A recently released audit report of Dickinson State University (DSU) in North Dakota describes the school as a “diploma mill” for foreign students that awarded hundreds of unearned degrees to students mostly from China who did not complete their course work while also enrolling students who did not have qualifying grades. The audit, which examined foreign students who have taken part in a special program since 2003 allowing them to earn degrees both from DSU and a university in their home country, is at: http://www.ndus.edu/uploads/reports/96/dsu-internal-review-ddj-final-draft1-020912.pdf. (more…)

Unaccredited schools are thriving in California with approximately 147 known “diploma mills,” more than any other U.S. state and a 10 percent increase from the past year, according to the Accredibase™ Report for 2011 from Verifile Limited. The report found the United States to be the most popular location for known diploma mills in the world with roughly 1,008 operating in the country, an increase of 20 percent over the past year. (more…)

A 2011 report from Europe’s leading background screening firm revealed an astounding 48 percent increase worldwide in the number of known fake diploma mills in the previous year, and the number of what the report describes as “largely online entities whose degrees are worthless due to the lack of valid accreditation and recognition” is likely to increase in the coming year as desperate job applicants knowingly – and unknowingly – do business with companies that offer fake degrees and false credentials for a price. This is Trend Number 6 of the fifth annual ‘Employment Screening Resources (ESR) Top 10 Trends in Background Checks’ for 2012. To view the list of trends, visit http://www.esrcheck.com/ESR-Top-10-Trends-in-Background-Checks-for-2012.php. (more…)

A former student at Harvard University who last year pleaded guilty to faking academic achievements by falsifying transcripts, test scores, and letters of recommendation to get into the prestigious school – and who took more than $45,000 in grants, prizes, and financial aid awarded to him based on lies and plagiarism – is back in jail without bail after allegedly violating his probation by portraying himself as a Harvard student and claiming that he attended the University in the past, The Harvard Crimson reports. (more…)

Proof positive as to why employers need to perform due diligence education verifications on job seekers during pre-employment background checks, the Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the new Chief Information Technology (IT) Officer of the State of Kansas recently introduced by Governor Sam Brownback has resigned after an earlier report in the newspaper raised questions about his college degree from an unaccredited school linked to diploma mills. (more…)