USA – A news article brought to light recently uncovered frauds in education. It stated that teachers are currently under scrutiny for possible fraud. There is increasing concern that a growing group of teachers is essentially “buying” degrees. These degrees are usually bought over the Internet, from fake institutions, which pose as bona fide universities. These teachers are buying degrees because the greater their qualifications, the higher the salaries they can expect.

    Highlighting this problem is a case in Georgia. The state recently audited the educational claims of the 130,000 teachers in its state school system and discovered that 11 had earned salary increases on the basis of degrees obtained at Saint Regis University. The name sounded good at first, until investigators determined that Saint Regis is a diploma-mill that issues impressive-looking certificates in return for little or no course work. Questions were asked when inspectors discovered the university was in the West African nation of Liberia. The teachers have maintained that they earned their degrees from Saint Regis in good faith, although six have resigned.

    Similar cases are starting to surface in other states. Authorities in Oregon recently uncovered three teachers who had boasted advanced master's degrees from the University of La Salle in Louisiana. They got away with it, because there is a La Salle University on a list of institutions accredited to give such degrees. However, that La Salle is in Pennsylvania, not Louisiana.

    The article added that a new initiative from the White House, called "Leave No Child Behind," might be partly responsible for driving teachers towards such fraud. The "Leave No Child Behind" initiative will require teachers to demonstrate advanced educational credentials in the subjects they specialize in. It comes into effect in 2006, leaving some teachers scrambling to comply.

    Few states have laws that can punish teachers for lying about credentials.