What are Diploma Mills and Why Be Concerned?

As many of us take the plunge into online learning, one important question should be on our minds, especially if we want to acquire a degree from an online institution: is that institution legitimate or is it a diploma mill? A diploma mill is a fraudulent business that masquerades as a legitimate college, university, career or vocational school. They pose as genuine universities and award bogus degrees without any evaluation of the academic work performed by students. Diploma mills make money by selling pre-printed degrees, and providing phony academic references and transcripts to people who may or may not be aware that the credentials are meaningless. Diploma mills will sell degrees at all levels from bachelors to doctoral degrees. They might also charge higher rates for degrees with academic honors such as summa cum laude. Typical customers of diploma mills might include: • Students looking for a legitimate online academic degree program who are unaware that they are enrolling at a diploma mill. • Students who are aware the institution is fraudulent but nevertheless want to acquire credentials quickly for academic or professional reasons. Although significantly gaining in popularity, online education is still viewed by many as a fairly new option in the world of secondary education and training. Traditional colleges and universities are rapidly throwing their hats in the ring, adding new programs to keep up with the changing career needs and challenges of their student populations. It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of all the new schools and programs that enter the arena, since Web sites have become so easy to create, allowing fraudulent institutions to concoct convincing and legitimate-looking online presences. Many of them have the ability to mirror the look and feel of a legitimate online learning operation, that it is becoming quite difficult to decipher the phony sites from the real deal. Unfortunately, it is sometimes difficult to prove fraud in the case of diploma mills. Many of them attempt to shield themselves by acknowledging that they are providing fake diplomas, admitting that they are acting as a business, not an institution of higher learning. Others jump from state to state in order to avoid prosecution, and still more operate overseas selling their fake degrees to people in the United States, Asia and Africa. Individuals who knowingly or unknowingly purchase fake degrees could potentially embarrass themselves professionally, or worse, suffer criminal charges in some states. In Oregon, for example, it is illegal to use a degree from an unaccredited institution to obtain a job or a promotion. In order to protect yourself from these diploma mills, do your homework, and use these handy tips: • Avoid schools with names that are similar to well-known colleges and universities that fail to mention accreditations or licensing. • There should be no overemphasis on the speed and ease to which you can obtain a degree. • There is no selectivity to the admissions process, and no requests for test scores or other academic history. • No interaction with professors and other faculty. • Degree requirements are vague or completely unspecified • Tuition and fees are per degree, not per course. • Grade point average and academic honors are specified as part of the purchasing process.