Here's a great article that caught my attention.  I hope all you fake diploma lovers like it.  If you need a diploma company to do special work for you, please give us a call.  Yes, we actually answer the phone.

 

 

 

 

Michael Chesbro asked:


The prevalence of fraudulent, substandard, and illegal diplomas and degrees is an ever-increasing problem in the United States.

The United States Congress has found that the safety of the American public is particularly endangered by the sale of fraudulent degrees, and that the preeminence of the United States in science and engineering, as well as the prestige and reputation of American universities, is threatened by the trafficking of fraudulent degrees, diplomas, and certifications. (109th Congress, 2006)

Religious and theological degrees and other degrees from religiously affiliated institutions are some of the most commonly issued fraudulent, substandard and illegal credentials. The reason for the prevalence of fraudulent religious and theological degrees is the fact that anyone can incorporate a “church” by registering as a non-profit organization within a state. This “church” can then claim that its bylaws grant it the authority to issues certifications and degrees. Unfortunately many innocent people seeking a religious education fall victim to these “churches” issuing “degrees” that aren’t worth the paper the phony diploma is printed on.

These organizations issuing fraudulent and substandard religious degrees often claim that their action is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and guarantees of religious freedom. Simply put this is not the case. Religiously affiliated institutions are not exempt from state oversight under the First Amendment, nor do they gain the privilege of issuing fraudulent, substandard, and illegal degrees under protection of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

As an example of this, the Texas Attorney General has issued an opinion (JC-0200) that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not exempt religiously-affiliated institutions from the requirements under the Texas Education Code (Chapter 61, Subchapter G). The statute does not regulate any religious practice. Institutions that have a religious affiliation are free to exercise their religious beliefs. The law is written to regulate very narrowly those activities that are academic only, such as representations that the instruction is college level or that the student can receive a degree, and not to impinge on any religious practice or belief. In addition, institutions that do not wish to meet the academic standards of a higher educational institution are free to teach and prepare students for ministry positions as long as they do not assert that the level of their education is collegiate, either by offering degrees or calling the institution a college, university, or seminary. (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2007)

Unaccredited, religiously affiliated institutions are free to teach their religious doctrine as they see fit, but they may not legally represent themselves as colleges, universities, or seminaries; nor may they issues degrees or titles associated with degrees.

RELIGIOUS VS. ACADEMIC DEGREES

A commonly heard claim from institutions issuing fraudulent, substandard or illegal religious degrees is that there is a difference between a religious and an academic degree, and that the rules that govern academic degrees simply don’t apply to the issuance of a religious or theological degree.

We have already seen that in the opinion of the Texas Attorney General religiously-affiliated institutions are NOT exempt from meeting the requirements of the Texas Education Code, but what about legitimate religious schools and theological seminaries, how do they view their own degrees?

Of the 251 religiously based colleges, universities and theological seminaries currently recognized by the ‘Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada’ and by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) all maintain an academic curriculum and structure and (based on a study of their web-sites and publications) consider their degrees to be an “academic degrees.”

The on-line encyclopedia ‘Wikipedia’ is a continually reviewed updated and reference source which can be edited by anyone. Wikipedia articles offer insight into the general public perception of a topic. When we look at the Wikipedia entries for Doctor of Theology and Doctor of Divinity we see that they are both defined as “academic degrees:

• “Doctor of Theology (in Latin Theologiae Doctor, abbreviated Th.D.) is a terminal academic degree in theology.” – (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Theology)

• “Doctor of Divinity (D.D., Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an advanced academic degree in divinity.” – (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Divinity)

Clearly every legitimate theological seminary and college or university offering a theological program considers an academic curriculum and structure essential to their degrees, and the public impression of religiously based degrees is that they are in fact academic degrees.

One should be extremely wary of any entity that issues degrees with no academic curriculum or structure, claiming that its religious nature somehow exempts it from any academic standard or requirements. Such an entity is almost certainly issuing fraudulent and illegal degrees, or at best is issuing a substandard degree that confers no qualification or legitimate credential whatsoever, and may in fact be illegal to use in many states.

WARNING SIGNS

One should be particularly aware of degree scams that offer you credit for your life experience and current spiritual work, giving you an immediate doctorate degree in divinity, theology, or ministry all for a few hundred dollars and perhaps requiring a short paper of no more than a couple thousand words.

