Replies

This ("Diploma Mill" bogus degrees) is so common in Government that they may have overloked it because the person doing the "vetting" also has a bogus degree

You beat me to it. As I understand it (I've only read articles on it, I have no first hand knowledge), government employees can get an automatic pay boost when they obtain a higher degree. This is regardless of whether the position requires the knowledge ostensibly gained by the degree. Of course, this creates a market for "degrees", not knowledge, and the diploma mills are happy to oblige.

For those of you who hire people: if you don't recognize the name of the school, ask questions about it. Most diploma mills have names that sound like small liberal arts schools, but many actually come close to state school names. I can't remember any specifically, but one is named something along the lines of "Alabama State Technical College".

Calling or mailing to verify a degree does not help. The diploma mills know their product only works if it can be verified. Due diligence is the order of the day.

Mr Bird- How right you are! This is really a big problem which has been all but completely ignored- I found out about it when my wife was looking into going for a Masters degree, and answered some ads for what looked like reputable colleges. They were diploma mills, and I spent some time researching these places (I probably should have written it up at the time and posted it here or on another site).
There are a few good articles on this problem- I recall one from THE ATLANTIC several years back.
By the way, this is also a problem in the military and among teachers, when pay or promotions are tied to having an advanced degree. But Federal Government employees seem to be the biggest offenders- possibly because the chance of being caught, once that piece of paper is in your personnel file, is essentially zero).

Mr Bird- How right you are! This is really a big problem which has been all but completely ignored- I found out about it when my wife was looking into going for a Masters degree, and answered some ads for what looked like reputable colleges. They were diploma mills, and I spent some time researching these places (I probably should have written it up at the time and posted it here or on another site).

There are a few good articles on this problem- I recall one from THE ATLANTIC several years back.

By the way, this is also a problem in the military and among teachers, when pay or promotions are tied to having an advanced degree. But Federal Government employees seem to be the biggest offenders- possibly because the chance of being caught, once that piece of paper is in your personnel file, is essentially zero).