Dog Earns MBA from Diploma Mill

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Jennifer Brady

UMassOnline Jennifer Brady This story might be funny if it weren’t so common and didn’t have such unfortunate implications for unwary learners. Or worse, for what it means to hard-working online students when some people try to game the distance learning system. It comes to us courtesy of The Chronicle of Higher Education in a story entitled Unmuzzling Diploma Mills: Dog Earns M.B.A. Online by Marc Parry.

Reports Mr. Parry: GetEducated.com, an online-learning consumer group, managed to purchase an online M.B.A. for its mascot, a dog named Chester Ludlow… The Vermont pug earned his tassles by pawing over $499 to Rochville University, which offers “distance learning degrees based on life and career experience,” according to a news release from GetEducated. He got back a package from a post-office box in Dubai that contained a diploma and transcripts, plus a certificate of distinction in finance and another purporting to show membership in the student council.

Please be sure, if you’re considering an online learning opportunity, to do your homework. Make sure that any institution you consider is real, accredited, reputable, well-known and, in general, on the up and up.