How to Spot a Diploma Mill
August 3, 2010 by Youth Online Degree
Filed under Online Degrees
With online schools popping up all over the Internet, it can sometimes be hard to differentiate between the schools that are legitimate, and the ones that are just after your money. Diploma mills plague the Internet and if you’re not careful, you can wind up with an expensive diploma that will be worthless in the real world.
While a quick and easy method of obtaining a diploma may sound like a great deal, these are fraudulent degrees that usually require little to no actual schooling. Not only could this place you in an awkward position if you do get hired due to your lack of training, most employers will immediately recognize the fake degree and promptly dismiss you.
Don’t panic though: there are many very easy ways to spot a diploma mill before you fork over any money. Here are some obvious signs of a diploma mill:
- The school is not listed on the Department of Education website, which lists all accredited colleges.
- The institution offers a degree for a very short period of study (i.e., promises like, “Get your bachelor’s degree in just six months!”).
- The tuition is based on the degree rather than quarter, semester, or credit hours.
- Tuition is discounted if the student enrolls in multiple degree programs.
- There are numerous spelling and grammar errors on the website, within communications, and even on the diploma.
- The website is not professional.
- You found the diploma mill by clicking on a pop-up Web advertisement.
- The institution’s name or website sound and look very similar to another, accredited university.
- It does not list any accrediting agencies, or it refers to a fake accrediting agencies.
- A diploma mill might list a large and impressive list of accrediting agencies even though it’s a small institution.
- The institution’s address is a P.O. box or a suite rather than having a street address or physical location.
- The professors have little to no communication with the students.
- The Institution emphasizes that they provide college credit for lifetime and work experience.
- The institution will accept any student, you may not need a high school diploma to get a bachelor’s degree, or you may not need to prove that you have a bachelor’s degree to gain a master’s or doctoral degree.
Sarah Snow is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and a writer on obtaining an online bachelor’s degree for Guide to Online Schools.
Great advice, Sarah. With sneaky advertisements and pop-up ads all over the internet, it’s easy for unsuspecting users to fall into a costly trap. It’s important to always make sure the college you may enroll in is accredited!! I wrote a similar article about the Benefits of Online Degrees on my site and I stress the accreditation factor.
How soon does the dept of education list newly accredited colleges? Is it ever possible that an online college can get accreditation and still take a little time to show up?