Diploma Mills
Federal Employees Have Obtained Degrees from Diploma Mills and Other Unaccredited Schools, Some at Government Expense Gao ID: GAO-04-771T May 11, 2004As requested, GAO conducted an investigation to determine whether the federal government has paid for degrees from diploma mills and other unaccredited postsecondary schools. Section 4107 of title 5, U. S. Code, only permits the federal government to pay for the cost of academic degree training provided by a college or university that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body. GAO was also asked to determine whether federal employees who hold senior-level positions have degrees from diploma mills and other unaccredited schools. This report summarizes our investigative findings.
In summary, 3 of the 4 unaccredited schools responded to our requests for information and provided records that identified 463 students employed by the federal government. Two of the four schools provided records that federal agencies paid them $150,387.80 for the fees of federal employee students. In addition, DOE and DOT advised us of separate payments totaling $19,082.94 for expenses associated with degrees from these two schools, for total federal payments of $169,470.74 to them. However, for the reasons explained below, the records provided by the schools and agencies likely understate the extent of federal payments for degrees at diploma mills and other unaccredited schools. Data provided by 8 agencies indicated that 28 senior-level employees have degrees from diploma mills and other unaccredited schools. In our follow-up interviews with six of these employees and their managers, we were told that experience, rather than educational credentials, was considered in hiring and promotion decisions concerning these employees. Again, however, for reasons set forth below, this number is believed to be an understatement of the actual number of employees at these 8 agencies who have degrees from diploma mills and other unaccredited schools.
GAO-04-771T, Diploma Mills: Federal Employees Have Obtained Degrees from Diploma Mills and Other Unaccredited Schools, Some at Government Expense
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Testimony:
Before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate:
For Release on Delivery Expected at 10:00a.m. EDT Tuesday, May 11,
2004:
Diploma Mills:
Federal Employees Have Obtained Degrees from Diploma Mills and Other
Unaccredited Schools, Some at Government Expense:
Statement of Robert J. Cramer, Managing Director Office of Special
Investigations:
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-631T]:
Madam Chairman and Members of the Committee:
I am pleased to be here today to discuss issues related to degrees from
"diploma mills" and other unaccredited postsecondary schools. As you
requested, we conducted an investigation to determine whether the
federal government has paid for degrees from diploma mills and other
unaccredited postsecondary schools. Section 4107 of title 5, U. S.
Code, only permits the federal government to pay for the cost of
academic degree training provided by a college or university that is
accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body. You also asked
us to determine whether federal employees who hold senior-level
positions have degrees from diploma mills and other unaccredited
schools. My testimony today summarizes our investigative findings.
We conducted our investigation from July 2003 through February 2004, in
accordance with quality standards for investigations as set forth by
the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency. We searched the
Internet for nontraditional, unaccredited, postsecondary schools that
offer degrees for a relatively low flat fee, promote the award of
academic credits based on life experience, and do not require any
classroom instruction. We requested that four such schools provide
information on the number of current and former students identified in
their records as federal employees and payment of fees for such federal
employees by the federal government. In addition, posing as a
prospective student who is employed by a federal agency, our
investigator contacted three unaccredited schools to obtain information
on how he might have a federal agency pay for a degree.
Additionally, we requested that eight federal agencies--the Departments
of Education (ED), Energy (DOE), Health and Human Services (HHS),
Homeland Security (DHS), Transportation (DOT), and Veterans Affairs
(VA); the Small Business Administration (SBA), and the Office of
Personnel Management (OPM)--provide us with a list of senior employees,
level GS-15 (or equivalent) or higher, and the names of any
postsecondary institutions from which such employees had reported
receiving degrees. We compared the names of the schools on the lists
provided by these agencies with those that are accredited by
accrediting bodies recognized by the Department of Education. We also
requested that the agencies examine their financial records to
determine if they had paid for degrees from unaccredited schools, and
we interviewed six federal employees who have obtained degrees from
unaccredited schools.
Summary:
In summary, 3 of the 4 unaccredited schools responded to our requests
for information and provided records that identified 463 students
employed by the federal government. Two of the four schools provided
records that federal agencies paid them $150,387.80 for the fees of
federal employee students. In addition, DOE and DOT advised us of
separate payments totaling $19,082.94 for expenses associated with
degrees from these two schools, for total federal payments of
$169,470.74 to them. However, for the reasons explained below, the
records provided by the schools and agencies likely understate the
extent of federal payments for degrees at diploma mills and other
unaccredited schools.
