093_HB1448enr
HB1448 Enrolled LRB093 06893 NHT 07039 b
1 AN ACT regarding higher education.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by adding
5 Section 17-2.5 as follows:
6 (720 ILCS 5/17-2.5 new)
7 Sec. 17-2.5. False academic degrees.
8 (a) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly manufacture
9 or produce for profit or for sale a false academic degree,
10 unless the degree explicitly states "for novelty purposes
11 only".
12 (b) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly use a false
13 academic degree for the purpose of obtaining employment or
14 admission to an institution of higher learning or admission
15 to an advanced degree program at an institution of higher
16 learning or for the purpose of obtaining a promotion or
17 higher compensation in employment.
18 (c) Sentence. A person who violates this Section is
19 guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
20 (d) In this Section:
21 "False academic degree" means a certificate, diploma,
22 transcript, or other document purporting to be issued by an
23 institution of higher learning or purporting to indicate that
24 a person has completed an organized academic program of study
25 at an institution of higher learning when the person has not
26 completed the organized academic program of study indicated
27 on the certificate, diploma, transcript, or other document.
28 "Institution of higher learning" means a public or
29 private college, university, or community college located in
30 the State of Illinois that is authorized by the Board of
31 Higher Education or the Illinois Community College Board to
HB1448 Enrolled -2- LRB093 06893 NHT 07039 b
1 issue post-secondary degrees, or a public or private college,
2 university, or community college located anywhere in the
3 United States that is or has been legally constituted to
4 offer degrees and instruction in its state of origin or
5 incorporation.
6 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
7 becoming law.