Bogus Education Sites: As more and more bona fide third-level institutions set up websites, Anne Byrne checks out the not-so-genuine online colleges, who are ready to take your money and run
On the internet, it can often be difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. For example, there's the University of Wexford, which since its inception has "positioned itself as the Opportunity university" (www.universityofwexford.org).
Despite its name, it makes no claim to be Irish but, instead, purports to be part of the Swiss higher-education system. "We believe that the current diversity within the Swiss higher-education system is a strength and that the University of Wexford should be able to pursue excellence within the context of its distinctive mission and aspirations, which have evolved from its history, academic character, size and social structure."
Impressed? Click on to its research section, and you'll find a comprehensive list of academic disciplines, from A to Z. Look a little closer - there are no links to any further information on this impressive plethora of research departments.
As for its research staff, ah, that section is being updated. In fact, staff in any part of the university appear to be conspicuous only by their absence. There's an address: Zurich, Switzerland (no street name) and a telephone number and an e-mail address from a free service-provider.
Crossing the Atlantic (or maybe not), there's Breyer State University (www.breyerstate.com) with a more substantial web presence and a more upfront mission - "Through a comprehensive assessment based on work and life experience, adult learners may now apply to Breyer State University and receive an entire associates, bachelors, masters or doctoral degree based on life experience and all without setting foot on campus."
The fees for degree and certificate programmes via experiential learning and life experiences are $50 for procession and assessment, $895 for an associate's degree, $1,195 for a masters and $1,395 for a doctorate.
And the address of this university: a P.O. box in Kamiah, Idaho. Certificates include tarot reading and hazardous waste consulting while degrees range from anthropology to wellness education. But, those living in Idaho may not apply.
Most people who decide to apply to a university of this type know what they're doing. It's something for the CV, which could, just, fool an employer (particularly if you're looking for a job in a country other than the so-called university). However, if you're into conning employers, it would probably be easier and cheaper just to list degrees from recognised universities and hope the employer won't check.
Mind you, following a recent painful experience, it would be wiser to avoid trying it on at UCD, which has recently introduced strenuous vetting procedures.
If you opt for a fake university, and don't want a foreign "qualification", there are at least two "colleges" claiming to be located in Ireland. EL has had a close encounter with one of them.
After EL desk editor Harry Browne wrote a piece exposing Glencullen University (what a website - facilities galore, clubs, societies, graduation all located at a non-existent street in Dublin), he was contacted by New York's Transit Authority.
A long-time New York subway employee was seeking promotion on the basis of an engineering degree from Glencullen University. Could EL testify that Glencullen doesn't exist? Undeterred by unfavourable publicity, Glencullen, of "23 Waterloo Street, Dublin 4", continues to thrive (http://henryheston.com/glencullen/).
Meanwhile, Shelbourne University is "a fully recognised distance-learning institution able to provide courses and award degrees in a wide range of disciplines. Shelbourne graduates include a talented cross-section of busy individuals willing to make the necessary commitment of time in order to advance in their chosen fields."
The web address is remarkably similar to Glencullen (http://henryheston.com/ shelbourne/). So, EL decided to try www.henryheston.com, where some familiar rhetoric awaited. It seems Harrington University, in London, England, is also "a fully recognised distance-learning institution able to provide courses and award degrees in a wide range of disciplines". If Henry Heston exists, he must be a rich man.
Real universities all have websites and many offer courses via the internet. There are even bona fide virtual universities. The prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology is planning to make the materials from almost all of its courses freely available on the web for non-commercial use. This new initiative, called MIT OpenCourseWare, is still in at the pilot stage. MIT will not award credit or grant degrees though MIT Open Course Ware.
Clyde Virtual University boasts that it is Europe's first virtual university. It is the main forum for online university activities in the west of Scotland. CVU is open to anyone registered at a higher-education institution in the Glasgow area of Scotland. No qualifications are offered by CVU itself. It is an online resource centre and any associated qualifications are offered by the individual institutions involved.
Bewildered? It can be difficult to tell the difference between the website of a real university such as Harvard (www.harvard.edu), which sells Harvard gift items, and that of a bogus college such as Glencullen (which is thought to be using photographs from a real English university), which sells "qualifications".
Don't worry. For most of us, the ability of clever web designers to create convincing virtual colleges is just another amazing, amusing manifestation of a medium where anything goes. Of course, if you have paid out serious money for these qualifications, or you're an employer, then it's a more serious matter.
