To put it to the test, The Straits Times applied for a doctorate for my pet beagle Harry two weeks ago.

All I did was go to www.ashwooduniversity.net, fill in his name (Harry Doggy), date of birth (Nov 19), age (I multiplied his seven dog years by seven for the equivalent in human years and put down 49)and work-life experience - where I wrote 'spent years studying the interactions between people and animals'.

I then clicked on a Doctorate in Social and Behavioural Sciences, costing US$599 (S$850), one of the cheapest in the market. I also chose his grade point average (GPA). A GPA of 3.0 comes free, but anything above 3.5 with Latin honours (summa cum laude) costs another US$60.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.