In 1971, he graduated from
East Peoria Community High School in
East Peoria, Illinois, and later received 4 degrees from
unaccredited institutions.
Patriot University
From 1972 to 1974, Hovind attended the non-accredited
Midwestern Baptist College and received a
Bachelor of Religious Education.
[1] In 1988 and 1991 respectively, Hovind received a master's degree and doctorate in Christian Education through
correspondence from the non-accredited
Patriot University in
Colorado Springs, Colorado.
[notes 1][7] Having a website called "Dr. Dino" has provoked some academics to look closely at how Hovind presents his education and credentials.
Barbara Forrest, a professor of philosophy, expert on the history of creationism and activist in the
creation-evolution controversy, wrote that Hovind's lack of academic training makes it impossible to engage him on a professional level.
[8]
Patriot Bible University is a
diploma mill, having unreasonably low graduation requirements, lack of sufficient faculty or educational standards, and a suspicious tuition scheme.
[9][10] The school's current policies allow students to attain bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and Doctor of Ministry degrees in months, rather than years, for as little as $37 per credit.
[11][12]
Karen Bartelt, an organic chemistry professor who debated Hovind,
[8] stated that his doctoral dissertation is evidence of the poor requirements at Patriot and that Hovind lacks knowledge of basic science. She noted that Hovind's dissertation is incomplete,
[notes 2] of low academic quality, with poor writing, poor spelling, and poor grammatical style. Bartelt asserts that pages are repeated, references are absent, and it is not an original work with original ideas.
[13]
In 2010, Patriot responded to
Wikileaks' claim to have revealed Hovind's dissertation, writing that the Wikileaks file was not the "finished" product, but that they would not release the full dissertation,
[14] which is unusual among academic institutions. As a general rule, doctoral dissertations are published by the associated university and made available to the public, so that other students conducting research may reference them.
[13]