CHEYENNE - The e-mail ad makes it sound so easy.

"Obtain diploma, degree, masters. No tests, study, course work or interviews required. Discrete and affordable. Everyone eligible."

So reads a bona fide e-mail ad from a bona fide diploma mill.

These operations will have a harder time escaping regulation in Wyoming as the result of a new law that went into effect July 1.

It limits the post-secondary degree-granting authority of non-accredited institutions that have a religious exemption from the state Department of Education.

To keep that exemption, the schools must offer only degrees in their religious or theological subject area and can no longer grant secular degrees, like in history or computer science.

The schools also must submit each year to the Department of Education proof they are a nonprofit religious organization for the purpose of federal taxes.

Sen. Hank Coe, R-Cody, who cosponsored the bill in last winter's legislative session, said at the time that it was prompted by questions raised over Hamilton University, headquartered in Evanston and affiliated with the Faith in the Order of Nature Fellowship Church, also in Evanston.

Hamilton has been operating under a religious exemption from the state Department of Education.

The Hamilton University officials have suspended the degree granting operations until they decide how to proceed under the new state law, the school's attorney, Tim Kingston of Cheyenne, said Tuesday.

Last year the General Accounting Office (GAO) investigated the educational credentials of a Hamilton University graduate and senior career employee in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The employee, Paula L. Callahan, who was placed on administrative leave pending the agency probe, received her bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in computer information systems from Hamilton.

The (GAO) expanded the investigation into other federal agencies. Later a Senate subcommittee held hearings on the question of educational credentials, according to the Washington Technology Web site.

As of May 24, the GAO uncovered $169,470 in payments of federal dollars to diploma mills or unaccredited schools on behalf of federal employees, Washington Technology reported.

Information presented in March to the Joint Education Committee said the Wyoming Attorney General's Office investigated Hamilton University for potential violations of Wyoming's consumer protection laws.

The agency found, among other concerns, that Hamilton students can graduate in 30 days on average and are required to take only three steps.

One is to complete the enrollment application and pay tuition of about $3,600. They also must take a one-day personal, business and professional ethics course and write an academic paper on the degree subject at least 2,000 words in length, the information presented to the committee said.

Hamilton University, meanwhile, will be exploring its options, Kingston said Tuesday.

The school can go the full religious route and be eligible for the exemption under the new law or it can seek licensure from the state Department of Education, he said.

"They hope to make a determination by the end of this year as to what they're going to do," Kingston said.

Hamilton, Kingston said earlier, requires coursework and is not a diploma mill.

Hamilton was one of eight schools with religious exemptions on the original list forwarded to Attorney General Pat Crank, who will enforce the new law.

Two of the eight were off the list as of Tuesday, said Deborah Hinckley, director of communications for the state Department of Education.

The Kingdom College of Natural Health moved elsewhere. St. Katharine's Institute is no longer active, she said.

The remaining religious exempt schools on the department's list include Albin Baptist Church; Arizona A&M; Bridgefield University, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev.; Global Church of God, headquartered in Derby, United Kingdom; Hamilton University in Evanston; and Healing Light Ministries.

The Healing Light Ministries Web site said all courses have been cancelled because of the death of the institution's founder.

The Rev. Donald Blomberg, pastor of the Albin Baptist Church, could not be reached for comment Monday or Tuesday on why the church is on the religious school exemption list.

Fred Hansen, the Education Department's director of finance, said post-secondary degree granting institutions in Wyoming have two exceptions to licensing requirements under the law - accredited institutions and religious institutions.

But now the religious exempted schools must submit proof to the department that they are nonprofit religious organizations.

In a recent release welcoming the new law, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Trent Blankenship defined diploma mills as "substandard or fraudulent institutions that offer students degrees with little or no serious work."

"Wyoming has an exceptional reputation in public education," Blankenship said in the release. "With this statutory change, we want to send a message to diploma mills that shows Wyoming has high standards and we are only interested in working with legitimate educational institutions."