DEGREE MILLS: A SPECIAL THREAT TO ODL AND eLEARNING

Open and distance learning (ODL) is a favourite mode of operation for spurious providers of education, commonly referred to as "degree mills". These bogus colleges are multiplying in response to the exploding demand for higher education in the developing world. Unfortunately, a number of small Commonwealth countries are considered to be safe havens for operators of these disreputable operations. This poses a serious risk to the expansion of genuine tertiary education, especially in those small states thought to provide cover for degree mills.

When a country gains a reputation for hosting degree mills it risks being put on informal blacklists; governments and bona fide institutions in other countries may refuse to accept any educational qualification from the blacklisted country. Furthermore, because bogus degrees are usually offered over the Internet some jurisdictions have imposed an outright ban on the recognition of any online degrees.

The Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC) is making excellent progress, but to take advantage of the expansion of tertiary provision that it offers, the small states must shed any links with degree mills. One purpose of the Transnational Qualifications Framework that is being prepared for VUSSC is to help establish the credibility as well as the transferability of programmes developed through this collaborative network.

Degree mills also pose a threat to personal and national security. People with phoney medical degrees cause serious harm by acting as doctors. Terrorists and criminals try to gain illegal entry to countries by using fake degrees to obtain skilled-worker visas.

Governments, institutions and employers must work together to curb degree mills and protect the credibility of legitimate educational institutions. COL is working with other bodies, including UNESCO and the US Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), to promote the following actions:

• Work with the small states of the Commonwealth in drafting legislation and putting in place accreditation procedures so that degree mills can be readily identified.
• Put the issue of degree mills on the agendas of international meetings of education ministers.
• Encourage international agencies to toughen their procedures for protecting misuse of their name (bogus operations often claim a spurious accreditation relationship with groups such as COL, UNESCO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization).
• Create a "whitelist" of accredited institutions (UNESCO is working on a web portal for this purpose).
• Strengthen quality assurance and accreditation.
• Encourage employers, academic admissions officers and immigration authorities to check the authenticity of all credentials presented to them.