Internet fuels explosion in ‘degree mills’

"Degree and diploma mills” have been around for hundreds of years, and they are still flourishing all over the world.

These are bogus universities and colleges that sell diplomas or degrees — a piece of paper itself rather than the educational experience.

Tanzanians, and the East African region in general, have not been spared this bogus education. Degree or diploma mills are unaccredited, usually online “colleges” or “universities” that offer fraudulent and worthless degrees in exchange for payment alone or for payment and very minimal work — often a “research paper.”

These degree and diploma mills often claim accreditation from fraudulent “accrediting agencies” to mislead prospective students and employers. In most cases, the bogus accrediting agencies are operated by the same people who own and run the mills.

During the 1980s, in the US, the number of bogus schools significantly diminished as a result of the famous “Dipscam” diploma-mill task force set up by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). Its operations helped secure indictments and, in many cases, convictions of a great many people who operated scores of fake colleges and universities.

But today, with the advent of inexpensive laser printers, colour copiers, faxes, computer bulletin boards and other technology, most significantly the growth of the Internet, diploma mills have made a massive comeback, both in the US and Europe.

There are now many places in the world where one can buy Bachelor’s, Master’s, doctorates, even law and medical degrees, with no questions asked, on payment of fees of anywhere from a few dollars.

One of the reasons that fake universities continue to exist is that it is difficult to legally define exactly the term “diploma mill” or “degree mill,” although any university that will send someone a PhD by a return mail on payment of say $100, with no questions asked, is obviously a fraud. To make matters worse, it seems, “one man’s degree mill is another man’s alternative university.”

By the late 1980s, there were less than 50 bogus colleges open to the public in the US, but the number now exceeds 750. They maintain impressive websites and advertise heavily online.

Dr Bear says there are three types of people who enrol in degree mills programmes: “People who know and don’t care, those who have suspicions but take a chance and those who are fooled. However, the last category is a small minority.”

A number of degree mills operate out of England, selling their products only to people in other countries, primarily the US, Africa and Asia. The perpetrators continue to advertise in nearly every issue of major newspapers and magazines in the world. Degrees and diplomas issued by diploma mills are frequently used for fraudulent purposes, such as obtaining employment, political advancement, salary raises, or to recruit customers on false pretences and at times in terrorist activities.

Most of these fraudulent colleges are also short-lived, making detection even more difficult. They can start up, collect large sums of money from consumers, go out of business, change their name and emerge as a new entity in a short period.

This is occurring at the same time that there is more pressure on individuals to earn degrees, not only Bachelor’s degrees, but Master’s and doctoral degrees as well. Jobs and promotions increasingly go to individuals with the greatest educational qualifications, even when individuals’ work experience may be more relevant to the job than a degree. This is what creates pressure on individuals to obtain degrees, tempting some to take the easy route to a degree — the degree mill.

The primary reason to be concerned about degree mills is that they demean the value of learning and the importance of educational standards by treating degrees only as a commodity to be bought and sold. Degree mills also defraud individuals who are misled by the promises made by such schools that the degrees they earn from the schools are valuable.

Such individuals with bogus degrees also present a danger to the public. This is particularly true of those who receive bogus credentials in the fields where they could present a threat to health, safety or well-being. The Internet is becoming a haven for degrees and diploma mills.

A quick look at the degree mills advertising on the Internet shows that they offer degrees in fields such as nursing, nutrition, electrical and mechanical engineering, biochemistry and accounting, at significant risk to the public. Also, degree mills are unfair to the millions of individuals who have worked hard to earn legitimate degrees.