There is something particularly offensive to me in the forging of academic credentials. It compromises and devalues scholarship and the effort that it takes to earn authentic academic recognition. In some ways it is more troubling even than counterfeiting currency, which has less personal integrity on the line.

A rightfully earned degree demonstrates not only that one has completed a tour of academy duty, by passing the necessary courses, but also shows that a person has the grit to master subjects that grow increasingly more difficult as the effort progresses. Someone earning an honest diploma jumps through the required hoops; buying an unearned degree allows someone to display a piece of paper without actual gravitas, substance or knowledge. It is fraud.

Years ago when I was a lawyer for Boston University, I was part of a group of university attorneys that took action against a group of term-paper writing companies located in Beantown. There were half a dozen or more, supplying documents on request from students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses given by universities in the metropolitan area. Since the papers served to support the granting of degrees, which were later used to gain admission to professional schools (like law and medicine), and subsequently made it possible for people to get licenses to practice, the argument made was that the term-paper companies were assisting people in the “uttering of false documents.” The court agreed, took action, and for a while business fell off. But over time, of course, the companies returned under new names with new addresses and with today’s electronic capacities this sort of fraud continues.

I’ve been troubled by diploma mills for a long time and recall a few years ago opening The Economist and seeing a small advertisement offering for sale a degree from George Washington University. George Washington University! I couldn’t wait to get on the telephone to the general counsel; he immediately took remedial steps. The ad (and the degree granter?) disappeared. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder and worry about it.

This week The New York Times reports on the Federal government’s three year investigation into the scam perpetrated by a couple from the State of Washington who have been selling false credentials under the names of 120 fictitious universities and several real ones (including phony transcripts, letters of recommendation, and complete files). The government’s work ended with guilty pleas by the pair for mail and wire fraud. The exact number of bogus degrees put into the market by this couple and others is not known, nor do we know the full extent of the number of false-degree mills that exist. The estimates by investigators range from 100,000 to 200,000 degrees sold each year. Each year!

People search out these phony degrees for lots of reasons. I’ll wager some folks just like to game the system while others find it easier to buy a diploma than earn one. For some, the credential is simply a document that one must pick up to gain entry into the world of work and to them it doesn’t represent any level of personal achievement. Like a medallion on a New York taxicab, the diploma is seen as merely a license to get a job. Perhaps this type of fraud is a contributing factor in why it is so difficult for graduates of our fully accredited colleges and universities to find employment.

The subject of diploma mills has been on the national agenda with greater or lesser vigor for years. I recall a long discussion on this topic at an ACE meeting I attended some years ago and a report on the subject calling for action, but it is apparent not much follow-up ensued.

Senator Susan M. Collins, a Maine Republican, was particularly interested in this subject in 2004. After learning that hundreds of federal employees have been “students” at several unaccredited California schools thought to be diploma mills (tuition paid by the U.S. government!), she set out to investigate further. Apparently, Senator Collins recently proved her point by receiving a pseudo bachelor’s of science degree in biology and a master’s of science degree in medical technology. Thanks to a GAO investigation into the bogus credentials purchased from diploma mills, we now have exposed these operations. On the house side, Representative Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, also asked the GAO to look into this matter.

“Postsecondary degrees are the keys to opening doors to the private sector job market and to federal agencies. It’s time to figure out whether we need to change the locks so that diploma mill degree holders are no longer allowed to compete with unfairly with the men and women have worked hard to earn legitimate degrees,” said Collins. “What’s more, taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for these bogus credentials and degrees.”

“Public trust in government is a key pillar of our democracy,” said Davis. “There is no place for diploma mill degree holders to work in our government, especially when we are talking about homeland security. We must and will get to the bottom of this situation.”

In the past several years, about 20 states have enacted laws to deal with this type of trafficking. But the federal government seems to be tossing the responsibility for action back and forth between the Department of Education and the Justice Department. And the Times’ report claims that Congress is “moving cautiously, almost hesitantly.” Somehow they seem stumped to come up with a definition of diploma mills — asking what is ‘little or no’ coursework. In bureaucratic fashion, there is a bill to create a task force to recommend ways to handle these “diploma factories.” What do you think should be done?