James Kirk diploma mills

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For other educational institutions using the name "LaSalle University", see La Salle University. For other educational institutions named "Edison", see Edison (disambiguation).

Thomas James Kirk (also known as Thomas McPherson) was the operator of several fraudulent higher education organizations (diploma mills), including the University of San Gabriel Valley, Southland University, and LaSalle University (Louisiana). He was indicted for fraud in 1996 and, after a plea agreement, was sentenced to five years in U.S. federal prison. After he went to prison his wife, Natalie Handy, opened Edison University, an unaccredited distance education institution operated from a rented mail box at a Mail Boxes Etc. in Honolulu.^[1]

The University of San Gabriel Valley was a correspondence law school based in California. Southland University was later also established in California, but moved to Missouri where it was renamed LaSalle University. Kirk later moved it to Mandeville, Louisiana. According to John Bear, in Louisiana Kirk set up "World Christian Church", placed the university in the ownership of the "church" in order to claim religious exemption from state education laws, and claimed to have taken a vow of poverty. At the time of his arrest, the operation was discovered to have more than $35 million in bank deposits, current cash deposits of $10 million, and other assets.^[1]

Kirk served five years in federal prison for charges relating to these diploma mills.^[1]

In 2006 a Texas policeman was charged with several violations related to use of false credentials, including claiming a college degree in criminal justice management based on a credential from the unaccredited LaSalle University in Mandeville, Louisiana. ^[2] That same year, a Texas school superintendent was reported to have received a Ph.D. from LaSalle University in Louisiana. The superintendent told reporters he "had no idea" that the university was fraudulent. ^[3]