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Mon 16 Feb, 2004 12:45 pm
Education Department asked to keep master list of accredited schools
Quote:The request, sent Jan. 15 by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, came just hours after conclusion of a "diploma mill summit," hosted by the department. Collins asked Education Secretary Roderick Paige to consolidate lists maintained by a variety of accrediting agencies formally recognized by the department.
"Phony degrees devalue the legitimate credentials earned by millions of individuals through hard work, persistence and achievement," Collins said. "Such degrees also may pose security and other risks by helping unqualified individuals secure sensitive positions, and that's a risk we can't afford to take."
A master list of accredited colleges and universities would help protect prospective students and employers from being taken advantage of by diploma mills, unaccredited institutions that provide little or no educational value but offer an easy way to obtain academic credentials.
The issue of federal employees claiming degrees from unaccredited schools came to the forefront last June, when Washington Technology and Government Computer News discovered that a high-ranking official at the Homeland Security Department had acquired all three of her degrees, including a doctorate, from a diploma mill in Wyoming.
This was followed by revelations that dozens of federal IT professionals also included degrees from unaccredited schools on their resumes.
Doesn't the fact that these people are peforming their jobs with the proper skills and productivity count?
How much does one really use what we learn in school in our jobs? On the other hand, there are some specialities that require school training such as medical and dental school.
I think the it is that they lied to get the job - falsified documents, cheated people who spent the time getting an honest degree or credentials.
Kind of like the guy in the one movie of late that went around posing as a doctor, pilot and such.
A while back, I investigated getting a degree online (not having to attend physical classes in person but participating in online classes/semesters). I came across some sites or got information from some places that appeared to be "mills" or at least what I concluded to be mills. To find out more, I emailed a detailed history of work experience, training, at-work classes, job histories/duties, education, etc., etc., to this place and they sent me back a "Congratulations, for the price of XXX you will receive your Bachelors ...... " I immediately knew I was being scammed and responded with a query about how valid this "degree" was. No response.
It's pretty difficult to find out if online colleges are accredited since most of them say they are. There should be somewhere people can go to find out if what they are doing is a real degree or not.
While I'd like to get credit for my life experiences, I know that it's very difficult to prove you actually did any of the stuff you say you did so to get a piece of paper that states a certain level of education was reached really does require exam-based classes and proof of reaching a certain standard of learning.
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