Another warning sign that an institution is issuing fraudulent, substandard, or illegal degrees is if they make it a point to explain why their degrees are “bonafide legitimate doctorate degrees.” While a truly legitimate college or university will normally identify its accreditation it is highly unlikely that it will have to stress why its degrees are “bonafide and legitimate”. Only an institution issuing fraudulent degrees needs to attempt to convince you of their legitimacy.

It is important to confirm the physical address of any school before you enroll. A legitimate college, university, or seminary will have a physical business address, even if it is set up to provide only on-line study. Any institution using a mail drop address is almost certainly issuing fraudulent and illegal degrees. You should be able to visit the institution that will grant your degree. If the offices of the college, university, or seminary are a back room or basement in somebody’s home, the degree is almost guaranteed to be substandard, and is most likely being illegally issued.

As we continued to look into the issue of addresses, we discovered that it is a violation of Federal law to use the Postal Service in conjunction with a business and request to be addressed by, any fictitious, false, or assumed title.

“Whoever, for the purpose of conducting, promoting, or carrying on by means of the Postal Service, any scheme or device… or any other unlawful business, uses or assumes, or requests to be addressed by, any fictitious, false, or assumed title, name, or address or name other than his own proper name, or takes or receives from any post office or authorized depository of mail matter, any letter, postal card, package, or other mail matter addressed to any such fictitious, false, or assumed title, name, or address, or name other than his own proper name, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.” (18 U.S.C. 1342)

Beware of any institution that offers a ‘one-time only tuition cost to you:’ ‘each doctorate degree is only $$$, get a second degree at half-price, $$$’, or any similar come-on where you simply purchase your degree for a flat fee.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (2005) “Most diploma mills charge a flat fee, require little course work, if any, and award a degree based solely on work or life experience.”

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (2007) cautioned that one of the warning signs that an institution may be offering fraudulent or substandard degree is charging “tuition and fees by the degree and not by the course. Whether charging $299 or $29,000, this is a sign of fraud. Legitimate colleges charge tuition by the credit hour (semester, quarter, or trimester) or by the course. Not all fraudulent or substandard institutions charge by the degree; some charge by the credit hour in order to appear legitimate. However, legitimate institutions do not charge by the degree.”

The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education advises: when considering a degree provider, an answer of “yes” to one or more of the following questions may be an indicator of a diploma mill.

• Can degrees be purchased?

• Is there a claim of accreditation when there is no evidence of this status?

• Is there a claim of accreditation from a questionable accrediting organization?

• Does the operation lack state or federal licensure or authority to operate?

• Is little if any attendance required of students, either online or in class?

• Are few assignments required for students to earn credits?

• Is a very short period of time required to earn a degree?

• Are degrees available based solely on experiences or résumé review?

• Are there few requirements for graduation?

• Does the operation fail to provide any information about a campus or business location or physical address and rely only on a post office box?

• Does the operation fail to provide a list of its faculty and their qualifications?

• Does the operation have a name similar to other well-known colleges and universities?

• Does the operation make claims in its publications for which there is no evidence?

While it is not possible to list every institution engaged in a degree scam or issuing fraudulent, substandard, or illegal degrees; the state of Michigan maintains a list of schools that have been found to be most egregious in their issuance of fraudulent degrees.

The list can be found on-line at:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Non-accreditedSchools_78090_7.pdf.

Degrees from any entity on this list will not be accepted by the Michigan Department of Civil Service as satisfying any educational requirements or job specifications. Even if you don’t live or work in Michigan, any institution on the Michigan list is highly questionable, and would most likely be found fraudulent, substandard, or illegal if investigated by any other state.

The state of Maine maintains a similar list on-line at: http://www.maine.gov/education/highered/Non-Accredited/UnaccreditedSchools-112706.pdf

The state of Oregon is a leader in the fight against fraudulent, substandard and illegally issued degrees. Oregon maintains a list of entities issuing invalid degrees on-line at: http://www.osac.state.or.us:80/oda/unaccredited.aspx.

In addition to checking the Michigan, Maine and Oregon lists of unaccredited institutions, one should also check the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) – Database of Institutions and Programs Accredited by Recognized United States Accrediting Organizations, on-line at: http://www.chea.org/search/default.asp and the U.S. Department of Education Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (USDE) on-line at: http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

The CHEA and USDE databases list institutions that are recognized as having met certain standards in their education programs.

