Degree Revoke

[chasey11442]

Hi all,

I have been wondering recently what the law is exactly on revoking degrees. Can a college, legally withdraw someone's degree after granting it because they student no longer follows the universities honor code? I've read that some colleges can legally revoke a degree because the student is not being professional but I asked my cousin who is a lawyer and he told me that one it is granted they cannot revoke it regardless if they are public or private unless they plagiarized or didn't pay all of the fees. Does anyone have a clear, concise answer one this? Please no "depends"

[bjcheung77]

But of course, they can! See these people and their bright ideas...
I mean, some people with brains are kinda scary. See below for link...
Website link is from 2012 - https://www.usnews.com/education/best-gl...re-revoked

[RANSOMSOUL]

#2 on that list, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, was a pretty big scandal in Germany. What's impressive, now he is going through a serious comeback story with his run to be the next German Chancellor.

If you hang around long enough, most things are forgiven or forgotten.

[bluebooger]

But of course, they can!  See these people and their bright ideas...
I mean, some people with brains are kinda scary.  See below for link...
Website link is from 2012 - https://www.usnews.com/education/best-gl...re-revoked

yeah, but many of those were honorary degrees so I don't think they really count 
and the ones with actual degrees were revoked because the students obtained them by cheating and plagiarism 
the only one that really fits the OP's question about "not following a code of conduct after graduating" is the veterinarian one

[sanantone]

Degrees can also be revoked if you lied on your application.

[clep3705]

Here is a case where the person's degree was revoked for falsifying an application. http://www.stanforddaily.com/2014/03/05/...e-revoked/ But what if the person is dead? Maybe it won't be revoked. After all, a dead person can't defend himself. http://articles.latimes.com/1991-10-11/n...university

[chasey11442]

Let me rephrase the question, what law/ act allows colleges to do this? Again, my cousin is a lawyer and told me in our state, Illinois degrres cannot be revoked unless there is a SERIOUS reason such as plagiarism. Being unprofessional, is not a valid reason. In other words, by law (unless he is mistaken) one can do anything and everything with that credentials and it can't be "legally" pulled. So, instead of brining up those who have had their degrees pulled please state the law that allows them to do so which is what I am asking.

[sanantone]

Let me rephrase the question, what law/ act allows colleges to do this? Again, my cousin is a lawyer and told me in our state, Illinois degrres cannot be revoked unless there is a SERIOUS reason such as plagiarism. Being unprofessional, is not a valid reason. In other words, by law (unless he is mistaken) one can do anything and everything with that credentials and it can't be "legally" pulled. So, instead of brining up those who have had their degrees pulled please state the law that allows them to do so which is what I am asking.

Maybe you should have asked your cousin to show you the law that doesn't allow them to revoke degrees. If there is no law, then this is a civil issue. Higher education institutions in the U.S. aren't heavily regulated by the government in comparison to other countries.

[dfrecore]

You would probably also need to know specifically the state the school is in, since every state is allowed to make their own laws.

[dcan]

This is an interesting topic. Presumably it comes down to academic fraud. Otherwise you would have situations where a school would revoke a politician's degree because they disagree with the politician's stance on this or that topic, and that wouldn't be acceptable.

For a possibly interesting anecdote, I've worked with a military college (CCAF) and they certainly do revoke degrees for cause (though it is rare). A friend of mine was told his degree would be revoked because they suspected an issue with his transfer credit, but it was sorted out and they let him keep it. They also suspend students (equivalent of expulsion) for academic fraud. Because their degree is a requirement for promotion there is a lot of pressure on some to skirt the process. There have been students who look up transcript images on Google and then use Photoshop to doctor a fake transcript in their name and submit it. However, the registrar's office at the school is very familiar with the transcripts they receive so these are always caught (protip: you need the right watermarks on the right thermal paper, good luck with that) and the ramifications can be severe. Not only are they suspended, but their chain of command is notified to take disciplinary action, and as they may have falsified federal documents in the process (depending on what they sthe OSI may be involved as well. So if you are considering falsifying a transcript while in the military, please don't, it will not work out well for you at all. 

I did happen to overhear from the registrars at another school (which shall go unnamed to avoid embarrassment) that they had an issue with a doctor on faculty who was found to have completely falsified his entire residency. They had to scramble to clean up from the fallout, since it called into question the academic integrity of the school itself and by extension all of the courses they had taught during that period. Needless to say he was removed immediately and his credentials revoked. 

There was also an issue about ten years ago where the dean of admissions at MIT was found to have faked her undergrad degree and had her subsequent degrees revoked. So the issue really is, commit academic fraud = revoked degree.