Career Colleges & Technical Schools Questions to Ask

Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education Sally L. Stroup issued the following statement on a meeting held today with federal and state representatives to discuss the problem of diploma mills that offer fraudulent degrees:

"The problem of diploma mills is a serious and growing concern. These so-called schools and the fraudulent credentials that they issue take advantage of unsuspecting consumers and employers. Today, diploma mills threaten to devalue the legitimate education credentials of millions of Americans.

"For all these reasons, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige requested that I convene a meeting, which was held today, with federal and state representatives and others active in combating the diploma-mill problem. Meeting participants included officials from Oregon, North Dakota, Illinois and New Jersey, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Government Accounting Office (GAO), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as well as the Senate Government Affairs and House Government Reform Committees. On behalf of Secretary Paige, I'd like to thank the agencies and individuals who participated for contributing their time and expertise.

"Our purpose was to share information and create awareness about federal and state efforts to address the problem of diploma mills and to lay the groundwork for greater coordination in the future. We heard from representatives from Oregon, North Dakota, Illinois and New Jersey about the laws that have been enacted in their respective states to restrict the operation of diploma mills. In addition, state officials described state laws that impose fines on persons who knowingly use fraudulent credentials.

"Representatives from OPM discussed current efforts to identify fraudulent degrees in the federal workforce, while the FTC and the FBI shared their experiences in handling investigations of diploma mills.

"We cannot solve this problem as states or federal agencies working independently. The dialogue initiated today will lead to the coordination and cooperation necessary to combat the manufacture and use of fraudulent degrees."

###

Top

Back to January 2004