While being listed in the CHEA or USDE database doesn’t guarantee that a degree will be suited to any specific purpose, an institution that issues degrees and is not listed in either one these databases is at best highly questionable.

STATE HIGHER EDUCATION BOARDS

Next, contact the higher education board in the state where the “degree-granting institution” is located and get the board’s opinion of the institution in question. Every state has some type of governing body for higher education. When considering enrolling in any college, university, or seminary, where there may be a question about its legitimacy, it pays to contact the governing body for higher education in the state in which the institution is located and ask whether that institution is recognized by the state and whether the degrees they issue are legitimate.

At the time this article was written the U.S. Department of Education maintained a list of State Higher Education Agencies on-line at:

http://wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov:80/Programs/EROD/org_list.cfm?category_ID=SHE

LAWS

Several states are beginning to recognize the problem of fraudulent, substandard, and illegally issued degrees and are passing laws to combat this crime.

Currently it is illegal in North Dakota, New Jersey, Texas, Nevada, Washington and Maine to use unaccredited degrees. It is illegal in Indiana to use an unaccredited doctorate. Other states are considering laws to protect their citizens from diploma mills and substandard degrees.

In Washington State, issuing a false academic credential is a class C felony; and knowingly using a false academic credential is a gross misdemeanor. (RCW 9A.60.070)

Florida Statute 817.567 — Making False Claims of Academic Degree or Title.– provides that no person in the state may claim, either orally or in writing, to possess an academic degree, as defined in s. 1005.02, or the title associated with said degree, unless the person has, in fact, been awarded said degree from an institution that is: (a) Accredited by a regional or professional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation… [or run by a state or by the Federal government, or for schools outside the U.S. has been validated by an accrediting agency approved by the United States Department of Education as equivalent to the baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate degree conferred by a regionally accredited college or university in the United States...]

and

(2) No person awarded a doctorate degree from an institution not listed in subsection (1) shall claim in the state, either orally or in writing, the title “Dr.” before the person’s name or any mark, appellation, or series of letters, numbers, or words, such as, but not limited to, “Ph.D.,” “Ed.D.,” “D.N.,” or “D.Th.,” which signifies, purports, or is generally taken to signify satisfactory completion of the requirements of a doctorate degree, after the person’s name.

LIFE EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS

According to Roger H. Schmedlen (2006), writing in the Michigan Lawyers Weekly, “Some unsophisticated would-be experts may truly believe it is possible for them to obtain a legitimate degree without attending classes or performing any study activity–simply by using credit from lifelong career experience. . . . It isn’t!”

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board warns that another of the warning signs of fraud is an institution that “offers to grant a degree or generous amounts of credit for life experience. Claims that one can receive a complete degree for one’s life experience are a sure sign of fraud. Calculating credit awarded by years of service in a particular job or function is also a sign of fraud. Legitimate colleges that award credit for life experience require extensive evidence that the experience is the equivalent of coursework taught at a college. The average legitimate award by that means will be approximately 12 to 18 semester credit hours (about one semester). Many students who are assessed receive no college credit.”

While one should understand that no legitimate accreditor enforces any particular theological understanding, doctrine, or theology; it is just as important to understand that states have a responsibility to ensure that the public is not put at risk by fraudulently issued degrees and credentials. Ask yourself whether you would trust a medical doctor who received an immediate medical degree based on life experience. Would you trust a psychiatrist whose degree was based on a 4 to 8 page paper? No? Well, if you will not trust your physical and mental health to a person with a fraudulent or substandard degree, why would you trust someone with this type of degree to guide you in your spiritual and religious well-being?

John Bear (2007) offers an emphatic warning concerning fraudulent degrees: “We must warn you, as emphatically as we can, that it is very risky to buy a fake degree or to claim to have a degree that you have not earned. It is like putting a time bomb in your resume. It could go off at any time, with dire consequences. The people who sell fake degrees will probably never suffer at all, but the people who buy them often suffer mightily. And — particularly if their “degree” is health-related — their clients may be seriously harmed.”

We consider a religious degree to be health-related in any case where the degree-holder is involved in offering counseling or spiritual guidance. One’s spiritual health is just as important as one’s physical, mental and emotional health.

