Some students in Rock and Green counties who are struggling to complete the GED program have succumbed to buying fake high school diplomas, an administrator said.
diploma fraud
Some have paid as much as $1,300 to secure a fake diploma so they don’t have to start taking the tests over again when a new program is introduced next year, according to Blackhawk Technical College’s Testing Coordinator Terese Tann. Ordinarily it costs a student $75 to sit the General Educational Development tests.
Tann told the Janesville Gazette for a Monday story that she has been presented with about 10 fake diplomas by students trying to enroll at the college in the past seven years. Tann said she has helped some of them recover the money they paid for the fake qualifications, but that the scam companies can be hard to track down as they frequently change phone numbers and often are based overseas.
“I call and threaten the people to give them their money back. I’ve been successful with that,” she said.
Starting next year, GED tests will be computer-based and will require two essays in line with high school standards. Performance will be rated whereas currently the test-takers just get a pass or fail grade.
More than 1,100 adults have started but not completed the GED tests in Rock and Green counties and if they wait until next year to do so they will have to adhere to the new standards, Tann said.
