Question:

I was laid off from my job as a real estate agent and want to change careers. My dream is to be a high school math teacher. My current bachelor’s degree, which I earned ten years ago, is in child psychology. Do I have to go back to college and earn a second, new bachelor’s degree in education? If so, will an online bachelor’s degree in education qualify me to become a licensed teacher in Texas? Do teacher licensing programs accept online education degrees?

—Willis
Houston, Texas

When Carolyn Cooper learned about Chester Ludlow—GetEducated's pug dog mascot—being awarded an online MBA degree from Rochville University, she again considered netting herself an advanced online business degree.

Cooper once toyed with the idea of getting an online MBA, but instead became a professor of literacy and cultural studies at the University of the West Indies.

"To think that a dog had more ambition than me!" Cooper wrote in a recent column in the Jamaica Gleaner. "I decided to apply to Rochville for a PhD in chemistry. Why chemistry? Why not? I have good chemistry."

Cooper manufactured the following chemistry "life experience" and "work experience" on her application for a degree to Rochville, the reputed diploma mill: being "good at chemistry in high school" and working for 20 years at a Jamaican producer of household chemicals. {{LeftSponsor46}}

Within 15 minutes of emailing her application to Rochville University, says Cooper, a representative from the online school called her to find out if she had a bachelors or masters in chemistry or just life and work experience.