(a) It is an offense for any person to knowingly issue, sell or manufacture a false academic degree. As used in this subsection (a), “person” includes any individual, corporation, firm, company, partnership or association.

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class C misdemeanorup to 30 daysup to $50
class A misdemeanorup to 11 monthsup to $2,500
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 39-17-112

  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Obtain: includes , but is not limited to, the taking, carrying away or the sale, conveyance or transfer of title to or interest in or possession of property, and includes, but is not limited to, conduct known as larceny, larceny by trick, larceny by conversion, embezzlement, extortion or obtaining property by false pretenses. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Person: includes the singular and the plural and means and includes any individual, firm, partnership, copartnership, association, corporation, governmental subdivision or agency, or other organization or other legal entity, or any agent or servant thereof. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) It is an offense for an individual to knowingly use or claim to have a false academic degree to obtain:

(1) Employment;
(2) A promotion in employment; or
(3) Admission to a college, university or other institution of higher learning.
(c) As used in this section, “false academic degree” shall mean any degree issued that meets one of the following criteria:

(1) Issued without requiring any student academic work;
(2) Issued based solely on the student’s life experience or portfolio without requiring any post secondary work submitted to and evaluated by faculty with appropriate academic degrees from an institution that is:

(A) Accredited by a regional accrediting agency or other accrediting agency recognized by the United States department of education; and
(B) Authorized to operate in Tennessee pursuant to title 49, chapter 7, part 20, relative to the authorization of post secondary institutions, or is exempted from authorization by § 49-7-2004; or
(3) Issued using more than twenty-five percent (25%) of required credits based on the student’s life experience or portfolio.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an otherwise properly accredited and authorized institution from issuing honorary degrees recognizing distinguished individuals for service to the state, an institution or community.
(e) A violation of subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor.
(f) A violation of subsection (b) is a Class C misdemeanor.
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