教育译评：美议员提新法案打击野鸡大学

新的国会法案将使文凭工厂（野鸡大学）获得联邦政府关注

作者：托马斯 巴特利特于华盛顿

人们买假大学文凭，并使用他们找到工作，在某些情况下，用来获取签证。有些州已经解决这个问题，但是，大多数情况下，联邦政府还没有解决的问题。

众议员蒂莫.碧斯郝多年来一直试图改变这种状况。今天，纽约州民主党宣布，他介绍了该文凭及评审完整性保护法案（HR4535），这项法案将确定文凭工厂和认证工厂（野鸡大学和野鸡认证联盟）。它也将指示联邦贸易委员会对适合相关定义的实体采取行动，并向教育部报告其调查结果。条例草案有两个共同提案人：明尼苏达州的民主党议员麦科勒姆，和特拉华州的共和党议员迈克尔N.卡斯特。

代表碧斯郝自2005年以来一直在推动这样一项法案。当时一个政府问责局的调查发现有超过400名联邦雇员持有未经授权的大学学位。之前高等教育法重新审议中版本中层包含有碧斯郝先生的法案的类似语句，但该条款后来被删除。代表碧斯郝说，他不知道为什么会有人反对打击文凭工厂。（George注：这还不简单，那些方鸿渐母校的联合体请了游说团体呗。）

那么，为什么碧斯郝先生对文凭工厂的问题这么感兴趣呢？在某种程度上，他说，源于他在学术界的背景- 他是长岛南安普敦大学前教务长- “我知道人们如何努力工作以获得他们的文凭”他说。

宣布该法案的记者会是在高等教育评审委员会举行年度会议之时进行的。此外，伊利诺伊大学香槟分校的物理学教授乔治科林也参与了此次发布会。他一直以来都在进行发起揭露和关闭文凭工厂的行动。科林先生估计，每年约20万假文凭被发出，但他也指出，要想准确地估计假文凭的数量是困难。

发布该法案的一份新闻公报说该法案将“打击文凭工厂”。虽然它不可能杜绝这种广泛存在的，利润丰厚的无耻行为，但是会给这一以前经常被忽视的问题带来更多的关注。 “我认为这可能是非常有益的”科林说 “我们需要这方面立法。”

在完成其本周在众议院的初步介绍之后，该法案将被提交到的四个不同的委员会审议。

（George注：审议还不知道会不会通过，打击野鸡大学的同侪们不能高兴太早）

如下是英文原文：

New Bill in Congress Would Make Diploma Mills a Federal Concern
By Thomas Bartlett
Washington
People buy fake college degrees and use them to get jobs and, in some cases, visas. It’s a problem that some states have tackled but that, for the most part, the federal government hasn’t addressed.
Rep. Timothy H. Bishop has been trying for years to change that. Today the New York Democrat announced that he had introduced the Diploma and Accreditation Integrity Protection Act (HR 4535), a bill that would define diploma mills and accreditation mills. It also would instruct the Federal Trade Commission to take action against entities that fit those definitions and to report its findings to the Department of Education. The bill has two co-sponsors: Betty McCollum, a Democrat of Minnesota, and Michael N. Castle, a Republican of Delaware.
Representative Bishop has been pushing for such a bill since 2005. That’s when a Government Accountability Office investigation found that more than 400 federal employees held degrees from unaccredited colleges. At one point, legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act contained language similar to that found in Mr. Bishop’s bill, but that provision was later stripped out. Representative Bishop said he had no idea why anyone would object to cracking down on diploma mills.
So why is Mr. Bishop interested in the issue? In part, he said, it stems from his background in academe — he is a former provost of Southampton College of Long Island University. “I know how hard people work to earn their credentials,” he said.
The news conference at which the bill was announced was held during the Council for Higher Education Accreditation’s annual conference. Also in attendance was George Gollin, a professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who has been on a crusade to expose and shut down diploma mills. Mr. Gollin estimated that some 200,000 bogus degrees are issued every year, though he noted that coming up with accurate numbers is difficult.
The news release for the bill said it would “stop diploma mills.” While it’s unlikely to stamp out such a widespread, lucrative, and pernicious practice, it would bring more attention to the often-ignored problem. “I think it might be very helpful,” said Mr. Gollin. “We need this legislation.”
As a first step after the legislation’s introduction this week in the House, it was referred to four separate committees for consideration.