, we'll never know what punishment he was given.

Our Taking Action Investigation is getting more results, too.

The U.S. Army is now auditing all of its records. It is revamping its Human Resource Command to better detect fake credentials, and it is also encouraging those who purchased fake degrees to step forward.

Those who don't come clean could face a court martial.

The Army is also launching an educational campaign that will be broadcast over military radio and television, on web sites, and in newspapers and other print publications.

HUNTSVILLE, AL - It's graduation season all across the country. Thousands of students spent years to get their bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees.

However, many people have bought phony diplomas. In Part 1 of our Taking Action Investigation, WHNT NEWS 19 showed you how fake degrees have infiltrated the enlisted ranks of the U.S. Army.

Now, our investigation reveals this breach of trust goes all the way to the top civilian ranks at Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal.

The fake degree is in the hand of a key essential leader at the U.S. Army's Aviation and Missile Command, AMCOM. The bogus diplomas are against policy, put a person's integrity in question, and make them a potential target for blackmail.

As Director of Readiness for the Army's Aviation and Missile Command, Chris Oleyte carries the weight of America's missile defense readiness on his shoulders. He's also carrying other baggage.

WHNT NEWS 19's Chief Investigative Reporter Wendy Halloran confronted him. "Did you buy a degree from that diploma mill?" we asked.

"Uh, nothing to talk about," Oleyte replied.

Oleyte has top secret clearance, and access to classified information about missile defense. He would probably rather you not know about this secret he's hidden.

"It's on your bio," we say. "Yeah," he replies. "So, I don't even understand why you're talking to me about it," Oleyte said.

Did the system promote him, despite his bogus degree? Does the Department of the Army care that he has a fake credential?

"You have an obligation to talk to us," we say. "No, I don't, you're on my property," Oleyte replies.

Oleyte's secret potentially compromises the integrity of AMCOM and certainly defrauds you, the taxpayer.

"Taxpayers pay your salary," WHNT NEWS 19's Wendy Halloran says. "You don't want to talk about a degree from a degree mill? You're a key essential leader, and that's from a diploma mill."

"I don't appreciate [this]," Oleyte says. "Put the camera down. Please, please the camera."

In 2001, Olyete's impressive government resume boasted a Bachelor's degree in Human Resource Management from Trinity College and University out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

"To be fair, in a description of Trinity College and University, it's something that lives in a metal box 'that big' that you could use to store cat food basically in, it's completely fake," said George Gollin, an expert on diploma mills. More from him shortly.

Oleyte's resume lists that he got that bachelor's degree in 2001. The next year, he got a big promotion, to Senior Command Representative in Korea... a promotion that moved him up from a GS 13 to a GS 14, and likely afforded him a sizeable increase in salary.

Oleyte had the authority over all AMCOM issues, personnel and equipment in that country and reported directly to the AMCOM commanding general in Korea.

By the government's standards, it's a very important position. That began Oleyte's rise through the chain of command. Two years later, he was reassigned to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville as the Deputy Director of Readiness. He was later promoted to Director of Readiness.

WHNT NEWS 19's Wendy Halloran further confronted Oleyte about his bogus degree and the position he holds.

"I don't list that as a degree," Oleyte said.

"But you did," we replied.

"It's way back when," he said.

"Yes, but it's still from a diploma mill," said Halloran.

The promotions process in the U.S. government is very stringent. A complex matrix is used to score applicants. Three screeners judge the applicants on eight criteria. Applicants earn points for everything from aviation or missile systems experience to supervisory experience and even higher education degrees.

When Olyete applied for that promotion in Korea, his initial score was 263. A Freedom of Information Act request shows how 6 points were shaved off from the scoring for that bogus bachelor's degree and his total score corrected. It also shows how Olyete fared against 34 other candidates for the Senior Command Representative position. Despite the reduction, his point total still ranked him third on the list and he still retained the promotion. Without a doubt, someone higher up knew about the bogus degree. Chris Olyete's only 4-year degree is the phony one he possesses from Trinity College and University.

The U.S. Army's policy clearly states an employee who intentionally lists bogus educational credentials on a resume or other form of application for merit promotion calls his trustworthiness and integrity into question. It goes on to say when the employee's current supervisors become aware, he or she will notify the AMCOM Security Intelligence Directorate and it will determine what if anything should be done regarding the employee's clearance and access to classified information.

It's all about trust. To WHNT NEWS 19's knowledge, Olyete's bosses swept it under the rug. Nothing was ever done about it.

