When Professors Print Their Own Diplomas, Who Needs Universities?

By Jeffrey R. Young, Chronicle of Higher Education

9/25/08

Who needs college credit when you have a makeshift diploma from a superstar professor?

David Wiley taught an online course at Utah State University last fall and let anyone fully participate, even if they weren’t enrolled. In the end, five people the registrar had never heard of joined discussions with the 15 or so regular students and got papers graded by Mr. Wiley, who considered the extra work a public service.