Any person who prepares, manufactures, or prints, or who offers to prepare, manufacture, or print, for a fee or other compensation, any document purporting to be a degree or diploma without written authorization to do so from the school authority shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. As used in this section, “school authority” means any of the following:

(a) A governing board of a school district that issued or reissued the degree or diploma, as the case may be.

Terms Used In California Education Code 32381

  • Degree: means any "academic degree" or "honorary degree" or title of any designation, mark, appellation, series of letters or words such as, but not limited to, associate, bachelor, master, doctor, or fellow which signifies, purports, or is generally taken to signify satisfactory completion of the requirements of an academic, educational, technological, or professional program of study or is an honorary title conferred for recognition of some meritorious achievement. See California Education Code 32380
  • Diploma: means any diploma, certificate, transcript, document, or other writing in any language other than a degree representing that an individual has completed any course of study. See California Education Code 32380
  • Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, firm, or public board, agency, or entity. See California Education Code 32380
  • Prepare: means to put into condition for intended use. See California Education Code 32380

(b) A private school that issued or reissued the degree or diploma, as the case may be.

(c) Any public or private college, university, or other institution of higher learning that issued or reissued the degree or diploma, as the case may be.

Nothing in this section shall prohibit a person from reproducing, or having reproduced, for his personal use a degree or diploma issued to him by a school authority.

(Added by Stats. 1979, Ch. 373.)

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