How could we know? The U.S. Army at Redstone Arsenal has not answered many of our questions. At first, request after request for an interview was met with excuse after excuse.

But, in the waning hours before we went to air with this story, Redstone Public Affairs Specialist Dan O'Boyle was authorized to answer only a few questions we submitted in advance.

"Does AMCOM Commander General Jim Myles know about Chris Oleyte's fake degree from Trinity College and University?" we asked O'Boyle.

"We are aware of the allegations and we have convened a Commander's inquiry now, that's a group of senior key leaders who are looking at the facts surrounding these allegations and are charged with the responsibility to determine the truth and then come up with a course of action based upon the findings that come out of the inquiry board," said O'Boyle.

"On a government resume, he lists that degree. Are you aware of that?" WHNT NEWS 19 asked.

"We are conducting this inquiry and we'll make a course of action based upon the facts that come out as a result of our findings," said O'Boyle.

"Chris Oletye, the Director of Readiness for AMCOM, did he list the degree on his security clearance application?" we asked.

"We are currently working with Defense Security Services Personnel to obtain all the paperwork and documentation that surrounds these allegations and the circumstances and once we have that piece of the puzzle in place we'll be able to make a determination," O'Boyle replied.

This is a very serious matter, and WHNT NEWS 19 thinks you have a right to know answers to questions, for example, does this make Olyete a potential target for blackmail? Does it pose a threat to national security?

With few answers from Redstone Arsenal, we had to go elsewhere.

"So here we have someone in Missile Command who is responsible for very hi-tech, very important, very sensitive information who is a possessor of qualifications that are bogus," said George Gollin.

Gollin is an expert on diploma mills. He worked with federal prosecutors, going after the ringleaders of Saint Regis University, a diploma mill operated out of Spokane, Washington. Saint Regis sold fake degrees to nearly 10,000 people around the world.

Gollin is also a professor at the University of Illinois and a board member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. That is this country's standard when it comes to accrediting universities and colleges.

"What if the fellow has a mortgage, what if he's really not in a position to take a pay cut, have to move into a different position because his credentials are not legitimate -- it really does seem to me like someone in that position is very vulnerable to pressure when they really have to choose between giving up their ability to support their family to pay for their home and providing initially what seems like harmless information," said Gollin. "But really, once you provide harmless but classified information, then you've done something that's illegal and that can be used against you," he added.

As a matter of fact, Oleyte does have a sizeable mortgage. Records show his Madison home was worth more than $330,000 when he bought it in 2006. Oleyte's name is also on the mortgage for a condominium in Honolulu, Hawaii. It's worth $433,400.

Keep in mind that you, the taxpayer, are paying his salary. But there is more at stake than just taxpayer money.

"Do you think the blackmail issue is a very real threat?" WHNT NEWS 19 asks Retired Brigadier General David Grange.

"Those that have issues financially, those that have issue having to have some type of academic achievement or other awards things like this in order to raise their status and that, are subject to manipulation by enemy agents," said Grange.

Grange serves as the national security expert for CBS NEWS and CNN. He spoke with WHNT NEWS 19 via satellite from Chicago.

"Could this put our troops in harm's way?" WHNT NEWS 19's Wendy Halloran asked.

"Any time someone has accessibility to classified information and has a character flaw, the results could be putting our troops in harms way, absolutely," said Grange.

General Grange says this matter is so serious, there's really only one solution.

"It's disturbing that the individual would in fact do that, not all the checks and balances catch all these types of things, the individual admitted it, the honorable thing to do is to step down be removed from that command and move on, because it's not tolerated," said Grange.

WHNT NEWS 19 believes there are more top leaders at AMCOM installations worldwide with bogus degrees. The Department of the Army is investigating the names that we have turned over.

WHNT NEWS 19 is not saying that Oleyte is not qualified to hold the position he has. He may be qualified, but this is a breach of trust, a question of honor and integrity, and sets a bad example because it flies in the face of the Army's policies and values.

All across Alabama students are celebrating the satisfaction of graduating from college and that they've got their diploma in hand.

For most people it's not easy to get a bachelors, masters or doctoral degree. It takes years of studying, tens of thousands of dollars in student loans and endless stress from exams.

What does that diploma get you? The potential for a better profession, higher pay, pride and prestige.

WHNT NEWS 19 has exposed how people in high positions in the military and missile defense have purchased their degree without spending all the time, energy and money that you did.

