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Houston Councilwoman Carol Alvarado has found herself in a whirlwind of controversy.

KHOU-TV

Carol Alvarado, Houston Council member and mayor pro-tem

At issue is whether she misled voters when she told them she had a college degree.

Alvarado has since received her diploma, but how she got it is raising even more questions.

College students usually know when they've graduated. But Houston's mayor pro-tem left the University of Houston without a degree and now says she didn't know it.

"And I immediately started getting all of my paperwork from the alumni. I mean, they don't do that unless you've completed all the hours," Alvarado said.

Now John Parras, who is running against her, has dug through her records.

"When we can't trust our public officials about basic background information, then we can't trust them about anything," Parras said.

Last week, Alvarado's political opponent found out that she did not actually have the college degree she had always claimed she had earned. So he said someone from his campaign contacted a newspaper reporter, who in turn contacted Alvarado for comment. That was on Thursday. Within 24 hours, the University of Houston had issued Alvarado a college degree.

The University said privacy laws prevent it from saying anything specific about Alvarado without Alvarado's permission and she hasn't given it.

But in a written statement, UH said students were once required to take a written exam before getting their degrees. According to the statement, "the Writing Proficiency Requirement or Exam, was dropped. Since that time, students who had enrolled under earlier degree plans have been allowed to petition to waive this obsolete requirement. Such requests are routinely approved."

"This has happened before and they've been able to resolve it before," said Alvarado.

Reporter: "But other students haven't been able to contact a lobbyist, as you did." Alvarado: "I didn't contact a lobbyist. I contacted their governmental affairs office."

Well, the government affairs office is the lobbying office, which lobbies politicians -- mostly in Austin.

Alvarado's opponent said he earned his diplomas and implies she pulled strings.

"It stinks. It stinks of political pressure. It stinks of political coercion. And it stinks of cronyism."

One way or the other, Houston's mayor pro tem finally has her sheepskin.