093_HB1448
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 a false academic degree.
10 (b) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly use a false
11 academic degree for the purpose of obtaining employment or
12 admission to an institution of higher learning or admission
13 to an advanced degree program at an institution of higher
14 learning or for the purpose of obtaining a promotion or
15 higher compensation in employment.
16 (c) Sentence. A person who violates this Section is
17 guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
18 (d) In this Section:
19 "False academic degree" means a certificate, diploma,
20 transcript, or other document purporting to be issued by an
21 institution of higher learning or purporting to indicate that
22 a person has completed an organized academic program of study
23 at an institution of higher learning when the person has not
24 completed the organized academic program of study as
25 indicated on the certificate, diploma, transcript, or other
26 document.
27 "Institution of higher learning" means a public or
28 private college, university, or community college located in
29 the State of Illinois that is authorized by the Board of
30 Higher Education or the Illinois Community College Board to
31 issue post-secondary degrees or is or has been legally
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1 constituted to offer degrees and instruction in the State of
2 Illinois.
3 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4 becoming law.