CONCLUSION

Fraudulent, substandard, and illegal degrees endanger the safety of the American public. Persons who use a fraudulent, substandard, or illegal degree and provide health-related services, to include counseling, providing life-skills and religious guidance or therapy, put the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of their clients at serious risk.

Using a fraudulent, substandard, or illegally issued degree is likely to have dire consequences for the person who uses it, both in employment and licensing issues and in matters of trust and integrity. It is in fact illegal in several states to use an unaccredited, fraudulent, substandard or illegally issued degree.

A serious question should arise in regard to any individual’s integrity and competence, who claims a fraudulent, substandard, or illegally issued degree regardless of any other credentials or experience that person may possess.

FOOTNOTES

109th Congress – Diploma Integrity Protection Act of 2006 – H.R. 6006 http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc109/h6008_ih.xml

Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada

http://www.ats.edu/

Bear, John, Quackwatch, Degree Mills,on-line at: http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/dm0.html (May 2007)

Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)

http://www.chea.org/

Federal Trade Commission, “Facts for Business Guide on Avoiding Fake Degree”, February 1, 2005 on-line at: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2005/02/diplomamills.shtm

Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education – http://www.okhighered.org/student-center/college-stdnts/academic/diploma-mills.shtml

Religious Freedom Restoration Act (42 U.S.C. § 2000bb (1993)

Schmedlen, Roger H. CPP, CFE, CII, MIPI – Michigan Lawyers Weekly, “Doctor Who? Avoiding Fraudulent Opinion Experts”, April 24, 2006 Edition; on-line at: http://www.securityexpertonline.com/fraudulent_security_expert_article.htm

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Frequently Asked Questions, May 2007 http://www.thecb.state.tx.us//AAR/PrivateInstitutions/FAQ.cfm

 

 

 

 

 

 Here's an interesting story I read this morning.  Someone is Russia is charging $40,000 for a fake diploma.  What a rip!

y Peter S. Green

Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Russian police arrested a gang they said was selling fake diplomas from colleges including Harvard University for as much as $40,000, Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The gang was uncovered in July by investigators from the Economic Security Department of Russia’s interior ministry, Alexei Shyshko, the unit’s deputy chief, told the news agency today.

An investigator involved in the case, Alexander Khazin, told the news agency it’s difficult to bring to trial a man standing on the street hawking diplomas.

“A large group of fraudsters are involved in the business, and much time is required to discover them,” Khazin told RIA Novosti. He said a man trying to sell a diploma from the Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics for 300,000 rubles ($10,210) was detained in Moscow earlier this year.

Harvard, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, charges undergraduates $48,868 a year for tuition, room, board and a student services fee.

A spokesman for the school didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

I've see ads for Belford to get a high school equivalency diplomas.  That's the slimiest kind of "fake diploma" company.  Their intention is to make people think they offer a "real" product, but it's not.  To add credibility to their stie, they included links to their "accredidation" agency -- which is just another fly-by-night company that they invented.  Sad situation.  Make no mistake, Phony Diplomas are just that. 

Indianapolis - The Indiana Department of Education has a state-wide warning regarding high school equivalency diplomas.

It's prompted more worries for one Indiana school about laid-off workers taking the bait. For adults who need a GED, a subtle bait and switch - replacing a "D" with an "L" in the name of one high school - could mean failing marks with potential employers or colleges.

That's because "Belford High School" with an "L" is bad news.

According to career counselor Norm Taylor, "Many people have fallen for this and it's unfortunate because we're in such a hard economic time."

Taylor oversees the GED program at the North Lawrence Career Center at Bedford High School. Nearly 100 adults earn diplomas there each year, but others are getting tangled up in a web of quick deception.

"That's the most so far, $400, that I've talked to," Taylor told Eyewitness News.

A viewer named Jamie tells Eyewitness News she went online to Belford High School where she paid $249 for a diploma. Later, she was denied admission to college because the diploma was a fake.

"I'm afraid our person's a victim of a scam," said Duane Martin, the Career and Technology Director and North Lawrence.

If she had come to Martin and Taylor's program in Bedford, she would have only payed $60. But she would have had to wait four weeks for state results.  

A warning from the American Council on Education, known as the ACE,  is posted on the state's web site, alerting students that they can not earn a GED online or through correspondence courses.
    
