Hire education

In the United States, 7,298 people bought bogus or counterfeit degrees online from a Spokane diploma mill. Another 9,165 degrees were sold to people in 130 countries. The counterfeit degrees enabled some to get jobs they wouldn’t qualify for otherwise. For others, the bogus master’s degrees translated to bigger paychecks. And some truly believed the degrees they purchased were legitimate.

The U.S. Justice Department will not release the names of those who received bogus degrees or bought counterfeit degrees carrying the names of legitimate universities. Department policy says federal prosecutors should strive to avoid unnecessary references to “wrongdoing by an uncharged party.”

It is not a crime to possess a fake degree. But to use that degree fraudulently is a crime. In February, David F. Brodhagen, a former deputy U.S. marshal, pleaded guilty to lying on a federal job promotion form after buying a phony degree. The promotion resulted in a pay raise.

How many other employees are working with faked credentials? For private employers, the burden of proof rests with their human resources departments. Fact-checking resumes takes time, as do Internet searches on suspicious-sounding university names. But the effort pays off.

Assistant U.S. Attorney George J.C. Jacobs said awarding bogus degrees in health care, engineering and many other professions “puts the public at risk.” The buyers from foreign countries raise terrorism concerns; 51 of the fake degrees, for instance, went to Iran.

Safety is the main concern, but not the only one. Those in government service who have received raises and higher pensions because of faked degrees defraud taxpayers.

James A. McDevitt, the U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington, says his office is sharing the lists of fake-diploma buyers with law enforcement agencies and attorneys general throughout the United States so that those agencies can ferret out employees who might pose a public risk or who are fleecing the taxpayers. “We’re not done with this yet,” McDevitt said.

Federal legislation targeting diploma mill operators and consumers who knowingly use fake degrees would make it much easier to prosecute this crime. Both buyers and sellers need to be targeted, because when the customers go away, so will bogus universities.

The government – and private employers – must remain vigilant against diploma mill operators and those who seek their services.