Copyright© 2007 by School Services of California, Inc.

                                      Volume 20                   For Publication Date: August 17, 2007             No. 18

University of California Could Revoke Degrees 

Current and former students of Diablo Valley College (DVC) facing criminal charges for grade changing are also in jeopardy of being expelled or having their degrees revoked by the four-year institutions they now attend. 

According to a University of California (UC) spokesman, there are about two dozen students accused of paying thousand of dollars to change grades on their transcripts who have applied for or have attended a UC campus. Currently, ten students are enrolled and one has received a degree from the UC system. The campuses involved are Berkeley, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Davis, and Riverside. 

Colleges and universities throughout the state are informing students from DVC involved in the scheme that they need to “adequately explain their falsified transcripts” or they will be expelled. 

According to Ricardo Vazquez, spokesman for the UC, a case of this magnitude spanning over six years is the most widespread grade falsification scheme they have ever seen. UC plans to evaluate each case before they decide on a punishment for the student. “If falsification is substantiated, then the student could be canceled [sic]. All the credits earned at UC could be gone, and their degree would be revoked.” 

The California State University System is also involved, since records indicate that other DVC students transferred to the San Francisco and San Luis Obispo campuses. One student, Julian Revilleza, who has been arrested in the scheme, is currently a senior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Revilleza was scheduled to graduate from the university this summer. The university had no comment on his current status at this time. 

—Jamillah Moore, Ed.D.