How many employers actually call the college that prospective employees say they graduated from to verify they have, indeed, earned the degree they claim?
We guess it’s not very many.
Employers rely on interviews and personal references, trusting that a resume submitted with a job application is truthful. In too many cases, it is misplaced trust.
The production of fake college degrees is a billion-dollar business in this country; it is a business built on lies that is positively booming.
Intrigued by the high number of e-solicitations we get promising how easy it is to “earn” a college degree, we decided to check just how easy it can be. The results of that investigation, published in Sunday’s paper, were startling.
For $170 and a week’s wait, one of our reporters “earned” a master’s in journalism.
No work.
No sweat.
No education.
Our reporter already holds a legitimate master’s in journalism from Columbia University and is well-qualified to do her job, but she could have earned a fake degree in aeronautical engineering, biochemistry, mathematics, medicine or any number of highly technical fields, just as easily. Just as quickly. Just as cheaply.
The top fields in which fake degrees are used to get jobs are law enforcement, corrections, counseling, medical administration, teaching and school administration. To think that someone who hasn’t cracked open a book, heard a single college lecture or ever been tested on what they know is teaching our children, patrolling our streets and maintaining order in our jails is shocking.
It is already illegal in Maine for individuals to present a fake degree to get a job, seek a promotion or apply for admission to college, but that’s not a crime often prosecuted. We are among only a handful of states that has been so aggressive in fighting for the truth.
The Maine Department of Education maintains a list of 732 unaccredited schools, with more being added each week, including the respectfully named American Coastline University, located in Louisiana, Hawaii, New York and Russia which offers no academic programs. It just pumps out fake degrees for a price.
This diploma mill list, alphabetized by college name, is easy to find. Go to: http://www.maine.gov/education/highered/diplomalist.htm
Paying for a degree instead of earning it, and then telling that lie to get a job is outrageous. And, when employers don’t do all they can to check the veracity of the degrees potential employees say they have, they hire what they deserve.
These fake-degree mills cheapen education. They cheapen the effort students make to earn legitimate degrees, and they damage our workforce.
The Maine Department of Education is doing a terrific job highlighting the problem. But too often employers don’t check the truthfulness of job candidates’ degrees when they should.
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