Chief Investigative Reporter Wendy Halloran has revealed how some people tried to take a shortcut, paying a fraction of what it costs to go to school and purchased counterfeit credentials.

In Part 3 of the WHNT NEWS 19 Taking Action investigation we put a man who works for a defense contractor under the microscope.

Jim Samuelson is the Director of Contracts, Proposals and Pricing for ADT (Applied Data Trends).

His job is to get his company awarded contracts with the Department of Defense. He has security clearance on Redstone Arsenal, access to classified information about the software his company makes for the Warfighter and he claims to be an International Traffic in Arms Regulations Empowered Official.

He also teaches continuing education courses in government contracting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Wendy Halloran confronted Samuelson and asked him what University he got his bachelor's in business administration and his master's in business from?

"I really got to go. Please?" replied Samuelson. Halloran then asked, "Does your employer know where it's from?" "Yes, ma'am they do," he said. "And, what university is that sir?" "Please turn that off, turn it off," Samuelson said.

Many people aspire to achieve an MBA. But, Samuelson took a shortcut by buying one from Saint Regis University, a diploma mill. There were no classes and no course work. All it took was cash.

"When I did it, I was requested to fill out enormous amounts of paperwork to justify experience," claimed Samuelson.

The Saint Regis buyer's list we obtained shows he paid $2,917 for the two higher education degrees. Saint Regis University concocted credentials that looked legitimate. But, aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

Halloran asked him if he turned the degrees over to get his job at ADT. Samuelson replied, "No ma'am. I did not."

Samuelson's profile on the social networking site, Facebook, provided a wealth of information about his background. He proudly posted details about his decade in the United States Marine Corps, several tours of duty including assignments in Vietnam. He listed his more than 20 years of work experience and his own government consulting business. And, he showcased his higher ed degrees - a bachelor's supposedly earned in 2002 and a master's two years later.

He posted so much detail, but had one glaring omission.

Halloran stated, "Your resume currently lists Regis University." "Then I must have had something mess up," replied Samuelson.

The posting on his Facebook profile indicates his degrees are from Regis University, a legitimate University in Denver, Colorado.

Halloran asked, "Did you drop the 'Saint' on there? Because Regis University has no record of you, sir." Samuelson just sighed deeply.

"We checked with Regis University. The Jesuit University was quick to clarify that it had no record of this James Samuelson attending its institution," said Halloran.

What's the harm you wonder?

"Do you have security clearance onto Redstone Arsenal?" Halloran asked. "Yes, ma'am I do," he replied.

A powerful position, access to classified information and a secret that could be used against him.

"So, I really worry about secrets getting out," stated George Gollin. He's an expert on diploma mills. He worked with the federal government to prosecute the leaders of Saint Regis University.

Gollin said, "We have holes in our ability to keep information secure that this opens up. So here we have a contractor responsible for handling very sensitive information. Information that, if it gets out, puts our armed forces at risk. The person is susceptible to pressure to blackmail to being told that he needs to provide some information or else they're going to nail him. They'll make him lose his job and this is a person in a position of great responsibility. It's really, really frightening."

But, don't just take George Gollin's word for it.

"Any corrupt individual would be harmful to the defense of the United States of America whether it would be this issue or other issues," said Brigadier General David Grange.

Grange spent nearly three decades serving our country. Now, he's a national security analyst for CBS and CNN. He spoke to Wendy Halloran from Chicago.

Halloran asked Grange, "Could this put our troops in harms way?" Grange said, "Anytime someone has accessibility to classified information and has a character flaw the results could be putting our troops in harms way. Absolutely."

Grange said the potential for blackmail is a reality, "Depending on the level of security clearance they have that would be the level of information they could obtain and give to a foreign agent."

Samuelson's Facebook profile indicates he got the job at ADT in June of 2003. Remember, he got that bogus bachelor's in business in 2002 and the phony MBA in 2004.

Halloran asked Samuelson again, "Does your employer know about these degrees?"

He replied, "I'm not. No, the only people who would know about it are thanks to you the whole city."

ADT is a multi-million dollar defense contractor. We requested an interview with ADT's CEO about this matter. We even provided a set of questions in advance. Instead, ADT's CEO Derrick Copeland sent us a statement that said ADT is aware of the WHNT NEWS 19 investigative report. It went on to say "ADT takes seriously such matters and is currently assessing the facts of the situation to determine what action by ADT, if any, is warranted."