Data provided by 8 agencies indicated that 28 senior-level employees
have degrees from diploma mills and other unaccredited schools. In our
follow-up interviews with six of these employees and their managers, we
were told that experience, rather than educational credentials, was
considered in hiring and promotion decisions concerning these
employees. Again, however, for reasons set forth below, this number is
believed to be an understatement of the actual number of employees at
these 8 agencies who have degrees from diploma mills and other
unaccredited schools.
Background:
The Homeland Security Act amended section 4107 of title 5, U. S. Code,
by allowing federal reimbursement for degrees only from accredited
institutions. Specifically, section 4107 states that an agency may "pay
or reimburse the costs of academic degree training — if such training —
is accredited and is provided by a college or university that is
accredited by a nationally recognized body." (Emphasis supplied). For
purposes of this provision, a "nationally recognized body" is a
regional, national, or international accrediting organization
recognized by the Department of Education.[Footnote 1] Because the law
governs only academic degree training, it does not preclude an agency
from paying for the costs of individual training courses offered by
unaccredited institutions. Prior to the enactment of the Homeland
Security Act, federal agencies were not authorized to pay for employee
academic degree training unless the head of the agency determined that
it was necessary to assist in recruitment or retention of employees in
occupations in which the government had a shortage of qualified
personnel.[Footnote 2]
Accreditation of degree-granting institutions in the United States is a
voluntary process. Unaccredited schools, and the quality of education
they offer, vary significantly. At one end of the spectrum are schools
that offer standard curricula traditionally found at accredited
universities. Other schools, commonly referred to as diploma mills,
sell academic degrees based upon life experience or substandard or
negligible academic work. Some diploma mills require no academic work
at all and merely sell degrees for a fee, such as those we discussed in
our November 2002 report.[Footnote 3]
Records Produced by Agencies and Schools Understate Federal Payments
for Degrees from Unaccredited Schools:
Several factors make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to
determine the extent of unauthorized federal payments for degrees
issued by unaccredited schools. First, the data we received from both
schools and federal agencies understate the extent to which the federal
government has made such payments. Additionally, the way in which some
agencies maintain records of payments for employee education makes such
information inaccessible. For example, HHS responded to our request for
records of employee education payments by informing us that it could
not produce them because it maintains a large volume of such records in
five different accounting systems, has no way to differentiate academic
degree training from other training, and does not know whether payments
for training made through credit cards are captured in its training
payment records.
Moreover, diploma mills and other unaccredited schools modify their
billing practices so students can obtain payments for degrees by the
federal government. Purporting to be a prospective student, our
investigator placed telephone calls to three schools that award
academic credits based on life experience and require no classroom
instruction: Barrington University (Mobile, Alabama); Lacrosse
University (Bay St. Louis, Mississippi); and Pacific Western University
(Los Angeles, California). These schools each charge a flat fee for a
degree. For example, fees for degrees for domestic students at Pacific
Western University are as follows: Bachelor of Science ($2,295);
Master's Degree in Business Administration ($2,395); and PhD ($2,595).
School representatives emphasized to our undercover investigator that
they are not in the business of providing, and do not permit students
to enroll for, individual courses or training. Instead, the schools
market and require payment for degrees on a flat-fee basis.
However, representatives of each school told our undercover
investigator that they would structure their charges in order to
facilitate payment by the federal government. Each agreed to divide the
degree fee by the number of courses a student was required to take,
thereby creating a series of payments as if a per course fee were
charged. All of the school representatives stated that students at
their respective schools had secured payment for their degrees by the
federal government.
Information we obtained from two unaccredited schools confirms that the
federal government has paid for degrees at those schools. We asked four
such schools that charge a flat fee for degrees to provide records of
federal payments for student fees: California Coast University (Santa
Ana, California); Hamilton University (Evanston, Wyoming); Pacific
Western University (Los Angeles, California); and Kennedy-Western
University (Thousand Oaks, California). Hamilton University failed to
respond to our request. Pacific Western University reported that it
could not locate any records indicating that federal payments were
made, although this claim directly contradicts representations made to
our undercover investigator by a school representative that federal
agencies had paid for degrees obtained by Pacific Western University
students.
Pacific Western University, California Coast University, and Kennedy-
Western University provided data indicating that 463 of their students
were federal employees. California Coast University and Kennedy-Western
University provided records indicating that they had received
$150,387.80 from federal agencies for 14 California Coast University
students and 50 Kennedy-Western University students. The information is
summarized in table 1.
Table 1: Federal Employees and Payments Associated with Unaccredited
Schools:
Department or agency: Energy;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 35;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 3;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $13,505.00.
Department or agency: Transportation;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 17;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: Homeland Security;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 12;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: Health and Human Services;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 11;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 4;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $8,175.00.
Department or agency: Veterans Affairs;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 13;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 5;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $12,535.00.
