>it's about the integrity. My assumption is that any person taking shortcuts like this to get their degree will also take shortcuts with my personal health, which is not a comforting thought.

You're making generalizations based on proxy information, which is basically the same thing that a test does you're just using a different set of information to key off of.

Not that there isn't some signal in the pile of noise that you're picking through but a willingness to circumvent academic requirements isn't exactly a strong indicator of performance in the field. Competent professionals fudge requirements they consider to be irrelevant all the time (inb4 no true Scotsman).