Hundreds Linked to Diploma Mill

"It's one of those crimes that is low on the priority list because people think, 'Who cares?' " Nassirian said. "I think once we fully absorb this list, we will find some pretty compelling reasons why we should care. . . . My guess is we are going to find some really scary stories."

Homeland Security officials had refused to release the list but provided it to state attorneys general last weekend. Education officials in Virginia, Maryland and the District said yesterday they had not seen the list.

The case was investigated by a task force involving more than a half-dozen federal agencies, including the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington state. Court documents show that investigators served search warrants in the case after it was discovered that many of the phony degrees were purchased by people in Saudi Arabia.

In addition to Virginia, 11 states, including Texas, Oregon, New Jersey, Washington and Nevada, forbid fraudulent use of phony degrees, Contreras said.

"People who buy diplomas from diploma mills are not victims; they are co-conspirators," Nassirian said. "People who fall prey to shoddy trade schools, they are victims. They think they are going to a real school, and they get ripped off. But people who pick up the phone and call and order themselves a master's degree in nursing know they are not nurses."

Post database editor Sarah Cohen contributed to this report.