Lawmaker Exposes Diploma Mill : He Receives ‘Ph.D.,’ but Don’t Call Him Dr. Pepper

Rep. Claude Pepper’s colleagues can call him “Dr. Pepper,” but it would be wrong.

To dramatize the flourishing diploma mill racket, the 85-year-old Florida Democrat disclosed today that he received a phony Ph.D. in psychology from a non-existent Los Angeles university last week, in exchange for four short book reports and payment of $1,810.

At a hearing by the House Select Committee on Aging, Pepper announced what he called the “truly disturbing” results of an investigation into a booming industry in bogus academic degrees, medical licenses, job resumes and other professional papers.

To dramatize how easily an academic degree can be purchased, Pepper’s subcommittee staff, working with Postal Service inspectors, obtained a mail-order Ph.D. in psychology from Union University in Los Angeles for “C. D. Pepper” of Burke, Va., a Washington suburb, in just nine months.

The staff responded to a brief advertisement in Popular Mechanics magazine last April that offered a “fast, inexpensive” university degree.

Aides filled out an application, sent money orders totaling $1,810 supplied by the Postal Service and submitted short book reviews of “Plain Speaking,” “The Power of Positive Thinking,” “Too Old, Too Sick, Too Bad,” and “Mental Health and the Elderly.”

On Dec. 4, Pepper received a form letter with his name typed in congratulating him on receiving a doctor of philosophy degree in psychology and urging him to join Union University’s alumni association.

“No testing of my competency for this Ph.D. took place . . . classes were never attended, the facility was never seen and absolutely no learning was required. The only requirement was that a check for about $1,800 be rendered,” Pepper said.

A subcommittee report said Postal Inspection Service agents visited the address given for Union University, at 207 N. Breed St. in Los Angeles, and found a run-down building with broken windows in a seedy neighborhood. Signs on the building advertised karate lessons, acupuncture and massages, but only a couple of people were seen in the building at any time.