A college degree isn't a requirement for a lot of jobs posted at ADT. Samuelson said he didn't use the degree to get the job and now worries it could cost him dearly.

Halloran said, "I'm giving you the chance to tell me exactly what happened here." Samuelson replied, "What you're doing for a living could cost me my living."

With so much at stake and plenty of professional experience, the nagging question remains why?

"Let me ask you why you would get these types of credentials after your years in the service in the Marine Corps. Then, all of a sudden you wind up with a bachelor's and a master's in business administration and government contracting. Is it the pressure to get a job? What prompted you to do it?" asked Halloran. "To be a 100 percent honest, what prompted me to get it was that my daughter was about to graduate from college and I have dealt with years of being highly experienced and not having a degree," said Samuelson.

He went on to say, "There's some discussion that's going to go on. They're going to say 'how could somebody who does what he does be that dumb?' But, you know sometimes all of us do things that are not real bright."

Samuelson said he was taken advantage of, scammed by Saint Regis University. His attorney told WHNT NEWS 19 that Samuelson thought Saint Regis was legit and that he knew nothing of its accreditation status when he applied for the degree online. Samuelson also told us he's trying to get his degree the right way and he is currently enrolled at the University of Phoenix which is an accredited institution.

Samuelson and his lawyer stress that he never got a job or promotion because of the degree and he never represented the degree to be anything it was not. Samuelson's lawyer says he never received personal financial gain as a result of the degree certificate and in fact the attorney said Samuelson "has simply lost money."

A college degree is not required for the continuing education courses that Samuelson teaches at UAH. He is not a faculty member at the school and the people who take his class do not receive academic credit.

There have been few more personally satisfying story endings than what has happened with the bogus degree sellers that once made Cheyenne their home. While it remains embarrassing that the Wyoming Legislature was so slow to act, when it finally did, the exodus was swift and certain.

When unaccredited degree sellers had to move toward accreditation or leave town, almost all left immediately. Only one took a legitimate stab at accreditation. That was the newly named Warren National University (the same business had been known for over 20 years as the infamous Kennedy-Western University).

After the recent story here about Warren National withdrawing their application for accreditation because the Higher Learning Commission, a USDOE-approved accrediting agency, denied WNU candidacy for accreditation, a former senior administrator of Warren National University contacted me by e-mail...

When the founder of KWU/WNU (Paul Saltman) visited the accrediting agency, Higher Learning Commission (HLC) in Chicago, accompanied by this chief academic officer (CAO), his pitch to HLC was the strength of his board of directors. HLC had no interest. "Paul had told me that he had an inroad with HLC and that we were going to get this because he 'greased the skids, so to speak'." ...

"The University (Warren National) would admit anybody," she told me, "if you could write the check, you could come to school." WNU admitted people "who were truly not university quality candidates. So, if you're only modestly prepared to do any of the work, you might have to work really hard to do any of the work." (Note: That might explain Bob Fecht's contention that he worked harder for his bogus Lacrosse degree than he did for his bachelor's degree at SIU.)

Students could also do mediocre work and get good grades, she said.

About exams: Students could log onto a website and pull up the test they were to take. Even tests for master's and doctoral degrees were multiple choice. The exam was graded immediately. A student could then get exam results, along with all of the answers, immediately print it out, and if they did not pass, they could call the exam coordinator and say, "I'm ready to re-take that exam."

What was supposed to happen was that the second exam was supposed to be an "alternate exam" - a different exam. KWU/WNU did not do that. They allowed a retake of the same exam and the student would have the printed answers in front of them when they retook the test.

Every test could be taken twice. The neat thing about the second time is that the student had the answers. Printed out from taking it the first time and having or choosing to take it again...

The credentials of Naperville Unit District 203's next superintendent are being called into question by critics just days after he was hired.

Mark Mitrovich, scheduled to take the helm of one of the state's largest school systems July 1, holds a doctorate from the University of Santa Barbara, but the institution is not nationally accredited. Readers responding online to the news of his hiring criticized it as a result.

Both Mitrovich and the search firm that recommended him say the degree is legitimate and the issue will not affect his ability to lead Naperville schools...

District 203 school board President Suzyn Price directed questions about Mitrovich to Hank Gmitro, an associate with Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, the search firm the district employed to help it find a new superintendent.

Gmitro said the firm was aware of what school Mitrovich attended and learned during a routine check several days ago that it was not accredited. He was unsure of whether the firm learned before or after the board approved hiring the new leader and said it's typical to focus discussions with candidates more on their experiences.

