How to Spot a Diploma Mill

How to Spot a Diploma Mill

The Online College Adviser is here again with some vital information about how to spot a diploma mill. I’ll tell you what diploma mills are, why they should be avoided at all costs, and give you some resources to help you spot diploma mills.

Diploma Mill: A Definition

For those of you who have never heard the term “diploma mill” before, let me start with a definition taken from the U.S.: “n. Informal. An unaccredited institution of higher education that grants degrees without ensuring that students are properly qualified and acts without proper supervision from a state or professional agency” (taken from Answers.com). So, if you purchase a fake degree from one of these institutions, it is similar to buying a fake Rolex or an imitation Gucci bag, and trying to pass it off as the real thing. Sooner or later, you will get caught, and the consequences for showing fraudulent educational credentials are severe. IT IS A CRIME! It is fraud and is punishable by a fine and in many states also will require jail time of up to a year.

Diploma Mills: Just don’t do it!
Just do a Google search and you can come across many cases of educational fraud. Some people may choose to get these types of degrees unknowingly, and that is regrettable. But others intentionally invest in these types of degree in order to get promotions or other forms of recognition. Choosing to buy a degree from a diploma mill is very short-term thinking.

I always talk about education as a long-term investment (see my post entitled, A College Degree: Not "Just A Piece of Paper", for a compete discussion). Even if you are one of the lucky few who don’t get caught, you will spend your life living with the guilt that you are a fake, that you bought your credential rather than earning it. Don’t shortchange yourself like that. Yes, the road is longer to get a legitimate degree, but there are legal ways to speed up your college degree and you will sleep a whole lot better in the end. You will also experience a deep sense of satisfaction and increased confidence at having completed your college degree the right way. Not only that, you will gain real and valuable knowledge and skills to help you continue to move forward in your career and in your life.

How to Spot a Diploma Mill

There are several tell-tale signs to help you spot a diploma mill.

1. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you run across an advertisement promising a college degree in a week or an unrealistically short amount of time…that’s a pretty good sign that you are dealing with a diploma mill. Others are a little more subtle, saying that they will give you a degree for your work experience. Please understand that a college degree is more than just a piece of paper (click to see my post of the same title). I will do a post about the different parts of an American university degree in the near future, but for now understand that some classes you take will not directly relate to your major. General education or liberal arts courses will give you a solid foundation in the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Many of these subjects cannot be learned through work experience. So, a college degree only based on work experience is very narrow in scope and limited in nature. A big part of the process of getting a college or university degree, whether online or in class, is to be able to read critically, write effectively, and communicate clearly. The classes you take are designed to give you opportunities to develop and hone those skills. These skills, more than anything else, are the ones that will help you move ahead in your career. The degree itself without the skills to back it up will not take you far.

2. The schools’s name is very similar to a prestigious or well-known college or university. Degree mills are scam artists, pure and simple. So they will use every technique to convince you to hand over your hard-earned money to them. A common technique they use is to give the school a name that sounds very similar to a legitimate one. One of the best known examples is Hamilton University, a diploma mill named to be similar to the highly-reputed Hamilton College. One of the best resources and most complete lists I am aware of is this PDF document naming colleges and universities which are not currently accredited by an agency recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

3. The school charges tuition for a full degree, not just course by course or credit by credit. Diploma mills are notorious for saying, “Give me $XXXXX.XX and we will give you a diploma, transcripts, and a number to call in case anyone wants to check on the validity of your degree. In addition, the school will require little or no contact with professors (including online contact) and will also require minimal coursework before rewarding the degree. Legitimate colleges and universities list tuition based either on a per-course or a per-credit basis.

4. The schools boasts an impressive list of accrediting agencies. A diploma mill will do everything possible to convince you that it is a real, trustworthy, and reliable school. I talked about accreditation in a former post entitled All About Accreditation. You should always do your research before giving your money to a college or university. A trustworthy list of accrediting agencies can be found at this U.S. Department of Education website.

These are the four main ways I know for how to spot diploma mills. I hope that this helps you to stay aware and alert to possible scams as you move ahead toward your goal of getting your college degree. Until next time, Online College Adviser invites you to check out my collection of resources to help you hop on the fast track (but not unrealistically fast) toward college or university degree completion.

Onward and upward!

Look for my next post entitled: Anatomy of a College Degree