Operation Dipscam was a series of separate investigationsAction Urged on Diploma Mills
27 September 2004, American Council on Education conducted by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

(FBI), the

General Accountability Office The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...

, the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and other United States agencies from 1980 to 1991. It led to more than 20 convictions and the closing of 39

diploma mills A diploma mill (also known as a degree mill) is a company or organization that claims to be a higher education institution but provides illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee. The degrees can be fabricated (made-up), falsified (fake ...

. Dipscam began from an initial 1980 investigation by the Charlotte Field Office of the FBI into Southeastern University of Greenville, SC and evolved into multiple investigations of diploma mills throughout the United States and abroad. During Dipscam, 40 diplomas with transcripts were purchased, 16 federal search warrants were executed, 19 Federal grand jury indictments were returned, 40 schools were dismantled, and over 20 convictions were obtained. The FBI identified over 12,500 "graduates" of these institutions from school records, including federal, state, and county employees. Seized school records indicated that many "graduates" were employed in business, education, law enforcement, and medicine. Some investigations were one-person operations, while others had numerous employees. For several investigations, the FBI joined forces with the

U.S. Postal Inspection Service The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), or the Postal Inspectors, is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. It supports and protects the U.S. Postal Service, its employees, infrastructure, and customers by enfor ...

and the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

to handle postal and tax-related aspects of the case. Information from each investigation was shared with appropriate federal authorities and was the subject of several

Congressional hearings A United States congressional hearing is the principal formal method by which United States congressional committees collect and analyze information in the early stages of legislative policymaking. Whether confirmation hearings (a procedure unique ...

. For the hearing by the Subcommittee on Housing and Consumer Interests of the Select Committee on Aging,Senator Claude Pepper, 12/11/1985, "Fraudulent Credentials" a prior Dipscam defendant was brought to testify from federal prison by the U.S. Marshals. The witness had earned over $2,000,000 in gross income while operating Southwestern University, Tucson, Arizona, and Columbus, Ohio. Before these hearings, committee investigators purchased a Ph.D. diploma from a California school on behalf of Senator Claude Pepper, who then jokingly called himself "Dr. Pepper," apparently referring to the beverage of the same name. Both the House and Senate Committees on Government Affairs,Senator Susan Collins, Congressman Tom Davis, 5/11-12/04, "Bogus Degrees and Unmet Expectations: Are Taxpayer Dollars Subsidizing Diploma Mills?" as well as the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness of the Committee on Education and the Workforce,Congressman Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, 9/23/04, "Are Current Safeguards Protecting Taxpayers Against Diploma Mills?" later held other hearings on the subject. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigated several schools for the Committees on Government Affairs, even purchasing several diplomas from Lexington University for Senator Susan Collins. In at least one instance, a committee investigator registered as a student at one of these schools; several of her recorded telephone conversations were played during these hearings.

References

{{Reflist

See also

References

Further reading