Diploma mills help firefighters boost pay

The Sacramento Bee‘s Andrew McIntosh reports that “16 Sacramento city firefighters together pocketed $50,000 in extra pay after using bachelor’s degrees purchased from online diploma mills to obtain raises.” In the end, 28 firefighters, including eight captains, tried to obtain a five percent education incentive raise with questionable academic credentials. New York City penalized a group of firefighters for similar practices, but McIntosh says firefighters “were allowed to keep the extra money and no firefighter was disciplined” after local unions intervened.