Six Ways to Avoid Being Duped by a Diploma Mill

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Six Ways to Avoid Being Duped by a Diploma Mill

There are two kinds of diploma mills lurking online. The first type is open about selling degrees for cash and colludes with equally unscrupulous students. The second kind of degree mill is more insidious; they dupe naïve students who think they are getting legitimate degrees. Assuming you are an honest student hoping further your education, the following tips can help you separate con artists from legitimate schools.

1. Know your enemy. Be aware of the tricks that diploma mills use to lure students, including:

Websites that look official, but do not list the school's contact information, nor the names of deans, teaching faculty, presidents, or other personnel
Outrageous promises; for example, the promise that you can earn a prestigious degree by getting credit for life experiences, or that you can earn a degree in weeks or months
Advertising through mass emails
Downplaying the importance of accreditation, or vaguely promising they are "nationally," "fully," or "globally" accredited, or claiming to be accredited by an organization not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education
Offering a huge number of majors
Offering degrees for a flat fee

2. Familiarize yourself with known diploma mills. Though new diploma mills are constantly cropping up under a huge variety of names, it's helpful to have a list of known diploma mills at hand when investigating schools. Here is one such list of diploma mills/unaccredited institutions, issued by the Office of Degree Authorization.

3. Research the school's accreditation. First, make sure a school's accreditation checks out by searching the school on the U.S. Department of Education's website and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation. These sites offer handy databases of properly accredited institutions. If a school does not show up on these lists, it may be in the process of earning accreditation, or it may be a scam. Secondly, check a school's claimed accreditors to make sure they are approved by the National Educational Association (NEA). There are six regional accreditation organizations:

In addition to these regional accreditors, there are also professional and alternative accreditors you may not be immediately familiar with. If a school claims to be accredited by a certain organization, first make sure the organization is real; secondly, make sure the agency is approved by the NEA.

4. Ask questions. As soon as you find a program that may interest you, talk to admissions officers and counselors. Ask them about the details of the program, what you can expect from it, how long the program takes, and how much it will cost. Drop by the school's nearest education center. An in-person visit can help you get a good feel for the school.

5. Check the Better Business Bureau for complaints against a school. Avoid any school with more than a couple reports. However, there is a caveat - if a school has no reports, it may be because it doesn't exist, or doesn't exist in the locality where it claims to be.

6. Exhaust all avenues of independent research. Plug the school's name into a search engine and read what comes up; visit relevant message boards; speak to people who have attended classes at the school or graduated from there. Before choosing a school, gather as much information as possible by doing research online, talking to people affiliated with the school, and speaking with past or present students. The latter group will be especially valuable in helping you assess whether a school is a good fit for your educational goals.

At this point you may realize that homework starts long before you enroll in a degree program! A little research before committing to an online degree program can help you avoid falling for degree mills' slick websites and lofty promises. More importantly, such research can help you find a degree program that is a great fit for your personality and goals. It can help you get excited about your education and all the opportunities available to you, and it can help you connect with classmates despite physical distance.

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