What is a Diploma Mill?

A diploma or degree mill is an entity that sells postsecondary credentials without requiring appropriate academic achievement. In many jurisdictions inside and outside the United States, diploma mills are illegal. These scam operations can be difficult to trace because they usually use mail drops and multiple addresses. Numerous degree mills operate on the Internet, where they often masquerade as institutions of distance learning. Legitimate distance-learning providers are recognized in the countries where they are located, and their status can be verified by contacting the relevant educational authorities. Academic credential evaluators should be suspicious of documents issued by “universities” with addresses that are office suites or box numbers that cannot be verified in any authoritative independent publication. Most degree mills also claim accreditation by one or more fictitious “national,” “international,” “worldwide” or “global” accrediting agencies. Verifying the existence and status of an institution is an essential step when reviewing educational documents.

How to Spot Them

There are several types of diploma mills. Some are outright scams that sell degrees or diplomas without requiring any work whatsoever. Others appear more ambiguous in terms of their legitimacy, offering short-term degrees in exchange for some form of academic work, such as a thesis or dissertation. These organizations, according to experts, are the most dangerous kind of diploma mills because they appear to be legitimate.

If an institution is not accredited by an agency recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the U.S. Department of Education, chances are it’s a diploma mill. However, accreditation does not necessarily guarantee legitimacy. There are currently 35 accrediting agencies in the United States that are not recognized by the Department of Education or CHEA and that will put their stamp of approval on just about any program with no questions asked. In many cases, the accrediting agencies in question are merely self-serving organizations set up by the diploma mills themselves.

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