Possible bogus degrees of federal employ
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| Mon, 05-10-2004 - 5:51pm |
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/172657_diplomas10.html
Hearings will look into possible bogus degrees of federal employees
Monday, May 10, 2004
By JENNIFER ALSEVER
THE DENVER POST
A committee of U.S. lawmakers will hold hearings this week to determine whether federal employees used taxpayer dollars to buy phony degrees from online "diploma mills" and whether high-level government officials listed fake degrees on security clearance forms.
Diploma mills pretend to be legitimate universities but instead sell diplomas for $160 to $3,000 without offering course work or requiring academic achievement.
Last year, Laura Callahan, deputy chief information officer at the Department of Homeland Security, was accused of paying $3,600 for a doctorate in information systems from an alleged diploma mill in Wyoming.
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will explore the issue with hearings tomorrow and Wednesday. Witnesses will be a convicted diploma-mill operator, a former mill employee, the man who developed the most widely used list of diploma mills, and representatives from the General Accounting Office, Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management.
Experts have said as many as 481 diploma mills now sell bogus degrees online, up from 320 in 2001. The growth and the anonymity of the Internet, combined with a tough job market, may be fueling the rogue industry.
In 2001, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairwoman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, asked the GAO to find out how easy it was to purchase a degree from a diploma mill. The GAO purchased two bogus degrees in her name.
In January, lawmakers and agency officials recommended that the U.S. Department of Education consider creating an online list of accredited colleges and universities to help combat phony degrees.
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>"deputy chief information officer at the Department of Homeland Security, was accused of paying $3,600 for a doctorate in information systems from an alleged diploma mill "<
Good to see she's doing her job.
>"bogus degrees of federal employees"<
Our tax $$$ at work.
The paying for degrees isn't something new but with the internet it's so much easier.
Don't employers check references anymore?
Even special achivements in any unviersity with university recommendations.
All it takes in $.
This is just like people now using wired PDA's to cheat in an exam, because people allways look for the easy way, right?
So it's not just the government who has frauds in it's mist?
Its certainly not just the government, and as for referrences it is becoming harder and harder to use them any more.
James
janderson_ny@yahoo.com
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