Diploma mills in the United States
Various schemes have been implemented to curb the proliferation of diploma mills, and a number of states have passed bills that make it illegal for an organization to confer degrees without accreditation.
In recent years unaccredited for-profit higher education institutions have specialized in enrolling foreign students and have been called sham schools.
[citation needed] The United States Department of Education lacks direct plenary authority to regulate schools and, consequently, the quality of an institution's degree.
"[4] Conversely, "Oregon, New Jersey, and North Dakota have adopted tough laws that include fines and jail time for using fake degrees to gain employment.
In Tennessee, a law that took effect in July 2004 made diploma mill degrees illegal, but the state does not have an agency or authority to investigate.
[42] The operation was run with addresses in London, England; Mobile, Alabama; and in Green Bay, which turned out to be empty store fronts or PO Boxes.
Callahan had previously been a senior director at the DHS and held supervisory positions at the United States Department of Labor and within the Bill Clinton White House.
According to an article in Reason magazine, "The (Callahan) scandal raises serious doubts about the government's ability to vet the qualifications of public employees on whom the nation's security depends.
The Senate Hearings detailed a pattern of widespread and ongoing abuse by numerous federal employees, based on information provided by several unaccredited schools that cooperated with the initial probe.
The GAO also found that the government itself had paid at least $170,000 for questionable "coursework" by federal employees at California Coast and Kennedy-Western alone, and believed that even this amount had been significantly understated by the institutions involved.
The GAO report revealed that at least 28 senior-level employees had obtained their degrees from diploma mills or unaccredited universities, while cautioning that "this number is believed to be an understatement."
In May 2004, NNSA spokesman Brian Wilkes told reporters that "the [managers'] conditions of employment did not rest on the education that they were claiming," and that the revelations would not affect their job status.
Charles Abell, the principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, was identified by the press as having obtained his master's degree from Columbus University of New Orleans, an unaccredited distance learning school.
[47] Abell continued in his Defense Department job until August 2005, when he joined the staff of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services, where he remained until 2007.
[48] In 2004 CBS News discovered other high-ranking government officials who were Kensington University alumni: Rene Drouin, who sat on an advisory committee at the U.S. Department of Education, and Florida State Rep. Jennifer Carroll, who served on the National Commission on Presidential Scholars.
The report explained that "H-1B visas can be issued to anyone who is highly skilled and can get a job in the U.S. McDevitt is concerned a phony advanced degree could be the first step for someone in a terrorist sleeper cell.
"The Secret Service even added to Syed's application that he needed a degree quickly, so he could find employment and obtain an H-1B visa, allowing him to stay in the US."
Furthermore, "In less than a month, the imaginary Syrian army expert was notified, James Monroe University was awarding him three advanced degrees in engineering and chemistry, all for $1,277.
It was 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.
