Pakistan

Believe it or not: Dog received MBA from Axact-run diploma mill

‘Chester the pug’ was awarded the MBA by Rochville University

News Desk May 21, 2015

Chester received the degree based on his ‘life and work experience’. PHOTO COURTESY: GETEDUCATED.COM

Believe it or not! A dog in the United States was issued an online MBA by one of the degree mills allegedly run by the Pakistani software company Axact, a sting operation conducted by GetEducated.com revealed in 2009.

Read: Axact’s fake colleges hosted on the same server

Chester Ludlow, a pug dog from Vermont, was awarded the MBA by Rochville University, a purported online college that offers degrees based on life and work experience. And the damning The New York Times exposé by Declan Walsh revealed that the online college was among the numerous diploma mills run by Axact.

Read: Meet the 'stock' faculty of Axact's universities

GetEducated.com organised the sting operation against Rochville University in May 2009, submitting a resume for Chester – the website’s mascot – along with $499. According to the report on the operation posted on the website, an express packet in Chester’s name arrived from a post office box in Dubai a week later on June 5, 2009. The package contained Chester’s distance MBA diploma, two sets of college transcripts, a certificate of distinction in finance, and a certificate of membership in the student council. According to the paperwork, the pug ‘earned’ a GPA of 3.19.

Read: Axact-gate probe: Foreign experts might be called in for help, says Nisar

All documents were issued in the dog’s American Kennel Club pedigree name Chester Ludlow, GetEducated.com said. Chester also received a Rochville University window decal for a car, the report added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2015.

COMMENTS (13)

Anna | 9 years ago | Reply Strangely sounds like this is from an episode of the show 'Community' where a dog was issued a degree by the notorious college. LOL

Asok | 9 years ago | Reply @Saleem, actually the NYtimes did provide ample evidence of them being Axact owned and operated.

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Axactian | 9 years ago | Reply All of those online institution websites were deployed on same server. Interestingly, axact.com & bolnetwork.com were also hosted on the same server. Any IT related guy who has little knowledge about his field would tell you that it cannot be a mere coincidence. Another important point to note the alleged hosting provider of those sites don’t allow to register. All this confirm that NYT story indeed is true. There is no more further evidence required after this for someone who has a background of IT, in particular web-development, and knows his work well.

Shahzad Sohail | 9 years ago | Reply Like other professionals journalism has also lost its credibility in Pakistan. Off course they belong to same nation who wants to blame each other for every evil in the society. Whether eXact is doing anything illegal or legal. But we have been witnessing total one sided stories & propaganda in the last few days on all tv channels & print media. Enough. Are you all came from other planent? Are you all media groups & your owners are very clean. Wher did you all get the funding. I think there must be a investigation against all channels & their owners?

Lord of the Ring | 9 years ago | Reply You are so beautiful...

Demolition Woman | 9 years ago | Reply @Inzar Gul: word is out that Chester wants to now pursue a DBA in 'Financial Engineering' under the mentorship of the illustrious Mr Zardari. After that the sky is the limit !

Eraj | 9 years ago | Reply This is what we call "education for all" without any discrimination

Inzar Gul | 9 years ago | Reply Chester can look forward to a challenging career in the finance industry, where carnivores of much higher ability thrive on cannibalism and deception.

Timorlane | 9 years ago | Reply He looks better than a lot of Accounts and Finance pain sacks

Someone | 9 years ago | Reply Express group, stop this cheap propaganda against your rivals. Everyone know that Bol is threat for your group and you are doing these stunts to malign Bol group but people are not fool.

Stewart J | 9 years ago | Reply The pug has a GPA of 3.19 !! My German Shepherd would be lucky to get 1.0. I wish I had a smart, educated dog like this one. Thank you Axact for your contribution to uplifting our animal friends !!

Saleem | 9 years ago | Reply So far, it has not yet been proved that all these universities are owned or run by Axact. We all are going nuts on nytimes's report. Did anyone ask them to provide proofs for the article?

Imran Hanif | 9 years ago | Reply By suspending the sense of amusement for a minute I do however believe that Chester’s ‘Distinction in Finance’ might proved to be a beacon of light in the professional world of ‘Financial Services’ industry. After all one can expect a better performance from Highly Qualified Dogs than their Human counterparts in this field, later which have triggered almost every recession of the last 120 years.

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