My company verifies graduation from college if you put it down on the resume. We have many contracts that require a degree. We fired someone in their first week who misrepresented their education - didn’t have a degree but “had an equivalent number of credits”.
Some State Medical Boards used to require a copy of the medical school diploma, or to see the original, in order to issue a state medical license. My DH’s med school warned them of this and recommended that they make copies of their diploma before they framed it. He did his residency in California and I heard several stories of residents, who had not been warned, driving to Sacramento with their framed diploma in hand to present to the Medical Board. I don’t know if any still do require this.
I don’t see how a fake diploma would do you any good unless you could get a fake transcript to go with it.
What happens to someone who graduates from a school that later ceases to exist? Will an employer or graduate/professional school be able to verify his/her degree? If official transcripts are desired for such, what then?
http://www2.westminster-mo.edu/wc_users/homepages/staff/brownr/closedcollegeindex.htm
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-04-14/small-u-s-colleges-battle-death-spiral-as-enrollment-drops
http://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2013/04/13/are-small-private-colleges-trouble/ndlYSWVGFAUjYVVWkqnjfK/story.html
Admittedly, I didn’t read each post, this topic reminded me of Arnold’s embarrassing hire a few years ago: http://articles.latimes.com/2004/apr/06/local/me-dmv6
83, a former boss had gone to a school that had closed. It was a 'for profit' law school from the 40;s or 50's (legit, though), and it caused a big problem for him when he tried to waive into the state bar where we were located. He'd practiced in DC for many years, even appeared before the supreme court, had a federal bar admission, but this state wouldn't accept him because of the lack of transcripts from this school. He had to sue to be admitted and I think as punishment they made him take the ethics exam, but not the bar exam.
Once upon a time in Mexico, the new Secretary of Education, brilliant, impressive curriculum, impressive grades took the Oath in Congress. Graduated from Harvard, he said, impressive diploma, two months later, Harvard did a statement: the new secretary was never an alumni of our University. Therefore his diploma was fake.
^^^^^^^LOL Hillarious
I’ve run into several similar things in my work life. One was a man who INSISTED that we call him Dr. XXXXX and insisted that his business cards read “XXX, Ph.D.” Yes he DID have a Ph.D., but from a school which gave you credit for “life experiences.” He was of limited value before he left and now I’ve always mistrusted people who insist on being addressed as Doctor.
But another, a woman, had an undergraduate degree in Economics and an MBA. She was phenomenally good. I wish we had had more like her. But when I checked out the degrees, one was from a tiny (I mean TINY) Christian college which offered only Divinity degrees and her MBA was from a small, for-profit school whose building was squeezed between a bar and a gas station! But she was great!
Did her bachelor’s degree school used to offer economics majors?
It is entirely possible for someone to have a degree in a major previously but no longer offered by the school. But, as long as the school still exists, the degree should be verifiable.
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, there have been multiple instances where local politicians try to con voters by saying they went to Stanford or Berkeley. Then it turns out they only went for a year or two, and never graduated.
I’ve heard about some universities in China and Malaysia that “Sells” college diplomas.
I currently work in East Africa, and we hire roughly 50 people a year. It is standard practice for applicants to bring in laminated copies of all of their transcripts and diplomas. Roughly three years ago we had an applicant for the position of marketing director provide color copies of a UPenn undergraduate degree and a Harvard MBA. Interestingly, he had taken actual diplomas (I have seen original UPenn diplomas and am very familiar with the HBS diploma) and photoshopped in his name and the degree. What made it clear they were fake was that the degrees he provided himself are typical in this part of the world but do not exist in America. His cover letter and resume were also not written to the standard that would be expected from those capable of graduating from these institutions.
Interesting - what were those non- (US) existent degrees?
It seems more prevalent for someone to lie about where their undergraduate degree is from when they have a PhD, because they don’t expect anyone to check. I don’t know anyone who has their diploma on the wall of their office, to be honest, so many people have cubicles and not offices with a door that there would be worries about getting it stolen.
Talking about funny majors, I know someone who is a VP at a big pharma company and she went to Yale. Yale School of Forestry that is (acceptance rate around 30%).
I’ve never even been asked for an official transcript. I’ve been asked for a transcript, and what I’ve done is gone online, copied and pasted into word, and printed it out. I’ve never lied about any of my grades or anything but I easily could have.
Well, if they simply said that they went there, it’s not a lie.
Employers are frequently fooled because they’re too lazy, cheap, or clueless to verify an applicant’s credentials. Says as much about them as it does about the person trying to exaggerate their experience or education.
That was the excuse politicians tried to use when the issue was brought up, but everyone recognized the politicians were trying to mislead people.
There’s nothing misleading about saying you attended a school you attended. Be specific and cite the years attended.
Saying you graduated or earned a degree when you did not is lying.
And failing to correct others when they incorrectly assume you’re a graduate is a fatal mistake for someone with political aspirations.
Interesting thread.
I have been asked to supply both a copy of my transcript and a copy of my diploma for two different jobs–both are very large corporations. The first time was in the 90’s and then most recently a few years ago.
At both corporations it is common practice to display your framed diploma on your office wall. I’m not sure why–it just seems to be part of the corporate culture with these two companies.
I’m not sure if any of the diplomas displayed were fake, but I will have to start looking more closely.