"You can go online and get training for GED and you might even do some pre-GED work," explained Martin. But the bottom line is, legitimate GED diplomas are issued by the state. There are no shortcuts.
   
The ACE says, "Any services that purport to offer a GED credential through any other means are NOT affiliated...may be dubious value and may deliver product that is not accepted."

"You're going to have to study, you're going to have to be prepared, and you're going to have to come to an accredited state and that's the only way to get the GED," Taylor warned one last time.

There are 70 GED testing centers across the state, including at North Lawrence. Anyone 17 years of age or older can take a scheduled test.

The message the state wants to get out is that you CANNOT earn a high school equivalency diploma online. Those who have lost money to scams can contact the Department of Education.

So here's an article that also spells out the nature of "accreditation" and how diploma mills take advantage of the unwary.

 

 

List of accredited online colleges and accrediting agencies. Diploma Mills/Fake Online Degrees and red flags!

Diploma mills (or online degree mills) often claim accreditation by a fake accrediting agency to attract more students to their online degree programs and online courses and make them seem more legitimate.

Watch out for the following features, as they should be viewed as red flags when considering whether or not to enroll in an educational institution:

1. Online degrees that can be earned in less time than at average accredited colleges and universities. (Getting a Bachelor’s degree in a few months surely sounds good. But if it sounds too good to be truth, you know it IS.)
2. A list of accrediting agencies that sounds a little too impressive. These distant learning institutions are trying too hard to look officially recognized and approved, so they imply this approval by mentioning state registration or licensing. Licensure and accreditation is not the same thing!
3. Tuition and fees are paid on a per-degree basis, while accredited schools charge by credit hours, course, or semester. Watch out for discounts for enrolling in multiple online degree programs.
4. Little or no interaction with professors should trigger your attention at once.
5. Names that are similar to well known reputable and prestigious universities. Or addresses that are box numbers or suites. That campus may very well be someone’s mail drop box.
6. Diploma mills require little, if any, academic work in order to earn a degree. One or two research papers can’t possibly make you earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree.
7. An ".edu" extension means nothing regarding a school's quality or legitimacy. Some fake online degree sites are able to obtain “.edu” extensions.
8. Getting an academic degree requires no visits to the school or other face-to-face meetings with its personnel.

Here's an article I found this morning.  It talks about how to tell a "Diploma Mill" from a real online school.  Diploma Mills want you to think they ARE real but they're really an website created by a small team of three or four people.

Their "accreditation" page links to a website that they also created.  The page won't mention the particular Diploma Mill by name to lend credibility to their pitch.  But, take a look at the design and copywriting on both sites.  Unrealistically similar?  Duh... they're done by the same small group of people.  They depend on you thinking that their second accreditation site is real just like the diploma mill iste.  Right......  Don't fall for it.

Let me say that PhonyDiploma is NOT a diploma mill.  The name alone, "PhonyDiplomas" tells you right up front that it's a fake diploma.  No one could possibly think they are buying a REAL high school diploma or an actual college diploma.    They're fake degrees for goodness sake!

 Anyways, here's the article:

Online education is becoming increasingly popular because it attends to the needs of busy adults who want to continue their studies. Unfortunately, many unscrupulous minds are taking full advantage of this trend to swindle the unwary.

Today, there are many online institutions that pose as legitimate but are actually online diploma mills. Here are some of the signs to spot online diploma mills:

1. Accreditation – Many online schools claim to be fully accredited. However, not all are legitimately accredited. It’s easy to put up a quasi-online school accreditation agency with a fancy name to make the fake school look valid — but don’t be fooled. The safest way to avoid online diploma mills is to select an online school with the proper regional accreditation. There are six regional accreditation agencies in the U.S. These are: Middle State Association of Colleges and Schools, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
2. Contact Information – Online learning may operate in cyberspace, but it doesn’t mean that online schools are invisible as well. Online institutions still have a physical office that you can contact and/or visit for inquiries. If an online institution doesn’t provide an address or contact numbers other than an email address, be cautious.
3. Attractive But Improbable Claims – “Earn your master’s degree in half the time it usually takes” sounds good, however, attractive but improbable claims are telltale signs of a diploma mill or fake online school. Always be skeptical of schools that offer degree programs that are quick and easy to finish for your convenience.