Department or agency: Office of Personnel Management;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 1;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: Education;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 2;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: Defense;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 257;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 28;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $68,248.05.
Department or agency: US Postal Service;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 29;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 8;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $24,970.00.
Department or agency: Agriculture;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 5;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 1;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $1,500.00.
Department or agency: US Courts;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 2;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: US Agency for Int'l. Development;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 1;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: Treasury;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 8;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 1;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $2,050.00.
Department or agency: State;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 3;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: Peace Corps;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 1;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: National Aeronautics & Space Admin.;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 9;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 2;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $2,131.25.
Department or agency: General Services Admin.;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 3;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 1;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $600.00.
Department or agency: Federal Reserve Bank;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 1;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 2;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: Federal Communications Commission;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 1;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: Environmental Protection Agency;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 9;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 2;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $5,538.00.
Department or agency: Labor;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 1;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 1;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $2,437.50.
Department or agency: Justice;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 13;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 5;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $5,458.00.
Department or agency: Interior;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 6;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: Commerce;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 4;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]:
[Empty];
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: [Empty].
Department or agency: Unspecified;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 17;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 3;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $3,240.00.
Department or agency: Total;
Number of students identified as federal employees[A]: 463;
Number of federal employees for whom tuition payments were made[B]: 64;
Total tuition payments made by federal agencies[B]: $150,387.80.
Source: GAO analysis of data received from Kennedy-Western University,
California Coast University, and Pacific Western University.
[A] These numbers represent information provided by three schools--
Kennedy-Western University, California Coast University, and Pacific
Western University.
[B] These payments represent limited information provided from two
schools--Kennedy-Western University and California Coast University.
[End of table]
After identifying federal agencies that made payments to Kennedy-
Western and California Coast, we requested that DOE, HHS, and DOT
provide records of their education-related payments to schools for
employees during the last 5 years. As previously discussed, HHS advised
us that it could not provide the data. DOE and DOT provided data that
identified payments of $19,082.94, which were in addition to those
reflected in table 1, for expenses associated with Kennedy-Western.
Thus, we found a total of $169,470.74 in federal payments to these two
unaccredited schools.
However, a comparison of the data received from the schools with the
information provided by DOE and DOT shows that the schools and the
agencies have likely understated federal payments. For example,
Kennedy-Western reported total payments of $13,505 from DOE for three
students, while DOE reported total payments of $14,532 to Kennedy-
Western for three different students. Thus, DOE made payments of at
least $28,037 to Kennedy-Western. Additionally, DOT reported payments
of $4,550 to Kennedy-Western for one student, but Kennedy-Western did
not report receiving any money from DOT for that student.[Footnote 4]
Senior-Level Federal Employees Have Degrees from Unaccredited Schools:
On the basis of the information we obtained from eight agencies, we
determined that some senior-level employees obtained degrees from
diploma mills and other unaccredited schools. Specifically, we
requested that eight agencies review the personnel folders of GS-15 (or
equivalent) and above employees and provide us with the names of the
postsecondary institutions from which such employees reported receiving
academic degrees. The eight agencies were: ED, DOE, HHS, DHS, DOT, VA,
SBA, and OPM. The agencies informed us that their examination of
personnel records revealed that 28 employees listed degrees from
unaccredited schools; and 1 employee received tuition reimbursement of
$1,787.44 in connection with a degree from such a school.
However, we believe that this number understates the number of federal
employees at these agencies who have such degrees. The agencies'
ability to identify degrees from unaccredited schools is limited by a
number of factors. First, diploma mills frequently use names similar to
those used by accredited schools, which often allows the diploma mills
to be mistaken for accredited schools. For example, Hamilton University
of Evanston, Wyoming, which is not accredited by an accrediting body
recognized by ED, has a name similar to Hamilton College, a fully
accredited school in Clinton, New York. Moreover, federal agencies told
us that employee records may contain incomplete or misspelled school
names without addresses. Thus, an employee's records may reflect a
bachelor's degree from Hamilton, but the records do not indicate
whether the degree is from Hamilton University, the unaccredited
school, or Hamilton College, the accredited institution. Further, we
learned that there are no uniform verification practices throughout the
government whereby agencies can obtain information and conduct
effective queries on schools and their accreditation status.
Additionally, some agencies provided information about only the most
recent degrees that employees reported receiving.
We interviewed several federal employees who had reported receiving
degrees from unaccredited schools. These employees included three
management-level DOE employees who have emergency operations
responsibilities at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
and security clearances. We also found one employee in the Senior
Executive Service at DOT and another at DHS who received degrees from
unaccredited schools for negligible work. Additional details of their
interviews are provided below.
