Bartle sponsors bill to prohibit fake diplomas

A $7 million diploma mill scandal exposed last summer prompted action.

By Eva Dou

Published Feb. 2, 2009

Missouri's fake diploma laws might be tightened if a state senator gets his way.

Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Jackson County, is sponsoring a bill to prohibit the use of phony documents to obtain a job or college admission in Missouri.

The Missouri Department of Higher Education lobbied for the bill after a multi-million-dollar diploma mill operation involving four Missourians was uncovered over the summer.

"How would you like to learn that your kid's teacher didn't graduate from college? Or that your doctor has a bogus medical degree?" Bartle said in a news release. "The easy availability of phony documentation over the Internet makes these very real dangers."

Bartle's bill would make the use of a fake diploma punishable by up to 15 days in jail and a fine of up to $300.

The Senate Education Committee heard testimony about the bill Wednesday.

"As far as the essence of the bill, I think it was well received," Bartle's Chief of Staff Todd Scott said.

Some committee members suggested increasing the criminal penalty, Scott said. The bill awaits a committee vote.

It is already illegal to use a fake diploma containing a real university's name, Assistant Commissioner of Higher Education Leroy Wade said. But it is not yet illegal to buy a degree from a phony online institution, called a diploma mill.

These diploma mills have lax standards and often grant degrees based on "life experience" rather than coursework, Wade said.

Bartle's bill comes in response to a $7 million diploma mill bust, which revealed four Missourians purchased phony degrees from the bogus St. Regis University. St. Regis was supposedly based in Liberia but had no actual classrooms.

The diploma mill scandal included one man who bought "Missouri University" master's and doctorate degrees in psychology for $1,800 in 2002. The degree read "Columbia, Mo." and was printed in MU's colors, black and gold.

Ten states already have fake diploma laws. Bartle hopes to make Missouri the 11th.

Nationwide, as many as 200,000 phony degrees are purchased each year, according to MDHE.

The push for a law against fake diplomas originated last fall in the state higher education department. The coordinating board that oversees the department approved a legislative proposal in September 2008 for a law, MDHE lawyer Zora AuBuchon said.

AuBuchon was charged with finding a legislative sponsor, so she approached Bartle, who was enthusiastic.

"I don't think there are significant obstacles for this bill, besides the inherent obstacle of the legislative process," AuBuchon said.

Diploma mills received national attention as well.

In February 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a version of the Higher Education Opportunity Act that contained a definition of diploma mills as well as measures addressing the use of phony degrees.

Several key provisions, including the one that would have allowed the Secretary of Education to deny legitimacy to the St. Regis operation, were removed from the final version passed by both the House and Senate in July.