SB 104-15: Diploma Mill Ban Act (Passed)

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AN ACT
To federally outlaw diploma mills


Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia assembled

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the Diploma Mill Ban Act.

Section 2. Freedom of information for students

All individuals must have access to any and all information about the accreditation of any college, university, or institute of higher learning.

Section 3. Ban on misrepresentation of diploma authenticity or value

A person or group who is guilty of the following shall be guilty of fraud: "Any individual or group which distributes diplomas, and are not accredited or in the process of accreditation, without the student knowing that the diploma comes from a university that is not accredited or recognized as an institution of higher learning."

Sponsor: Scott

The gentleman from Wyoming is recognized.

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Should be pretty straightforward and noncontroversial; essentially this is another "consumer's right to know" bill and ban on company misrepresentation, inspired by my experience looking into a certain online college that looked faker than all hell. Students, especially those who are young and looking into college for the first time, can easily be taken in by scam universities or universities that do not have or are not in the process of seeking accreditation.

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AGA's amendment is friendly. Senators have 24 hours to object.

I support this bill so far. How can we make it easier for students to understand the risks of diploma mills in the language of this bill?

I think this bill and AGA's amendment in particular greatly lessens the chances of students getting swindled. I would also expect student counselors and advisers to help high schoolers with the vetting process.

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Hearing no objection, AGA's amendment is adopted.

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Not to run roughshod over any concerns expressed subsequent to introduction, speaking on the underlying matter, my experience over the past three months and the ultimate end result (which while not as ambitious as I would have hoped still amounts to progress) has led me to the conclusion that there needs to be aggressive policy to reign in the fraud, abuse, grift and outright scamming that is occurring in higher education, driving up the cost and bankrupting our economy from the bottom up.

This in turn has knock on effects towards ability to buy homes, start businesses, save and invest. It also leads to higher costs for most any professional service as they have to in turn charge more as well.

The worst offenders are by far the pro-profit private institutions and while not all of them necessarily meet the classical definition of a "diploma mill", their sheer cost and sheer worthlessness of the product offered would have to make anyone capable of independent analysis desire criminal prosecutions to ensue.

Are you speaking of for-profit private education institutions in general? If not, do you believe the current language needs to be strengthened? The value of any degree needs to be made very clear from the beginning, before the student commits or uses any special aid or scholarships.

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Any other thoughts on the matters stated in my last post here?

I can't exactly think of a way to enforce accountability standards for colleges. Graduation rates, at least, are pretty easy to find, but a low graduation rate doesn't necessarily mean the college is bad. Generally, colleges that are more exclusive and selective have higher graduation rates, which might say more about the students than the quality of the school.

I would prefer that problem be addressed in a separate bill, but Ashfat Bridal-esque schools like the one I almost applied to should be less of a problem as long as everyone's being transparent about accreditation.

Would it be wrong to suppose that those in charge of determining accreditation already have accountability standards?

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So I think the problem that Yankee raised is better addressed in subsequent legislation. I honestly don't have a solution in mind, and the students will need to research and decide which degrees are better at paying for themselves than others, given the field they want to enter.

There hasn't been any debate in over a week, so I'm opening a final vote in 24 hours barring objections.

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Senators, a final vote is now open. Please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

AN ACT
To federally outlaw diploma mills


Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia assembled

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the Diploma Mill Ban Act.

Section 2. Freedom of information for students

All individuals must have access to any and all information about the accreditation of any college, university, or institute of higher learning.

Section 3. Ban on misrepresentation of diploma authenticity or value

A person or group who is guilty of the following shall be guilty of fraud: "Any individual or group which distributes diplomas, and is not accredited or in the process of accreditation, without having made a good-faith effort to inform its students that the diplomas do not come from an accredited higher learning institution."

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Aye

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This bill has enough votes to pass. Senators have 24 hours to change their vote.

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Vote on Final Senate Passage of the Diploma Mill Ban Act:

Aye (15): Scott, KoopaDaQuick, MB, Spark, FalterinArc, DeadPrez, AGA, DTC, Kuumo, Pericles, Weatherboy, OBD, Jimmy7812, Joseph Cao, wxtransit
Nay (0):
Abstain (0):

Didn't Vote (3): Ishan, North Carolina Yankee, Talleyrand

The bill has passed the Senate and is sent to the President for executive action.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

AN ACT
To federally outlaw diploma mills


Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia assembled

Section 1. Title

This legislation may be cited as the Diploma Mill Ban Act.

Section 2. Freedom of information for students

All individuals must have access to any and all information about the accreditation of any college, university, or institute of higher learning.

Section 3. Ban on misrepresentation of diploma authenticity or value

A person or group who is guilty of the following shall be guilty of fraud: "Any individual or group which distributes diplomas, and is not accredited or in the process of accreditation, without having made a good-faith effort to inform its students that the diplomas do not come from an accredited higher learning institution."

Senate of the Republic of Atlasia
Passed 15-0-0-3 in the Atlasian Senate assembled,

Scott, President pro tempore