Jefferson High School won't be playing in Kentucky's Sweet-16 basketball tourney

 

You won’t find “Jefferson High School” on any Metro Louisville map. And (apologies to Louisville High School Sports Examiner Mike Johnston) they won’t be fielding a team in next year’s Kentucky Sweet Sixteen basketball tournament. Jefferson High, you see, exists only on the internet.

The Better Business Bureau has announced that an outfit calling itself “Jefferson High School” has no connection whatsoever to Jefferson County, Kentucky, or to any school in Kentucky. But that doesn’t mean that this so-called “high school” wouldn’t take your money in return for a “diploma” with little or no value.

If you use an Internet search engine like Google or Yahoo! to search a term like “high school diploma,” you’ll see many paid ads for help with your high school diploma. Some of these ads are legitimate, but others are not.

According to information in complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau, a diploma and transcript issued by Jefferson High School Online (JHSO) costs $200. But don’t count on a high school diploma and transcript from JHSO to help you get into college or get a better job. It appears this diploma and transcript may be worth less than the paper they are printed on.

Example of internet ad

Jefferson High School Online (www.jeffersonhighschoolonline.com) is operated by a company named MMDS Ltd, which is based in St. Kitts, a small nation located in the Caribbean. The company has an office in Mexico and uses a mail drop address in Arizona “to better service its USA customers.”

MMDS, LTD also operates “Vencer High School” (www.vencerhighschoolonline.com), with a website that looks and functions almost identically to “Jefferson High School Online.”

The Better Business Bureau in Tucson, AZ began looking into Jefferson High School Online and Vencer High School Online after receiving complaints from “students” who paid $200 for a diploma issued by one of these schools, only to find that the diploma was rejected by colleges to which the students applied.

What the BBB found is that these high schools offer “diplomas” based partly on life experience, including questions about what type of music the student likes, how often they listen to music, and how physically active they are JHSO’s website says the answers on this portion of the test count toward the student’s “elective and life experience credits.”

Sample diploma from Jefferson High School web site

After students complete the life experience questionnaire they are given a multiple choice test in language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. If a student answers a question incorrectly they are given a hint, and three more chances to select the correct answer from the four possible answers given for each question.

Students can take the test for free, but once they finish the test JHSO charges $200 for an “official JHSO diploma” and “official JHSO transcripts.”

One person who filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau said he used the diploma and transcript sent to him by Jefferson High School Online to apply to Colorado Technical University, but an admissions advisor with the school told him JHSO had been “red flagged” by the college.

Bill Ahmed, a Career Counselor at Colorado Technical University, said illegitimate online high schools or “diploma mills” often use similar names to actual high schools to fool students and colleges into thinking they’re legitimate.

“We have an entire list of schools that we’ve red flagged,” Ahmed said. “If a student applies using a diploma from one of those schools it will pop up in our system.”

BBB along with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offer these tips to students who are considering completing their high school diploma or college degrees online:

* While there are legitimate online high school diploma programs, check with your local community college to make sure the program you’re considering is accredited and accepted by colleges and vocational schools.
* Watch out for websites that grant degrees/diplomas for “work or life experience” alone. Accredited schools may give a few credits for specific experience pertinent to a degree program, but not an entire degree.
* Operations that guarantee a degree/diploma in a few days, weeks, or even months aren’t legitimate. If an ad promises that you can earn either very quickly, it’s probably a diploma mill.
* Always research the company with BBB at www.bbb.org or by calling 800-388-2222.
* Accredited schools don’t use spam or high-pressure tactics to market themselves. Some diploma mills aggressively advertise in newspapers, magazines, and on the Web.
* Check with your local school system, which may have a program offering a high school diploma program for students beyond regular high school age who want to complete a full high school diploma rather than testing for a GED.
* Don’t follow advice of an ad such as the one above which says, “Forget the GED Test.” Instead of paying money for a phony diploma, spend your money with a local educational organization that offers legitimate GED testing.
* More information about online schools and diploma mills is available through the FTC’s Website www.ftc.gov, or by calling 1-800-FTC-HELP.