People worldwide seek university degrees to improve their image, social stature or career opportunities. However, many lack the time or ability to spend years studying – so they take a short cut by paying for impressive academic credentials.
The practice is back in the spotlight in Thailand after controversy blew up over the educational background of Keskamol Pleansamai after she was elected to the Senate with the highest vote of any candidate last month.
The new senator maintained that she received her doctorate in political science plus a professorship from California University Foreign Credential Evaluation (CUFCE).
These qualifications would not be enough to get Keskamol a job in the public sector as, say, a teacher, because the CUFCE is not recognised by Thailand’s Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC).
However, CUFCE claims that the Thai Parliament “has recognised California University FCE equivalency degrees as equivalent to the same degrees awarded by accredited, public-state universities in Thailand”.
Diploma or degree mills
Numerous businesses and institutions around the world grant diplomas or degrees with minimal or no assessment of recipients. Known as “diploma mills” or “degree mills”, these businesses exploit legal loopholes in the countries where they operate and often incorporate “university” in their name.
They offer diplomas, degrees and even academic titles in exchange for a fee, without requiring students to attend classes or complete coursework.
So, how do you spot a degree mill?
The European Council of Leading Business Schools offers warning signs to look out for.
These include a lack of accreditation, unrealistic claims (such as promising a degree in an unusually short period of time or without any academic work required), a lack of faculty information, high-pressure sales tactics, and no physical location.
According to the US-based Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), some degree mills offer to sell degrees and even transcripts from legitimate universities, while others promise to grant their own degrees in a short period of time, sometimes as little as five days.
Some degree mills purportedly consider the applicant’s life experience and award a degree accordingly, while others may require the applicant to submit papers or other assignments but demand far less work and time studying than legitimate institutions.
“An advertisement that claims a student can ‘earn’ a degree in much less time than it would take at a legitimate institution is likely evidence that the school is a degree mill,” the CHEA warns.
Billion-dollar industry?
Global demand for fast-track qualifications has spawned a multimillion-dollar industry, according to some estimates.
“Over the last decade, fake degree sales have easily exceeded a billion dollars,” write Allen Ezell and John Bear in their 2012 book, “Degree Mills: The Billion Dollar Industry That Has Sold Over a Million Fake Diplomas”.
The authors estimate that worldwide sales of fake degrees have now reached US$300 million (10.9 billion baht) per year.
“At an average cost of $1,000 per degree, a low estimate, this suggests at least one million customers,” the book says. It estimates that over 50,000 fake PhDs are bought each year from diploma mills.
The authors say that an international diploma mill run by Americans, with offices in Europe and the Middle East and mailing addresses in the UK, has sold more than 450,000 degrees – bachelors, master’s and doctorates in medicine, law and other fields – to clients worldwide. They estimate its revenue at over $450 million (16.3 billion baht).
The price of a PhD reportedly ranges from $400 (14,000 baht) to $3,000 (100,000 baht). In some cases, an MBA was offered for $2,400 (87,000 baht) with a free bachelor’s degree thrown in, according to the book.
Ezell, a former FBI agent, said the impact of fake degrees is twofold. First they devalue hard-earned legitimate degrees.
Second, and more alarming, professionals like engineers and medics with fake degrees put the public at risk.
Animals awarded MBAs
Pet owners have occasionally put forward their dogs and cats as applicants to test suspected degree mills.
Several of the furry applicants were actually awarded diplomas or degrees, demonstrating the fraudulent nature of the institutions.
In 2004, online-based Trinity Southern University in Texas awarded an MBA (Master of Business Administration) to Colby Nolan, a six-year-old cat belonging to a Pennsylvania deputy attorney general.
Investigators paid $299 for the degree, claiming the cat had experience including baby-sitting and retail management. The investigation led to a lawsuit against the institution and its executives.
In 2009, Chester Ludlow, a pug from the US state of Vermont, was awarded an MBA by Rochville University, an online diploma mill.
After submitting an application and a $499 fee, his owner reportedly received a diploma, two sets of transcripts, a certificate of distinction in finance, and a certificate of membership in the student council.
The American University of London, another online diploma mill, offered “Pete”, a four-year-old dog from London, an MBA for £4,500 (211,000 baht).
The BBC reported in 2013 that the dog, named “Peter Smith” on the fake CV for a management consultant, was awarded the degree based on his “made-up work experience and a fictitious undergraduate degree from a UK university”.
By Thai PBS World’s General Desk//A combined photo shows Colby Nolan and Chester Nolan.
