All the credentials, none of the work

A mere $719 separates News Tribune reporter Debby Abe from a Ph.D. in civil engineering — never mind Abe’s total lack of qualifications and that the university in question had never heard of Abe before last week.

Abe applied for the degree as she was researching Ashwood University, an unaccredited online university that sold a doctorate to someone giving the name of a former Tacoma School District administrator.

Less than 24 hours after she applied, Abe received an e-mail announcing that the “10-member evaluation committee at Ashwood University has finally approved you for Doctorate Degree.” All that Abe has to do to get her degree is pay up. (Don’t worry — Abe has no plans to send money, and The News Tribune is not about to turn a reporter loose to attempt feats of engineering.)

The case demonstrates the stunning audacity of diploma mills like Ashwood. Surf the Internet for a few minutes, and you’ll find no shortage of “universities” selling educational credentials. Need that degree yesterday? For an extra fee, they will postdate your diploma. You can even pick your grade-point average.

Even more incredible than the existence of these degree peddlers are the identities of some buyers. Federal prosecutors revealed last year that a Spokane-based diploma mill had sold bogus online degrees to a White House staff member, National Security Agency employees, a senior State Department employee in Kuwait and a Department of Justice employee.

In many instances, these are not desperate cases. Some recepients are respected and educated people who either don’t really need the diplomas or have the smarts to earn them legitimately. But the offers of speedy degrees awarded for “life experience” prove too enticing.

Sondra Bright, Tacoma schools’ former director of math and science curriculum, apparently never listed an Ashwood doctorate as a qualification. District officials knew that her doctoral work at the University of Washington was incomplete but hired her anyway last July. It was only after Bright abruptly resigned last month, Superintendent Charles Milligan says, that he heard of the online degree issued in Bright’s name.

That’s another amazing thing about these bogus diplomas: Otherwise smart people believe that they will get away with claiming an education they never received. Many do manage to fool their bosses, robbing their employers of undeserved pay raises and debasing the hard work of fellow workers who earn their degrees the old-fashioned way.

Bogus diplomas are ticking time bombs. Eventually the prestige or success diploma buyers seek will be their undoing. The higher they rise, the greater the possibility that they will be found out. All it takes is one discerning eye.