7,600 Fake Nursing Diplomas and Transcripts Were Sold by Florida Schools
Plus, contract cheating article from ENAI. Plus, upcoming webinars on integrity.
Issue 185
To join the 2,883 smart people who subscribe to “The Cheat Sheet,” enter your e-mail address below:
If you enjoy “The Cheat Sheet,” please consider joining the 11 amazing people who are chipping in a few bucks a month via Patreon. And to those who are, thank you!
“A Massive, Coordinated Scheme to Sell False and Fraudulent Nursing Degree Credentials”
ABC News reported this past week that United States authorities busted an academic fraud scheme and network that reportedly sold 7,600 fake nursing certificates, diplomas and transcripts worth more than $100 million.
According to the reporting, the fraud:
involved peddling more than $100 million worth of bogus nursing diplomas and transcripts over the course of several years -- fake credentials that were sold to help "thousands of people" take "shortcuts" toward becoming licensed, practicing nurses.
Officials said the forged diplomas and transcripts were sold from what had been accredited schools to aspiring nurses, in order to help candidates bypass the qualifying requirements necessary to sit for the national nursing board exam. Although they still had to take the exam, the bogus credentials allowed them to skip vital steps of the competency and licensure process, officials said -- and once licensed, those individuals were able to find a job in the health care field.
The nursing programs accused of selling the fraudulent documentations were based in - where else? - Florida. Twenty-five people have been criminally charged. Nursing “students” who bought the fake credentials paid up to $15,000 each, the reporting said.
According to the U.S. Attorney, the schools involved were:
Siena College in Broward County, Fla., Palm Beach School of Nursing in Palm Beach County, Fla., and Sacred Heart International Institute in Broward County.
All three were proprietary, for-profit schools. I say “were” because the reporting says the schools have closed. Although at least one, Siena College, still has an active website - with a big “enroll now” button. The site says the school:
is licensed by the Florida Board of Nursing and the Commission for Independent Education.
Wow. Bang up job.
Further, the press release from the United States Attorney describes Siena as:
a Broward County school licensed by the Florida Commission for Independent Education and the Florida Board of Nursing that offers a Practical Nursing Program and an RN to Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program
Licensed. That offers. Present tense. So, that’s not really clear.
Deeper in the reporting, it’s also alleged that at Sacred Heart International Institute, two people:
also completed online courses on behalf of the fake degree purchasers.
I must be the least surprised person on Earth.
A United States attorney was quoted as saying:
We "expect our health care professionals to be who they claim they are. Specifically when we talk about a nurse’s education, and credentials – shortcut is not a word we want to use."
True, and yet shortcuts are what we get every day in academic programs.
I guess it’s some modest consolation that authorities were alerted to the fraud due to low exam passage rates at some schools. I’m glad someone was paying attention. That’s not usually the case.
And it’s clear that some who obtained their certifications by fraud did pass their exams. An official said:
that is why, from the onset of the investigation, authorities have been working with state licensing boards to share as much information as they could, as fast as they could, so the respective boards "can assess what actions to take to prevent these individuals from rendering care."
Some, I am sure, had been rendering care - have been. Perhaps are. I mean, why pay the money to get fake credentials and take and pass a licensing exam if not to work in nursing or healthcare? And the fraud was going on, according to the reporting, for “several years.”
I wonder how long it’s going to take for state license boards to step in and revoke licenses or seek charges. Too long, is the answer.
Anyway, this is a major embarrassment for everyone involved. A major, dangerous embarrassment - all possible because greed and the desire for academic shortcuts make powerful allies in corruption.
Contract Cheating Won’t “Cool Down” Soon
Július Kravjar of European Network for Academic Integrity (ENAI) has a piece out recently on contract cheating.
It’s a good article in that it provides links to several quality sources of research and lays this out, early on:
The proportion of students who admit to using contract cheating (work written by a third party) in their academic studies is growing worldwide. Contract cheating was self-reported by an average of 3.52% of students in studies conducted between 1978 and 2013. The percentage of students admitting to contract cheating in the period 2014 to 2018 was 15.7% (Newton, 2018).
Yup. It was more than 15% before the pandemic. And that’s self-reported. And just “contract cheating.”
Also, for the record, I’m not that Newton. I left the link in, should you want to check.
Kravjar also provides a good overview of a new anti-cheating law in Slovakia.
Upcoming Academic Integrity Webinars
On Wednesday, February 1, EdWeek and Turnitin will host a web panel on the ethics of AI-powered writing. The summary says:
Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) writing tools like ChatGPT have generated a surge of interest and concern. Engage with a panel of classroom instructors and education technology experts to learn how you can set standards and expectations for your students around acceptable use of this evolving technology.
Registration and more details are here.
On Wednesday, February 8, Dr. Mary Davis of Oxford Brookes University in the UK will host a webinar. Here’s the description:
Academic conduct problems do not occur equally across all student groups. Certain groups of students tend to be over-represented in referrals for academic misconduct, for example international postgraduate students or students with a disability. Join this session to find out why this is happening and what institutions and educators can do to reduce over-representation and make academic integrity inclusive and accessible to all students.
Sign up is here.