While some people benefit from Web sites that offer high school and college degrees through the Internet for little or no work, other people — including one University professor — are concerned that degrees provided by unaccredited institutions are making job applicants appear more qualified than they really are.

George Gollin, a University physics professor, said online degrees were first brought to his attention in the form of pop-up Internet windows.

He said it was particularly annoying because the advertisements appeared two or three times a day and were difficult to ignore. Gollin called to complain, but ultimately just left a message.

Upon receiving a response, Gollin learned that he could buy a diploma for a second doctorate degree from this company for a couple thousand dollars. They would also provide letters of recommendation and a transcript.

Gollin was concerned by this and decided to research Parkwood University and other unaccredited universities.

Every legitimate learning institution in the United States is approved by an independent agency called the Counsel of Higher Education Accreditation, Gollin said. The process of accreditation is lengthy, and must be repeated every five years.

Most of the organizations that sell diplomas through Web sites are unaccredited, he discovered.

Gollin said one organization adds a disclaimer to its Web site that says: "I further understand that The University offers no classes, no curriculum, no lectures, no staff or faculty, no literature, learning materials, testing, or thesis or dissertation review."

"Some of these organizations are called diploma mills," Gollin said. "A diploma mill is an organization which will give what looks like an academic degree with little or no work involved."

At one such diploma mill, Gollin was asked to complete a 100-question exam in order to receive his degree.

"The first question was: 'What is the name of the house that the president lives in?'" Gollin said.

He purposely answered wrong to more than 75 percent of the questions. This score was high enough for him to receive an associate of arts degree with a 2.8 grade point average if he sent the organization $1,000.

Gollin compiled over 100 pages of his research on his Web site, which was taken down after a man who ran one of the diploma mills began sending e-mails complaining about the site in early August.

Other organizations sent e-mails to the physics department head and administrators at the University, Gollin said.

He said the e-mails were very angry and the people who sent them were threatening to sue him.

"I asked to meet with administrators, lawyers and my department head to sort out the legal issues," he said.

"We had a meeting to respond to questions that he raised and decide how to safely portray his information," said Robin Kaler, University spokeswoman.

"Some of his allegations and statements could have been considered personal attacks," Kaler said. "We agreed that a better place for his Web site would be at an accrediting agency."

Gollin said he contacted the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization to find a home for his research.

"They agreed to review it, copyright it and make it their own," Gollin said.

Alan Contreras, administrator of the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization, said the research was "really excellent work."

"From our point of view this research is a consumer protection action," Contreras said.

He said the main issue the state of Oregon is concerned with is whether a person is using a degree that they bought from a diploma mill.

"You wouldn't want to bring your children to see a doctor that got his job with an unaccredited diploma," Contreras said.

These organizations have become a major issue because of the internet, he said. Oregon has made it a misdemeanor to sell or use a fake diploma.

"In North Dakota, selling an unaccredited diploma is a felony," Contreras said, "but, as far as I know, there is no law against it in Illinois."

Gollin's research and information will soon be available at http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda, in the unaccredited universities section, Contreras said.

"I feel that I've come out of this well; I feel safer," Gollin said. "What I wanted to accomplish is to have information on these unaccredited schools available on the Internet."