Christian Berrio asks whether the degrees touted in current spam ads are forgeries --snip-- Diplomas from prestigious non-accredited universities based on your present knowledge and life experience. No required tests, classes, books, or interviews. Bachelors, masters, MBA, and doctorate (PhD) diplomas available in the field of your choice. --snip-- These university offers are not offers for forged university diplomas. They are solicitations for the sale of "genuine" and _worthless_ diplomas from a fake university. All serious university degrees are offered by accredited universities. Universities are accredited by the government in most nations, usually through the ministry of education. In the United States, this takes place at a second remove through the regional accrediting agencies authorized by the department of education. This level of accreditation is necessary for tax status, for proper status in relation to student loans, for many kinds of financing and support, and for other purposes. In addition the specific professional schools or programs of many universities are ALSO accredited under the special accreditation programs of various associations. In business, for example, this would include accreditation by the AACSB in the US and by EQUIS in Europe. Some international schools seek these specialized accreditations from other nations specifically to establish value, and ranking, and to make the school attractive to outstanding foreign students, especially in the competition for talented research students at master's and especially at the doctoral level. The tip-off on the solicitation you received was the line "prestigious non-accredited universities." Since no one recognizes a degree from a "non-accredited university," and since a "non-accredited university" seeks none of the kinds of status or funding for which accreditation is required, anyone may establish one. In effect, anyone who receives this ad could just as easily establish his own non-accredited university, and give himself his own PhD. Those who want several degrees from different universities can establish one for each degree. The tricky aspect of this is that some fake universities emulate the names of real universities with sound-alike or resemblance names. This was once a common practice, but aggressive trademark action by legitimate universities to protect their names is curtailing this. What can't be stopped is the use of totally fake names or the use of names that are not protected in a remote jurisdiction. For example, it might be difficult for the administration of the real Patrice Lumumba University of Moscow in Russia to locate and take legal action in the United States against someone from Moscow, Idaho, who sets up his own Patrice Lumumba University. The ancient University of Montpelier would probably never learn about a fake university of the same name operating in Texas. For the most part, though, these places chose fancy, pan-Galactic names such as The University of Higher Studies or Oceanic University. The tendency of some universities to change names to slightly wild new versions doesn't help keep things sorted. In some cases, these degrees are also awarded for subjects that simply don't exist in real universities, such as theosophy, astrology, or phrenology. The term "prestigious" is as meaningful or meaningless as anyone wishes to make it. For some people in certain places, it is far more prestigious to own a relatively complete set of Pokemon cards than to own a complete set of college degrees. Prestige is a factor of social circumstance. These non-accredited universities are primarily what used to be called diploma mills, and their main purpose is earning money for the people who own them. Anyone likely to require a degree these days tends to check not only on the degree, but on the university. To many people, it doesn't matter, though. They simply want a degree to feel better about themselves or to sound better to friends and neighbors. For those purposes, a "non-accredited university" may be as good as any. These aren't forged diplomas, though. For a small fee, I'll be happy to send you an absolutely authentic doctorate in phrongistics from Laurel and Hardy University. If phrongistics isn't your thing, I'll invite the subscribers of AIR-L to join me in establishing the Pan-Galactic University of Higher Studies Department of Cyberspace Programs. We'll offer an MBA in dot.commerce and a Ph.D. in anything you care to name. With so many unaccredited mouths to feed, of course, this will cost a bit more than a doctorate from L&HU. Nevertheless, at L&HU, "no one is turned down" and we can guarantee "confidentiality assured." In contrast, who knows what those cyberspace people at PGUHS will be doing with your prestigious, non-accredited degree? On the whole, I'd say the Laurel and Hardy doctoral program in phrongistics is the far wiser choice. Of course, to keep the record absolutely straight, most of us who earned accredited degrees are aware of two things. First, it is the degree that counts, not the diploma. The diploma is merely a piece of paper that signifies the award of a degree. The necessary legal document is the transcript kept in the files of each university's registrar. Second, the prestige conferred by these degrees is not always as great as many would wish. One always hopes on graduation that this degree or that will help one to get a good job, meet the right member of the opposite or the same sex, finally get one's family to recognize that one is an adult, etc. What you learn is that: 1) Jobs are scarce for everyone. 2) Grandma always loves you, you'll always be a child to your Mom, and your Dad still kisses you no matter how long you have had your Ph.D. 3) The degree generally doesn't matter much to the girls, boys, women or men whom you want to attract. On the other hand, a good Pokemon collection may do the trick. -- Ken Friedman, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Leadership and Strategic Design Department of Technology and Knowledge Management Norwegian School of Management Visiting Professor Advanced Research Institute School of Art and Design Staffordshire University