The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "diploma mills" ...
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Diploma Mill
This report exposes a too-good-to-be-true email ad offering cheap diplomas, transcripts, and letters of recommendation as a scheme of questionable legality.
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Armed Forces Recruiting Fraud
WFAA's "series uncovered widespread recruiting fraud among Marine, Navy and Air Force recruiters in North Texas. Not only were recruiters lying about the academic qualifications of their enlistees, they were teaching the enlistees to lie about their background, thereby planting the idea that the Armed Forces are corrupt."
Tags: VIDEOCLIP TAPE TRANSCRIPT FOIA undercover falsified academic records diploma mill
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Is the Internet Becoming a Bonanza for Diploma Mills?
Virtual universities, called diploma mills by experts, are using the freedom and breadth of the Internet to lure students into their programs. This story exposes Columbia State University as one of the alleged perpetrators and raises questions about several other institutions that claim to be "leaders in distance education." It describes student difficulty distinguishing between legitimate distance education providers and institutions that could be fleecing applicants (and grant or stipend providers). The current accreditation system is exacerbating the problem, as confusion abounds over which agencies determine the quality of distance-education programs. Loose regulations make the problem even worse.
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No title (id: 6905)
Wall Street Journal looks at for-profit trade schools that recruit students and make sure they receive federally backed student loans, but provide no usable education, creating a student loan default rate that is three times higher at vocational schools, 1989.
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No title (id: 5372)
Birmingham News looks at the business of credentials fraud and diploma mills, giving case histories of Alabamans with phony degrees, July 26 - 28, 1987.
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No title (id: 4641)
Wall Street Journal finds that the line between legitimate night and correspondence schools and bogus diploma mills is becoming blurrier; some students can't tell the difference, April 2, 1987.
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No title (id: 3094)
WXYZ-TV (Detroit) investigation of Wayne County Community College finds many of its instructors don't have college degrees and have no coursework in subjects they are teaching; many have advanced degrees from diploma mills, March 1984.
Tags: Tape
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No title (id: 2670)
Modesto (Calif.) Bee runs series on the Universal Life Church, a mail-order ministry that sells diplomas and certificates of sainthood for small donations as a form of tax protest, March 11 - 16, 1984.
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Diploma Mills: The Paper Merchants
A piece of parchment can open a lot of doors. The Arizona Republic found that some diplomas aren't worth the paper they are printed on. Those diplomas don't represent knowledge, only that the holder's check cleared the bank.
Tags: Fraud