Buying Your Degree, And Your Grades: Touro College Scam Uncovered

Ten people, including administrators, teachers and students, have been indicted in a scam at [Touro College], in which individuals allegedly paid former administrators up to $25,000 to [create or alter](http://www.1010wins.com/pages/688981.php?contentType=4&contentId=695365) college and graduate school transcripts. Former Manhattan campus director of admissions Andrique Baron and the school’s computer center director, Michael Cherner, are believed to be behind the scheme. The two men allegedly [tampered with computer systems](http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=71743) and charged fees ranging from $3,000 to $25,000 to improve or delete grades and to grant false bachelor’s and master’s degrees. $25,000? Now, that’s one expensive cheat sheet.

District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said the two have accessed the transcripts of at least 50 people since January, and evidence suggests that the scheme has been underway since at least 2003. “We don’t know how many hundreds, maybe thousands, were involved,” Morgenthau said. Also indicted for involvement were three former Touro students, three New York City public school teachers and another individual who never attended the college. The teachers allegedly paid at least $3,000 each for certificates in special education—entitling them to employment bonuses—even though they had never taken any classes. The scheme was [uncovered by an employee] who noticed that the same student had applied twice using different transcripts. Four additional defendants are still being sought.