Gmitro said there is no requirement to hold a doctorate at all in order to be a superintendent. He believes the board made a good selection in Mitrovich, who has both an education and business background...

Mitrovich, 63, begins his new post July 1. He has signed a three-year contract with the district with a starting annual salary of $203,000.

A senator has filed a bill to address the problem with fake degrees that higher ed reporter Kavita Kumar wrote about in December.

Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Lee's Summit sponsored a bill that would make it a class C misdemeanor to use or attempt to use a false diploma.

The Senate Education Committee has heard the bill, and could vote on it as early as next week.

Bartle said in the committee that the bill would not address "diploma mills" that offer a degree for nothing more than money.

The bill is SB 182.

Thousands of words have been printed on the pages of the Cheyenne Herald over the past nearly four years on the subject of unaccredited "institutions" that had set up shop in Wyoming over the past several years.

For years, Wyoming has been the target of nationally criticism based on the State's willingness to allow businesses chased from other states to operate with impunity here. For some reason, there were those who had no qualms about welcoming illegitimate and undesirable businesses elsewhere to set up shop within our borders and ply their fraudulent business all over the United States and world, using a Wyoming address.

Instead of shutting the scoundrels down as the 2006 legislation accomplished, Wyoming first imposed the rather timid requirement of "having a presence" in Wyoming, with at least a single employee here. These outfits rake in hundreds of thousands to several million dollars a year - renting a $350.00 a month office and a minimum wage employee to meet that requirement was no problem.

Basement offices in the Downtown Mini Mall, the old J.C. Penney Building and the Mossholder's Building and second story offices in the Majestic Building and the Tivoli, in addition to office space at the former Aero Tech Building by the airport runway, presented no challenge.

When some in the Legislature tired of being ridiculed nationally, they passed legislation requiring these unaccredited institutions to gain, or at least seek, accreditation or get out of Dodge. Like rats from a sinking ship, most immediately scurried. They were not going to become accredited. They couldn't. They weren't providing an education with merit or value - they were selling hope to the unsuspecting.

Kennedy-Western University has been in business for almost 25 years. "Kennedy." Just imagine how that resonated around the world. Our hero to the free world, John F. Kennedy, had his name usurped by a business that for the past several years could not peddle their product in the state they called home - California.

Degrees from unaccredited universities aren't meant for citizens of the United States. They are designed to give false hope to those in foreign countries. To those who crave an "American" degree. They don't know Lacrosse University of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi - the notorious degree seller - from University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse - a legitimate campus in the highly-respected University of Wisconsin system.

Many of the degree peddlers, more often referred to as diploma mills but I don't think that begins to cover the damage they've done, took grandiose names to fool the students who lived far away, most often overseas, into believing the peddler had a connection with something far better than just a bank account to deposit their ill-gotten gains. American Global University. American Capital University. American City University.

Paramount University of Technology. Three exaggerations in three words.

Trusting foreign students and their parents didn't know these were scammers. But we did. Employees at the Wyoming Department of Education visited these basement and second floor offices. They knew they weren't conducting classes - they weren't providing an education - from these tiny offices. There were no "professors" there to grade papers or accept calls for assistance. But, our people tolerated this charade. This scam perpetrated on unknowing and trusting students far distant from Wyoming - in particular, from Cheyenne was ignored.

Junkets were provided legislators and WDOE employees. When you can go to the United Arab Emirates or London, are you going to blow the whistle on these frauds? Does the reputation of Wyoming mean less to these public officials than travel to exotic destinations? Obviously, it meant far less. In one of the stories readers can link to with this story, I made a terrible mistake. I identified Jayne Mockler as one of those who traveled at Preston University expense. It should have been Kathryn Sessions. A career educator, Sessions went to bat for that scammer. Preston was one of the first rats to abandon the sinking ship of unaccredited institutions - they fled to Montgomery, Alabama before the ink dried on the Governor's signature to the new legislation.

Perhaps the largest of the money takers has been Kennedy-Western University, lastly known as Warren National University. It was not enough to link itself to Kennedy, they grabbed the "Warren" name when they attempted to gain accreditation. Maybe there were less than honorable reasons to take another name after fleecing students for two decades. Maybe they were aware that input from students would be diminished if they didn't realize Warren National was one and the same as Kennedy-Western.

In the long run, nothing they tried worked. They were not recommended for eligibility for accreditation and they will now pull the plug on their nefarious operation.

