Degree Mills: The Billion-dollar Industry That Has Sold Over A Million Fake Diplomas (Paperback)

~ (Author), John Bear (Author) "For Nicolas Tanasescu, it's just another day at the office..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"There’s an investigative vibe underpinning the book…[containing] unforgettable characters and the narrative pace of a thriller." -- Chicago Tribune, Sunday, July 31, 2005

Product Description

Need a degree from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, or MIT? No problem. Send us a check! Do you know where your doctor, lawyer, or clergyman earned his or her degree? In 1986, a congressional committee report concluded that "more than 500,000 working Americans have a fraudulent degree." The media hardly noticed. The public yawned. The academic world buried its head in the sand. And things have gotten much, much worse since then.

Fueled by the Internet, more than 300 active degree mills are selling thousands of fake degrees each week, including medical and law degrees. Their total sales exceed $500 million a year, yet the damage that their "customers" do is immeasurable. In a recent case, a man with a fake medical degree was put on trial for manslaughter after a patient died from incorrect medication. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Allen Ezell, who specialized in degree fraud during his 35 years with the FBI, and John Bear, prolific author and expert witness on the subject in federal and state courts, reveal the shocking dimensions of this growing scam in this thoroughly researched exposé. They show how degree mills operate, offer detailed warning signs that a school might be fake, tell how to check up on anyone’s degree, and what to do when a fake degree is discovered. Also provided are information and links to useful lists of bad and fake schools. This is an invaluable reference book for personnel departments in business and academia, as well as for the average consumer.

The authors have made more than 200 television appearances on the subject, including on Good Morning America, 60 Minutes, and The Today Show. As the foremost experts on degree mills, Bear and Ezell have been interviewed on the radio and in magazines and newspapers worldwide.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; 1 edition (January 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159102238X
• ISBN-13: 978-1591022381
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #817,515 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book with great info. , March 8, 2009

By	Jeffrey K. Friesen "Rational thought" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I loved this book. I was looking for information about why a medical licensing bill I supported was being hammered by some people who claimed to be doctors.

What I found was that they were all graduates of diploma mills who had bought the degree and the BS hook, line and sinker. They honestly thought that a correspondence course made them a doctor. Insane. And kind of sad.

This book had great information to find out if someone has a bogus degree, how "accrediting agencies" are set up by the same diploma mills that they claim to accredit, and what can be done about it. It was written by the FBI guys who spent their careers going after these scam artists. There are several chapters of information that is very useful as well as some jolly good stories.

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for any HR Director, September 20, 2008

By	Captin (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

A very eye opening book on unaccredited universities, how they work, and why the continue to exist (lack of centralized enforcement allows them to avoid regulation, among other things). Every HR director should read this immediately and make sure they have adequate academic screening in place before they become the next company to be embarrased by having an unaccredited degree holder of theirs exposed in the press.

Could use an updated version to cover two recent occurences. The Senate hearing in 2004 (Bogus Degrees and Unmet Expectations) that investigated Kennedy-Western University (now Warren National University) and others that either flat out sold "degrees" for cash or waived half of the degree for "life experience" and then required some perfunctory work for the rest. The second is the sentencing of the owners of St. Regis University and the publication of their "degree holders".

6 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do you know where your doctor, lawyer, or employee has earned his degree? , February 2, 2006

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Do you know where your doctor, lawyer, or employee has earned his degree? If you're not familiar with the school or don't know, you'd better check out the eye-opening Degree Mills: The Billion-Dollars Industry That Has Sold Over A Million Fake Diplomas. With the rise of the Internet has risen over 300 active degree mills selling thousands of fake degrees weekly - including medical and legal degrees. Author Ezell specialized in degree fraud in 35 years of work with the FBI and here provides some invaluable insights for any business manager or professional.