March 18, 2005 Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has obtained judgments against two brothers who operated Trinity Southern University, a for-profit Dallas-based "university" that issued fraudulent degrees.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/diploma_mill.html

27 03 05 13:38

By Jason Starr
 Daily Record Staff Writer

 Cañon City's City Administrator defended his bachelors degree from an unaccredited university Thursday night during a television interview with an NBC affiliate in Colorado Springs. The story was a follow up to a report the station, KOAA, aired Feb. 3 about bogus degrees or "diploma mills," where people can cite work experience and get a "diploma" in return. Steve Rabe's degree is from Kennedy-Western University. The Wyoming-based school denies allegations that it is a diploma mill but does not dispute that it is not academically accredited. After the KOAA report aired, the station received several calls from Cañon City residents about Rabe, whose educational credentials have been the subject of debate among city council members. "It sounds like it's been an issue for a lot of people there in Cañon City," said KOAA reporter James Jarman, who interviewed Rabe on camera for the story.

More
http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/Local/Rabe%20defends%20degree%202-11-05.htm

08 03 05 14:32

Sometimes, a bogus diploma is easy to spot%u2014like the one proclaiming an applicant had earned a "batchelor's" degree, say the folks at an employee-screening company called HireRight (http://www.hireright.com). Alas, not all fakes contain spelling errors. Eric Boden, HireRight's president and CEO, says the diploma-mill industry rakes in $200 million a year: "We have a list of hundreds of known diploma mills and we update it constantly. The operators move from state to state and, since there are few, if any, laws against issuing fake diplomas in most states, they're hardly ever prosecuted." You may be able to determine if a diploma is legitimate, but it'll take a little time and research. The first step to find out if an obscure school actually exists, Boden says, is simply to try calling its office. "If no one answers the phone," he says, "that's a bad sign." Ersatz colleges%u2014the kind that will send anyone a degree for a fee, without the student's ever being required to crack open a book or take an exam%u2014often claim to be "accredited," and they are, but only by fly-by-night accrediting agencies that they have created themselves.

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/annie/0,15704,1028010,00.html

14:26

By SILLA BRUSH / The Dallas Morning News

The Texas attorney general's office took steps Monday to stop a Dallas-based school that made headlines after authorities said it sold an MBA to a black cat. The attorney general was granted a temporary restraining order freezing Trinity Southern University's assets, and the school was ordered to stop accepting payments and promoting unlawful services. An injunction hearing was set for Dec. 27.  "This isn't accredited or licensed or anything, but they are offering what we believe are totally fraudulent degrees," said Tom Kelley, spokesman for the attorney general's office. "It's pretty outrageous." One of the brothers who own Trinity Southern denied Monday that the school was engaged in fraudulent activities. "We provide a legitimate service to our customers," said Alton S. Poe of St. Cloud, Fla., who with his bother, Craig Barton Poe, 35, of Frisco, operate Trinity Southern. "They received greater benefit than the cost of this program."

http://www.wfaa.com/s/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/121304dntexdiplomas.7702a23.html

13:55

By CRAIG FOX
 Times Staff Writer
 LYONS - Embattled school administrator William Nichiporuk would like to rescind his resignation from the Palmyra-Macedon school district because he faces felony charges and not a misdemeanor. But Pal-Mac officials consider the matter closed because the school board last week accepted Nichiporuk's resignation and abolished the position, said Anthony Villani, the Lyons attorney representing the district. As of last Friday, Nichiporuk is no longer getting paid by the district, Villani said. On Tuesday afternoon, Nichiporuk was arraigned in Wayne County Court on fourth-degree grand larceny and first-degree offering a false instrument charges. Nichiporuk pleaded not guilty to the charges after being indicted by a grand jury last week. His trial is now scheduled to start Aug. 1. The case is due back in court for a pre-trial conference April 19. Wayne County Court Judge Dennis Kehoe released Nichiporuk on his own recognizance

http://www.fltimes.com/Main.asp?SectionID=38&SubSectionID=121&ArticleID=7451

13:49

Web sites push fake degrees

 By Helena Andrewsa
The Capital Times/Medill News Service

 February 14, 2005 E-mail this story to a friend Email this story to a friend Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format Letter to the editor Tell us what you think Write a letter to the editor. Subscribe to The Capital Times WASHINGTON - There are funny stories, like the one about the state attorney who bought an MBA for his cat, and then there are the horror stories like tales of New York City cab drivers who moonlight as dentists. These days you can be anything you want by simply clicking on a mouse and buying a degree from a "diploma mill." Institutions sell phony diplomas, usually by mail, and recently they have been popping up all over the country. Laura Callahan had a doctorate from Hamilton University and scored a job at the Department of Homeland Security as the associate deputy in the Chief Information Office. Hamilton University is listed as a diploma mill by Oregon's Office of Degree Authorization, the leading authority on degree mills. After being exposed by a co-worker in 2003, Callahan resigned less than a year later. The federal government now is stepping up its efforts to crack down on the phony colleges.

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/index.php?ntid=28423&ntpid=3

13:38

BY FRED GRIMM

fgrimm@herald.com

In an era of diploma mills, embellished résumés and faked personal histories, a dispute over a Sunrise city commissioner's diploma seems almost quaint. Commissioner Don Rosen claims a biology degree from Queens College, class of '72. The college, a branch of City University in New York, told The Herald's Evan Benn that its records indicated Rosen only attended classes for four months back in 1970. The dispute comes at an awkward time for Rosen, who is running for reelection. He insisted that the misunderstanding must have something to do with Queens College failing to recognize credits transferred from some other college. One might have thought that even amid the campus madness in 1972, a would-be grad might have noticed that his diploma was missing. But Sunrise voters should take heart. Four months may not be four years, but Rosen at least attended some classes at Queens College. And Queens College is an accredited school with an actual campus, real professors and some notable alumni. Jerry Seinfeld is a Queens grad. So too is Robert Moog, inventor of the Moog Synthesizer. Don Rosen? Maybe. Maybe not.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10958322.htm

13:34

BY JOHN DUNPHY
 Staff Writer

 A South River police lieutenant is suing the borough after two other officers beat him out for promotions using what he says were bogus college degrees. Lt. John Kolakowski, a South River officer for 23 years, applied for a promotion when the borough was looking to fill a captain%u2019s position and the newly created role of deputy chief. The borough selected Sgt. John Casey for captain and Lt. John Bouthillette for deputy chief last summer, following an interrupted hiring process that began in 2003. Kolakowski charges in a lawsuit that Casey and Bouthillette used college degrees from a fraudulent Internet %u201Cdiploma mill,%u201D where degrees can be purchased without ever actually taking courses or exams, and that the borough counted those degrees as legitimate when considering the men for the promotions.

http://nbs.gmnews.com/news/2005/0217/Front_Page/038.html

13:30