The subject of Warren National University has heated up considerably in recent days. The Cheyenne Herald has been contacted by students who were concerned about the future of WNU, including one who had been trying to get a refund. Further research uncovered even more disconcerting news about WNU. National forums found the Cheyenne Herald's front page story about former superintendent of public instruction Judy Catchpole serving on the boards of both WNU and its parent company, L3, Inc. Over 500 visits were made to that website on a single day last week.

Another e-mail came from a guy in Illinois. He was upset with that story about Judy Catchpole. He said he had a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from WNU and had worked hard for it. He called my story "horrible." I informed him that it was illegal in Illinois to use a degree from an unaccredited "university" to obtain a job, advancement or higher pay. He didn't know that.

Oregon passed a law in the last couple years that requires anyone using a degree from an unaccredited university like Kennedy-Western or Warren National to show a discrediting statement with it. Read this from Oregon:

"So now Kennedy-Western grads can proudly proclaim their degrees … sort of. Under the new law, those graduates will have to follow mention of their degree by saying that their alma mater "does not have accreditation recognized by the United States Department of Education and has not been approved by the [Oregon] Office of Degree Authorization," the official language dictated by the legislation. The bill, which received only 3 "nay" votes in the 60-member House and 30-member Senate, says that the "disclaimer shall be made in any résumé, letterhead, business card, announcement or advertisement in which the person is claiming or representing to have an academic degree" from an institution that is not either accredited, or licensed to give degrees by the state.

People who do not use the disclaimer will face up to a $1,000 fine for every violation. They could also face criminal prosecution if the omission is a potential public threat, such as in the case of a public health worker."

Looks like that would have made it hard to get many jobs in Oregon with a KWU or WNU degree.

So now that Warren National has failed in its bid to become legitimate and has announced its closing, what about its students? Those with "degrees" should know by now that they could have gotten a comparable degree from a Cracker Jack's box but those who were in the middle of their pursuit are up the creek. Will WNU refund unearned deposits? Probably not. One "Online Degree" forum poster suggested that Wells Fargo Bank was providing loans for students to take the WNU courses. Will they forgive those loans? Probably not.

KWU continues to treat its students with disrespect. In the closing announcement (http://www.wnuedu.com/ or follow the prompt from the Cheyenne Herald Home Page ), WNU told students they could continue their studies at Preston University. You remember Preston, don't you? Another unaccredited scammer that bolted from Wyoming. PU have no intention of becoming accredited. Did WNU make this transfer to avoid litigation for abandoning students in pursuit of a degree? Did they refer students to an equally reprehensible scammer to perpetrate one final injustice to students who trusted them? That story will follow. (According to the Alabama Department of Post Secondary Education website, Preston University's license expired on 12/1/2008.)

A Cheyenne-based online university that at one point had nearly 2,000 students has announced it will close at the end of March.

Warren National University says it has not been accepted as a candidate for nationally recognized accreditation. A state law enacted in 2006 requires all colleges and universities operating in Wyoming to at least be candidates for accreditation.

In a statement on its Web site, Warren National says the Wyoming Department of education has revoked its registration. The statement says Warren National is appealing that decision.

However, the statement says March 31 will be the school's last day of instruction and students need to turn in all remaining work by then if they wish to graduate.

A phone message left at Warren National wasn't immediately returned Monday.

With the internationalization of higher education, the world of accreditation and quality assurance is likewise becoming increasing interconnected. An international seminar hosted by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation this week drew participants from around the world to discuss challenges in regulating diverse higher education systems — and weeding out illegitimate players (i.e., degree mills) wherever they set up shop.

In a presentation that opened the two-day seminar on Wednesday, Carolyn Campbell, assistant director of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, in the United Kingdom, outlined three "Rs" that she sees as hot topics in quality assurance internationally: ranking, regulation and reform. Pursuit of top spots in international rankings is "becoming a national aspiration, almost a badge of honor," Campbell said. "One of the more serious issues around this desire for institutions and countries to identify their universities as 'world class' is [that] by estimates only 3 percent of students in the world go to these top-ranked universities. What about the other 97 percent of students? Who's looking out for their interests?"

That's where the second R — regulation — comes in. Campbell described efforts to redefine quality in terms of learning outcomes, and the growing adoption of qualifications frameworks (more on that later). And then, of course, there's reform.

"In relation to all these reforms and changes, the introduction of new defi