Saint Regis University

Saint Regis University was a diploma mill operation that was one of about 120 connected institutions operated by an American fraud ring from about 1999 until 2005, when it was shut down by U.S. government authorities. The operation is known as "Operation Gold Seal."

The Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization identified Saint Regis University as a diploma mill linked to 18 other front "schools". The school issued degrees based on "life experience" instead of requiring the taking of academic classes or a formal course of study. It sold both college degrees and high school diplomas.

In 2006 the Associated Press reported that "at least 135 federal employees" held bogus degrees from the Saint Regis operation. This included a White House staffer, a State Department employee in Kuwait, and a Department of Justice employee in Spokane, Washington.

In November 2005, Times Higher Education noted that prosecutors discovered the university formed part of an elaborate online scam masterminded by a former estate agent called "Dixie". Furthermore, "Dixie Ellen Randock, her husband, Steven Karl Randock Sr, and six alleged accomplices were indicted after a US Secret Service sting. Experts say the group was one of the biggest fish in the booming $1 billion (£584 million) a year phony degree and diploma-granting racket."

The ring began operating in 1999 and during its operation sold more than $6 million worth of phony high school diplomas and undergraduate and graduate degrees to people in more than 130 countries. In addition to Saint Regis, the ring operated under the names of Ameritech University, Pan America University, James Monroe University, James Monroe High School, All Saints American University, and New Manhattan University.

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