One pressing question in the field of education is What is the difference between wisdom and knowledge? When a person is knowledgeable, she has a nice collection of data under her belt. This does her little good if she is unable to apply this information in real life. Wisdom is the ability to apply the collection of facts to everyday experiences. 

 

 

LessMeans More

Less can mean more when it comes to knowledge. I like to look at this in the same way I do fashion. It’s better to wear a stunning pair of diamond earrings rather than a gaudy array of cheap jewelry arranged haphazardly on my person. Doesn’t make sense? It will in a moment.

A person can be very knowledgeable but if he can’t use what he knows, it’s nothing more than clutter, a poorly accessorized mind, if you will. A wise person selects his knowledge judiciously, applying it as appropriate. Why let data sit in the back of your mind? It does little more than collect dust.

Avoiding the Ivory Tower
You may be familiar with the Ivory Tower, that place in which the knowledgeable completely lose touch with the real world. You can avoid this realm by getting your PhD in Wisdom. This approach requires no formal schooling, grades or examination. It requires insight into how you use what you learn.

I used to pride myself on how much I know. Now I pride myself on how much I accomplish. Accomplishments require much wisdom and after achieving specific life goals, I decided to treat myself with a fake diploma to commemorate my wise accomplishments.

Getting Your PhD in Wisdom
Too bad that there isn’t a diploma available for wisdom. We focus on academics, which are, well, academic. Consider what you want to accomplish as you explore the notion of using wisdom to maximize your knowledge base. This involves delving into your natural talents. A wise person is in touch with her talent and she uses her talent well.

Earning your degree in Wisdom requires little more that self-exploration. Take some time to consider the things that you know. How can you use this hoard of data to move you toward a more fulfilling and rewarding life? Developing wisdom naturally draws you in the proper direction.

Once you have discovered your talent, you are better able to apply what you have learned to what you do. The beauty of the process is that you don’t have to know a lot; you merely have to use what you know wisely.

Honorary degrees are fascinating to me because I love the notion of being recognized for accomplishments beyond the academic realm. The recipient doesn’t take classes, exams or attend lectures. The honor is bestowed upon him based on a number of factors; attendance is not among them.

 

 

 

As I was wheeling the notion of the honorary degree through my mind, I began to look at the honors with pure objectivity. The objective perspective often peels away the sentimental components, making it possible to look at the stark facts. It seems that an honorary degree is fundamentally a fake diploma.

 

How to Get an Honorary Degree

Consider the process of receiving such an honor. If you look at it through the green-colored glasses of an advertising mogul, it seems to play out like a too-good-to-be-true scheme. I can almost hear Billy Maze Yes! You can earn your degree without attending a single lecture. No studying is required and it’s Free!& Sounds wonderful to me but there has to be more to it.

 

The process of granting a degree for the honor differs from one institution to the next but the skeleton of procedure is readily apparent. Each school has a different approach but this is the basic structure: nominate, vote, and win.

 

The entire process takes roughly one year and all nominations are completely confidential. It’s kind-of like American Idol, well, without the singing and cameras.

 

Qualities of an Honoree

Just as procedure differs from one school to the next, the qualifications do as well. If you are a high profile bio researcher who has just discovered a new life form in the ocean, you may have an easier time being nominated. High profile is the operative phrase; few schools take time to honor the little guy.

 

If we consider the basic qualities, we see educational institutions noting achievements, inspiration, leadership, and contributions. Ah, there’s the rub.

 

Ulterior Motives

I hate to be cynical but I have a sneaking suspicion that the educational institutions that present the degrees may have ulterior motives. After all, you don’t see many single mothers who make great sacrifices to ensure that their children go to college getting an academic nod. This is a great achievement that requires inspiration, leadership, and contribution so where are the accolades? 

 

Can honorary degrees be about money?

 

Perhaps not entirely but the honor does serve a purpose beyond honors, as McGill Reporter states that a degree can be a way of thanking supporters, followed by an example of an honoree who previously donated $64 million—you read it right—$64 million to the institution. Sheesh. I’d send him a degree for a fraction of that!

 

Give It to Me Straight

I wouldn’t mind getting an honorary degree. It would feel lovely. As one recipient of the McGill honor said, You feel stroked. Well, that put a smile on my face. Oh yes, the fur goes in that direction. Purr.

 

Sure, it’s easy to get an honorary degree when you don’t really need a diploma. I’m curious, dear readers. Whom would you nominate?