EOTO - Reaction 2

For anyone who is currently enrolled in an online course or thinking about starting a similar academic program, the content of Christy Kinnion's Each One Teach One project can be both alarming and eye-opening. I was quite shocked, after reading Christy's essay, to learn how prevalent fraudulent institutions can be. With the emergence of these types of accredited online academic programs, which are both convenient and user-friendly, it was only a matter of time before someone else would figured out a way to disguise a "degree mill" program and make money off of it. But at whose expense? Those who enroll in a program hoping to genuinely receive a degree or employers who hire an individual because of an impressive resume filled with deceit?

In an age of digital technology, where identity fraud and fake businesses keep people wary of potential criminals, it's a shame that we must also be wary of people who knowingly take part in these types of scams. If a person were to do some quick research by typing key words into a search engine, he/she would easily find links for purchasing term papers, fake identification cards and yes, fake degrees. There have been a few reports in the news during the past year about high-power executives being fired for falsely claiming to have a certain type of degree.