want to buy your degree? if a dog could have one, so can I

The term - degree or diploma mill - has been used by United States government bodies and newspapers round the world to refer to 'substandard or fraudulent colleges that offer potential students degrees with little or no serious work'. They range from those which are simple frauds: a mailbox to which people send money in exchange for paper that purports to be a college degree to those that require some nominal work from the student but do not require college-level course work that is normally required for a degree.

Preston was taking issue with an ST article on Aug 29 by journalist Sandra Davie, headlined 'At least 218 here have off-the-shelf degrees'. She reported that Preston University was an unaccredited institution and dubbed a degree mill in the US.
Two Singaporeans who graduated from the university were also named, including an options trading expert who said he submitted a thesis and was granted a doctorate within 16 months. He paid $18,000 in fees.
On average, it takes four to six years to earn a doctorate degree from an accredited university.
Ms Davie said yesterday her report was backed up by checks with accreditation boards, the highly regarded US-based Chronicle of Higher Education as well as American newspaper reports.
Oregon state's office of degree authorisation has Preston described as a 'degree supplier' in its database.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board also lists Preston as one of the institutions that offer 'fraudulent or substandard degrees'.
In 2001, the Chronicle reported that Preston University, then based in Wyoming, had invented more than half of its faculty list. The university later admitted that only 15 of the 49 faculty members listed on the institution's website actively teach its students or serve as mentors.

Last year, US media reports said Preston University was forced to move its operations to Alabama because of the crackdown of diploma mills in Wyoming state.

more accredited US institutions were setting up campuses or offering their programmes overseas. In Singapore alone, there are at least six such universities, including Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and New York University.


note- in an article in the papers - a lady claimed that she was able to but a degree for her dog, at a cost of about US$600....