Employees #1, #2, and #3 are managers in the Office of Emergency
Operations at NNSA and have "Q" level security clearances. Employee #1,
who was hired at NNSA in 2002, paid $5,000 for a masters degree in 1996
from LaSalle University, an unaccredited school that has been found to
have made false claims of accreditation.[Footnote 5] This individual
obtained the degree in 1996 while in the Air Force in order to advance
his career. He informed us that while serving as a Lieutenant Colonel
in the Air Force, he was told that he would need a master's degree in
order to be considered for promotion to colonel. He contacted LaSalle
University and obtained a degree based on life experience, courses he
had taken previously in the military, and courses for which he read
books and wrote papers. Employee #1 told us that he did not attend
classes or take any tests, his master's degree from LaSalle was a
"joke," and he received it after paying approximately $5,000.
Employee #2, hired at NNSA in 2000, received a bachelor's degree in
1992 from Chadwick University, an unaccredited school. Employee #2
never attended classes but obtained the degree based on 30 credits for
life experience, several college level examination program tests, and
nine correspondence courses. The employee reported reading a book,
writing a paper, and taking a final exam for each of the nine courses.
This is the only postsecondary education this employee has obtained.
Although agency personnel records indicate that this individual is a
candidate for a master's degree program at an unaccredited foreign
school, Employee #2 has never completed any courses for such a degree.
Employee #3, hired at NNSA in 2000, received a PhD in engineering
administration in 1985 from Columbia Pacific University, an
unaccredited school. He performed course work required for a PhD at
George Washington University, a fully accredited school, but did not
complete a dissertation. Employee #3 claims to have completed a
dissertation for Columbia Pacific but did not attend classes or
complete any coursework at that school. In December 1999, the Marin
County Superior Court ordered Columbia Pacific University to cease
operations within California. The court determined that Columbia
Pacific failed to meet various requirements for issuing PhD degrees,
awarded excessive credit based on life experience, and failed to employ
duly qualified staff.
Employee #4 is a Senior Executive Service official at DOT. Employee #4
received a Bachelor of Science degree within 6 to 8 months from Kent
College, an unaccredited school. Kent waived some credits while
Employee #4 completed three research papers and paid $3,500 for the
degree. In 1992, Employee #4 listed the degree from Kent College on his
application for a master's degree program at an accredited school.
Officials at the school to which he applied did not identify Kent as an
unaccredited school with a history of awarding degrees based on
negligible work. The accredited school accepted Employee #4 into its
master's program, and he completed it.
Employee #5 was an employee in the Senior Executive Service at DHS at
the time of our interview but has since resigned. This employee
received a series of degrees based on negligible work from unaccredited
Hamilton University while working at the Department of Labor (DOL) in
various senior capacities. Between March and June 2000, this individual
received a bachelor's and a master's degree based on prior training and
other life and work experience. Subsequently, in March 2001, Employee
#5 received a PhD in computer information systems from Hamilton. This
individual left DOL and began working at DHS in a Senior Executive
Service position in April 2003. A security clearance update, initiated
while the employee was still at DOL but completed after the employee
joined DHS, led to the discovery of the degrees from Hamilton.
Concluding Remarks:
In conclusion, the records that we obtained from schools and agencies
likely understate the extent to which the federal government has paid
for degrees from diploma mills and other unaccredited schools. Many
agencies have difficulty in providing reliable data because they do not
have systems in place to properly verify academic degrees or to detect
fees for degrees that are masked as fees for training courses.
Additionally, the agency data we obtained likely do not reflect the
true extent to which senior-level federal employees have diploma mill
degrees. This is because the agencies do not sufficiently verify the
degrees that employees claim to have or the schools that issued the
degrees, which is necessary to avoid confusion caused by the similarity
between the names of accredited schools and the names assumed by
diploma mills. Finally, we found that there are no uniform verification
practices throughout the government whereby agencies can obtain
information and conduct effective queries on schools and their
accreditation status.
Madam Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be happy
to respond to any questions that you or Members of the Committee may
have.
Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments:
For further information about this testimony, please contact Robert J.
Cramer at (202) 512-7227; Andrew O'Connell at (202) 512-7449; or Paul
Desaulniers at (202) 512-7435.
(601139):
FOOTNOTES
[1] 5 C.F.R. § 410.308(b).
[2] 5 U.S.C. 4107(a) and (b).
[3] U.S. General Accounting Office, Purchases of Degrees from Diploma
Mills, GAO-03-269R (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 21, 2002).
[4] Our investigation was limited to direct federal payments to schools
and did not include federal reimbursements of school fees to employees.
[5] Four individuals were convicted in the Eastern District of
Louisiana for mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in
connection with their operation of LaSalle University.
