Getting Advanced DegreesOnline
Feb. 23 -- A college degree takes most people years of hard work and it can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Good Morning America's consumer correspondent, Greg Hunter, found there is an easier route online, and thousands of Americans are taking it.
While many online schools are legitimate, one expert estimates there are hundreds of fakes operating in cyberspace.
During our investigation, Hunter found there are thousands of people looking for work using degrees from diploma mills on their resumes.
"You have basically a bogus doctorate and a dual doctorate and 3.9 GPA, what did you do for a 3.9 GPA?" Hunter asked one graduate of a "diploma mill."
He is just one of many who got degrees from a diploma mill shut down by the FBI. He's one of the thousands Good Morning America found who are listing fake degrees on their resumes.
"It's an epidemic … it's a worldwide epidemic. It's the fake doctors, it's the fake engineers, it's the fake teachers, it's the fake ministers. They're everywhere," said John Bear, an expert on diploma mills.
'Mail Drop U'
Bear has been writing books about diploma mills for 25 years. He is also an expert witness for the FBI, helping it prosecute fraudulent schools.
One of the biggest diploma mills was Columbia State University. The brochure for the school showed an impressive-looking campus. But the building was really a mansion in New York City. Columbia State was just a mail drop in Metairie, La.
"It was totally fake — send in your $2,000 to $3,000 — negotiable — you get your Ph.D. in the mail within a week — anything you want," said Bear.
From a warehouse in California, thousands of Columbia State diplomas were shipped out. The buyers included people in the highest-level jobs.The FBI found two staffers from the Clinton White House had purchased Columbia State degrees, Hunter learned.
Ronald Pellar was the mastermind behind Columbia State. In 1998, Pellar tried to explain to ABCNEWS' Brian Ross how it's possible to get a Ph.D so quickly.
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