Degrees for Sale: The scam killing education
Image: Elly/Pixabay
IN Sean O'Casey's scathing definition, universities have ignominiously become 'places where they polish pebbles and dim diamonds'.
Thomas Jefferson, one of history's most persuasive and poetic writers, left an enduring vision for higher education. His words, inscribed on the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC, remain resonant: 'If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilisation, it expects what never was and never will be.'
Jefferson's ideas were revolutionary, not just in curriculum or architectural design, but in his belief that universities should enshrine 'the illimitable freedom of the human mind… for here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.' He imagined institutions that extended beyond classrooms, embracing museums, galleries, and gardens open to the public.
Though his views carried the elitism of his era, Jefferson's core ideals — education as vital to democracy, universities as communities of inquiry — still challenge us today. As S Aronowitz argued in The Knowledge Factory, higher education should cultivate 'knowledge of the broadest possible kind,' making learning 'a way of life that is first pleasurable, then rigorously critical.' Universities, he insisted, must be places where 'teachers gladly teach and students gladly learn'.
Yet this vision is increasingly distant from reality. Economist Paul Heyne, in his lecture Researchers and Degree Purchasers, observed that most students now enrolled not to learn, but to 'purchase a degree'. Universities, he contended, have become transactional spaces: faculty prioritise research in exchange for minimal teaching demands, while students seek credentials, not knowledge.
Globally, Jefferson's ideals have suffered irreparable damage. The rise of degree mills, fake institutions selling counterfeit credentials, has corrupted the value of legitimate education. Alan Contreras and George Gollin, in The Real and the Fake Degree and Diploma Mills, exposed how thousands bought degrees from sham operations like St Regis 'University'.
These mills flood the market with fraudulent qualifications, undermining trust in genuine degrees. Worse, some accredited universities now 'launder' degrees through partnerships with disreputable foreign providers.
South Africa is not immune. A disturbing undercurrent flows through its higher education system: whispers of postgraduate degrees being 'bought', not earned. At one KwaZulu-Natal university, allegations suggest a shadow industry where ghostwriters — sometimes faculty — craft dissertations for students who merely pay. The University of Zululand's past scandals pale beside this sophisticated fraud, which operates under the veneer of legitimacy.
The consequences are dire. When knowledge production becomes commodified, universities cease to be centres of learning — they become credential mills. Public trust erodes, and the value of legitimate qualifications is hollowed out.
The crisis extends beyond academia. With PhD graduates outpacing academic job openings, many face unemployment while fraudulent degree-holders infiltrate institutions. Cláudia Sarrico, Portugal's Secretary of State for Higher Education, warns that doctoral education must adapt to societal needs — or risk irrelevance.
This is not mere institutional decay; it is a regression to an era where credentials are meaningless, and the cost of pretence is incalculable. Without urgent reform, we risk a future where diamonds remain dimmed—and pebbles pass as gold.
* Dr Vusi Shongwe works in the Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture in KwaZulu-Natal and writes in his personal capacity.
** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, IOL, or Independent Media. Get the real story on the go: Follow the Sunday Independent on WhatsApp.
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