Degree Mills and the role they play in global terrorism
Degree Mill is only profit organization offering its customers a degree without any academic knowledge
. It is not recognized by any of the official education accreditation bodies thus resulting in lack of authenticity. Degree Mills and its consumers are both equally harmful to the society, one for selling the degree to a non knowledgeable person and other purchasing it in order to practice a profession. For a profession like a doctor or engineer the degree acts hazardous to the society. But when a person uses this degree as his road towards terrorism it is yet more hazardous.
According to the U.S reports the 9/11 fallouts used these degrees to acquire the aviation training with a very little or no problem to enter US. The Rochville University was exposed by the CNN network in their report in late 2005; the university provided a master's degree in chemistry to a student named Abu Salsabil Hassan Omar who turned out to a terrorist of the militant Al Qaeda terror group, it on the contrary helped him out to sustain in U.S. While checking the limits of the Degree Mills a secret agent sent application to James Manroe University (which no longer exists) as Syrian person who couldn't sustain himself in Syrian army but is experienced chemical weapon specialist and requires a degree to fulfill his credentials and stay back in U.S. $1200 was the only demand by the university, no questions were asked nor did they demand any documented proof.
Rochville University advertises itself as accredited by Board of Online Universities Accreditation and World Online Education Accreditation Commission which are not recognized in the U.S. The university has no physical location and operates only on internet without any traces to follow.
It is very easy for the consumers to acquire bogus degrees in order to gain access to high level jobs or further education. These degrees also help in safeguarding the driving license in some countries. Hamilton University, yet another degree mill have provided hundred of bogus degrees to the federal workers. The department of Homeland Security has one of its high level CIO exposed with her bogus degree. The state of Wyoming has put an end to the operations of Hamilton University.
Internet is the only operating medium through which these bogus degrees float from one part of the world to another. The masters of Chemistry degree for an amount of some dollars must have easily infiltrated Abu Salsabil Hassan Omar from UAE to US. The degree mills are only visible on Internet and thus making it harder to curb their operations.
Degree mills being only profit organization have not yet recognized the threat they are imposing on the society, they are also the part of. It is said that education is the key to success the terrorist are slowly realizing the power of a education, that can be used to enlighten the society is used as the most destructive weapon against the society but with the key element absent, the key element called knowledge'
Degree Mills and the role they play in global terrorism