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If you’re a hiring manager or human resources professional, chances are you
review applications and resumes from people who want to work for your
organization or who want to be promoted. Some applicants may list credentials —
like a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree, or a professional certification
— that sound credible, but in fact, were not earned through a legitimate course
of study at an accredited institution.
Federal officials caution that some people are buying phony credentials from
“diploma mills” — companies that sell “degrees” or certificates on the Internet
without requiring the buyer to do anything more than pay a fee. Most diploma
mills charge a flat fee, require little course work, if any, and award a degree
based solely on “work or life experience.”
According to officials from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department
of Education, and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) bogus credentials can
compromise your credibility — and your organization’s. You could place an
unqualified person in a position of responsibility, leaving your organization
liable if the employee’s actions harm someone. You could hire a person who is
dishonest in other ways, exposing your organization and colleagues to potential
damage. And if the bogus degrees are brought to light, you risk embarrassment.
The agencies have teamed up, putting new tools in place to help you weed out
bogus academic credentials and insure the integrity of your hiring process.
Tell-tale Signs of a Bogus Degree
Although it’s not always easy to tell if academic credentials are from an
accredited institution, the federal officials say there are clues to help you
spot questionable credentials on a resume or application. Look for:
Out of Sequence Degrees. When you review
education claims, you expect to see degrees earned in a traditional
progression — high school, followed by bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral or
other advanced degrees. If an applicant claims a master’s or doctoral
degree, but no bachelor’s degree — or if the applicant claims a college
degree, but no high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED)
diploma, consider it a red flag, and a likely sign of a diploma mill.
Quickie Degrees. It generally takes time to
earn a college or advanced degree — three to four years for an undergraduate
degree, one or two years for a master’s degree, and even longer to earn a
doctorate. A degree earned in a very short time, or several degrees listed
for the same year, are warning signs for the hiring official or the person
doing the preliminary screening.
Degrees From Schools in Locations Different From
the Applicant’s Job or Home. If the applicant worked full-time while
attending school, check the locations of the job and the educational
institution. If the applicant didn’t live where he went to school, check to
see if the degree is from an accredited distance learning institution, using
the steps described under ‘Checking Out Academic Credentials.’ If the degree
is not from a legitimate, accredited distance learning institution, it may
be from a diploma mill.
Sound-Alike Names. Some diploma mills use
names that sound or look like those of well-known colleges or universities.
If the institution has a name similar to a well-known school, but is located
in a different state, check on it. Should you come across a degree from an
institution with a prestigious-sounding foreign name, that calls for some
homework, too. Researching the legitimacy of foreign schools can be a
challenge, but consider it a warning sign if an applicant claims a degree
from a country where she never lived.
Checking Out Academic Credentials
Federal officials recommend that you always check academic credentials, even
when the school they’re from is well-known. Some applicants may falsify
information about their academic backgrounds rather than about their work
history, possibly because employers are less likely to check with schools for
verification or to require academic transcripts.
Here’s how to verify academic credentials:
- Contact the school. Most college
registrars will confirm dates of attendance and graduation, as well as
degrees awarded and majors, upon request. If the applicant gives permission,
they may provide a certified academic transcript. If you aren’t familiar
with the school, don’t stop your research just because someone answers your
questions on the phone or responds with a letter. Some diploma mills offer a
“verification service” that will send a phony transcript to a prospective
employer who calls.
- Research the school on the Internet.
Check to see if the school is accredited by a recognized agency. Colleges
and universities accredited by legitimate agencies generally undergo a
rigorous review of the quality of their educational programs. If a school
has been accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency, it’s
probably legitimate. Many diploma mills claim to be “accredited,” but the
accreditation is from a bogus, but official-sounding, agency they invented.
You can use the Internet to check if a school is accredited by a legitimate
organization at a new database of accredited academic institutions, posted
by the U.S. Department of Education at www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation. (There
are a few legitimate institutions that have not pursued accreditation.)
To find out if an accrediting agency is legitimate, check the list of
recognized national and regional accrediting agencies maintained by the
Council for Higher Education Accreditation at www.chea.org.
Look at the school’s website. Although it is prudent to check out the school
on the Internet, it’s not always easy to pick out a diploma mill based on a
quick scan of its site. Some diploma mills have slick websites, and a
“dot-edu” Web address doesn’t guarantee legitimacy. Nevertheless, the
website can be a source of information. Indeed, federal officials say it’s
probably a diploma mill if:
- tuition is charged on a per-degree basis, rather than per credit,
course, or semester
- there are few or unspecified degree requirements, or none at all
- the emphasis is on degrees for work or life experience, and
- the school is relatively new, or has recently changed its name.
Check other resources. There is no comprehensive list of diploma mills on
the Web because new phony credentialing sources arise all the time. However,
the Oregon Student Assistance Commission’s Office of Degree Authorization
maintains a list of organizations it has identified as diploma mills at
www.osac.state.or.us/oda. Another way to check up on a school is to call the
registrar of a local college or university and ask if it would accept
transfer credits from the school you are researching.
- Ask the applicant for proof of the degree and
the school’s accreditation. If you don’t get satisfactory answers
from the school itself and the accreditation sites on the Web, ask the
applicant for proof of the degree, including a certified transcipt, and the
school’s accreditation. Ultimately, it’s up to the applicant to show that he
earned his credentials from a legitimate institution.
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