A Senate Committee will hold a public hearing today for a bill that would prohibit so-called “diploma mills” from issuing fraudulent degrees containing the words “Wisconsin,” “college,” “university” or “state.”

Rep. Kim Hixson, D-Whitewater, said at an Assembly committee hearing last Wednesday that he introduced the bill to protect the quality of education in the state and to protect employers and consumers from people who may not be as qualified as their diploma states.

He added the bill will give law enforcement officials the tools they need to legally punish people who sell fake diplomas.

“For all my 20 plus years in higher education, I’ve always been impressed with the Wisconsin tradition of providing world-class educational institutions,” Hixson said at the hearing. “It’s my hope that by working on this legislation we can ensure that future generations are able to benefit from the great tradition of quality education we have right here in our state.”

The bill would prohibit online diploma shops from using certain words in their fake degrees that carry the connotation of a legitimate institution of higher education. Hixson said only accredited institutions that offer an associate degree or higher would be able to use the words “Wisconsin,” “college,” “university” or “state” in the diploma.

Hixson added that many other states around the country have legislation protecting them from these “diploma mills,” and there is currently a bill in Congress addressing this issue.

He said Wisconsin should pass this bill to deter these fraudulent businesses from setting up shop in the state.

“I believe employers should have the right to know that academic institutions listed on the r?sum?s of prospective employers are credible,” Hixson said. “The many fine public and private institutions in our state should be protected from fly-by-night organizations that devalue the quality of an academic degree.”

David Giroux, spokesperson for the University of Wisconsin System, said the System supports the bill because it will provide reasonable protection for students and employers.

“Our students who put in time to earn an honest-to-goodness University of Wisconsin degree deserve to have some protection to make sure there’s no question as to what those words mean,” Giroux said. “It’s protection for any college graduate, especially those who put in the time to earn a legitimate college credential. Those other, less meaningful degrees really undermine the value of any degree.”