Proud alum of MCU?

There are actually quite a few colleges and universities in central Massachusetts.

In my home town of Worcester alone there's Holy Cross, Clark, Worcester Tech, Worcester State, Quinsigamond, and Mass College of Pharmacy. Just outside of town, there's Anna Maria. A little further outside of town, there's Nichols College. Fitchburg State. Mount Wachusett CC.

I'm sure I'm missing a school or two, but one of the schools I'm missing isn't Massachusetts Central University. Because you can't miss what doesn't exist to begin with.

MCU's non-existence, however, hadn't been keeping the "school" from selling credentials, mainly to foreign "students" who were looking to buff up their resumes with a "degree" from an American "university."

A few weeks back, the MCU's site was was up and running, touting itself as "a prominent distance learning university offering accredited degree programs for students and working professionals."

Then came an article in the Boston Globe exposing this ridiculous diploma mill, and the site disappeared. I did take a look before it got 404'd, and it looked plenty legit. As the Globe wrote:

The professional-looking website has all the hallmarks of a real college. It promises an “outstanding educational experience” that will prepare students for “dynamic careers,” with 95 percent placement rates. The website features a career services page, stock images of fictional faculty members, and says it is accredited by nonexistent entities. 

The site also included glowing testimonials from fake "grads." Fake course offerings. And a list of fake faculty members that, coincidentally, was the same as the list of fake faculty members at another fake uni - Houston University of Sciences and Technology - which still has an intact website. 

Fake faculty like Denver D'Souza. (Any relation to Dinesh D'Souza?) Laura Hubble. Kyra Simon. 

Naturally, kicking myself for not having grabbed the MCU brochure when I had a chance, I downloaded the HUST brochure, which included these words of praise:

Earning my MBA degree from Houston University of Science and Technology was one of the best decisions of my life. The online learning experience has been incredible and the online learning platform of HUST is perfect. Every professor has contributed to my education. Not only I have learned valuable skills in my field, but I have enhanced my career skills. I am very pleased with my experience and I would thank Houston University of Science and Technology for enhancing my career prospects.

This testimonial was anonymous, which strikes me as pretty damned lazy on the part of HUST marketing. They couldn't even come up with a fake name for a fake grad?

The State of Texas can do whatever it wants to do with HUST, but in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, our AG is taking a look. Of course, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts had already filed a cease and desist, and had them take down their website in 2021, only to have it reappear. Guess it's time to change "Massachusetts" to another "M" state. I vote for "Missouri."

Anyway, these outfits are bad news.

When it comes to getting a "degree" from a diploma mill, it's pretty clear that if a student doesn't have to actually take any courses - because there are none - to "earn" that degree, and they go ahead and buy the fake credential anyway, well, shame on them. But these schools can still con honest students - they "tend to target first generation and veteran students" - into applying. The diploma mill pockets the registration fees before the students realize that there's no there there. 

As for those who go ahead and buy the diploma: it's not worth the paper it's written on, and I hope someone catches you out when you put it on your resume.