A licensed architect since 1986, Stephen Corbin always wanted a college degree, saying the lack of a diploma on his wall left him with "an empty feeling."

Between raising a family and running his own company - which specializes in public school projects - the Bakersfield, Calif., resident never had time to polish off his course work. Instead he called a telephone number at the bottom of an e-mail advertisement offering degrees from a European university based on "life experience."

But the University of San Moritz, which granted him a bachelor's degree in architecture and a master's degree in business administration, is one of numerous names used by a worldwide Internet diploma mill that sells phony diplomas, trumped-up transcripts and ersatz honors such as summa cum laude.

"We went through a discussion of what I had done in my profession, running a business and everything like that," Corbin said. "And they said, 'Oh, yeah, you qualify.' "

His degrees cost him $500 in a package deal. The "university" also offered him a doctorate, but that "would have been pushing it too much."

He did allow San Moritz to backdate his architecture degree to 1985 to make it seem as if he had gotten it just before he received his license.

Like its low-tech predecessors that advertised on matchbook covers, the University of San Moritz, which also operates as Glencullen University and the University of Wexford, and numerous other regal-sounding diploma mills prey on ego and greed - college graduates earn 62 percent more than nongraduates, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

But unlike traditional diploma mills, the online versions exploit the wide reach of the Internet to send millions of e-mail advertisements promising degrees without "tests, classes, books or interviews. ... No one is turned down."

A long history

The history of so-called universities that sell degrees without any education or true evaluation of experience goes back at least to the 19th century, said John Bear, co-author of "Bear's Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning," which includes information on diploma mills operating on the Internet.

"Nothing has much changed, except that on the Internet it's so much easier," he said. "You can set up a site in an hour and send out e-mails. Then you just need a printing press."

Some elaborate diploma mill Web pages feature pictures of campus buildings, classrooms and student outings. But the images and much of the text often are copied from the Web sites of legitimate universities.

Former FBI agent Allen Ezell, who conducts seminars for college registrars on spotting phony transfer credits, scoffed at the notion that a prospective degree buyer could think the "universities" are legitimate.

"If you negotiate for your grade-point average, get a degree backdated and can pay extra for honors, I think your alma mater is of questionable veracity," he said.

Self-deception

But the digital facade is comforting to some prospective degree buyers, Bear said.

"In a few cases [customers] have convinced themselves the degree is legitimate," he said.

They go so far as to list the degrees on personal and work Web pages. Among them: a congressional candidate in Northern California and a student counselor/psychology teacher at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, Calif.

"I've been around. I've paid my dues. I just felt that this was one way of building up my own ego," said Stu Ferdman, 62, who teaches psychology and is a student counselor at College of the Canyons. He listed a "Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Psychology from Glencullen University" among his credits on the college Web site.

Ferdman earned a conventional bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's in counseling from San Diego State University. He didn't want to spend the time or money needed to achieve a regular doctorate. "I could not necessarily afford the $30,000 it would probably take to go through one of the USC or Pepperdine programs," he said.

He did not find it inappropriate for a college counselor, who advises students on educational and career choices, to buy a doctorate. Shortly after Ferdman spoke to a reporter, however, his degree was removed from the college Web site.

Dale Gouph, head of the international unit of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, said digital diploma mills do not evaluate life experience in granting degrees. "I'm willing to bet that every applicant, once the fee has been paid, becomes a graduate," he said.

The multiple university names pose problems for registrars at legitimate colleges weighing the value of transfer credits.

"We have seen students try to use transfer credits from places like Glencullen," Gouph said. "I'm sure some of them slip by, especially at schools where the staff is small and does not have time to investigate every credit."

Global reach

The global reach of the Internet allows the fake schools to hide behind a complex multinational operation. "The e-mails emanate from Romania, the printing presses are in Jerusalem and wire transfers go to London," said Ezell, the former FBI agent. In a recent College & University Journal article, he traced the history of the Glencullen group to 1997.

Attempts to reach the universities were unsuccessful. Calls to the telephone numbers on the Glencullen and Wexford sites led to identical recorded messages, even though the schools are supposedly in different countries. There was no response to requests for interviews.

'Life experience'

Congressional candidate David LaPere, a Democrat who lost Tuesday in California's newly drawn 21st District to Republican Devin Nunes, said he began taking University of Wexford correspondence classes in 1990 and finished his bachelor's degree in political science in 1995.

LaPere, who listed the degree on the League of Women Voters district information page, said he chose Wexford - located in Zurich, Switzerland - because "they were one of the few who did take life experience into account."

He refused to show a reporter any of his course work. "That is not acceptable," he said, ending the interview.

Swiss officials doubted Wexford was a real school. The Rectors Conference of Swiss Universities, which acts as a liaison between the government and universities, had no record of Wexford until 2001, when it began receiving inquiries about the school's legitimacy.

David Colker writes for the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.