Nov 5, 2009

Smoke, Mirrors, and Resumes: The Growing Threat of Diploma Mills

Posted by Wendy Weber

It is becoming increasingly difficult to verify the legitimacy of a college diploma. Sadly, a growing number of people are choosing to purchase a degree outright rather than earn it the “old fashioned” way.

Here is a distressing study put out by background screening firm EmployeeScreenIQ: http://www.employeescreen.com/DiplomaMills.pdf

The company conducted a test: It requested a master’s degree in economics for its president and C.O.O. They paid $75 for a “genuine” diploma. (For an extra $75, the diploma mill will “verify” the degree by phone or email.) EmployeeScreenIQ says it received the diploma within seven days; it featured raised seals and was printed on the type of paper one would expect for an academic degree. It had the proper dates and signatures and was ready to be framed.

And to think I spent four years at night earning my MBA!

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