Tips For Spotting A Diploma Mill
The decision to continue your education clearly can change your life, but it can also be overwhelming. Before you take any classes, make sure the distance learning center or online school you choose is the one that best suits your needs.
You have many schools to choose from, and deciding on a particular one can be difficult. With so many diploma mills just waiting to take money from people trying to educate themselves and improve their future, you’ll want to make sure the school you choose is legitimate and not a scam. Keep reading to learn about diploma mills, how they operate and how to make sure the school you select is real and not a fake.
What is a Diploma Mill?
They are fraudulent businesses disguised as legitimate online schools, colleges and universities. Diploma mills make money by selling printed certificates and degrees that look real but have no actual value. The “diplomas” these companies sell are completely useless and won’t help anyone get a job, even though people invest their time and/or money taking bogus courses.
These frauds offer certificates and degrees ranging from associates to doctoral degrees. Their “students” can also “get ahead” by paying additional fees in exchange for academic honors that also have no actual value. There are different types of diploma mills. Some only provide a piece of paper in exchange for their fee, requiring little or no actual coursework of their customers/students.
Many of this type of diploma mill’s customers know they’re a fraud but want to quickly get a diploma or degree so they can advance in their current career. However, many unsuspecting people who actually want a real education and opportunities for advancement also fall prey to this scheme. In the end, all these people receive are some useless references, fake transcripts and a worthless degree that won’t be recognized by employers or other schools.
Detecting Diploma Mills
If you are a potential student who truly wants to better yourself and get ahead, you are probably concerned about your ability to avoid diploma mills. How do you know whether a school you are interested in is actually legitimate? You will save time and money by being able to detect diploma mills. Be on the lookout for the following things while you are searching for schools; they will help you determine if they are actually just diploma mills.
An unprofessional website – most phony schools’ websites look legitimate when you first see them, so look closely. The website might lack contact information, or it might change frequently. Be careful, because anyone can purchase an .edu domain, and someone with just a little skill will be able to create an attractive website.
The schools’ names – many bogus schools use names a lot like those of genuine well-known schools and colleges. Unless you’re careful you could confuse them.
The process is too quick – if a school you’re interested in says you can obtain a degree in less time than normal, or if it lets you skip degrees, you know it’s just a diploma mill. It’s illegal to skip degrees, and most legitimate degree programs require at least two years of study.
Interaction with staff is limited or nonexistent – there’s a good chance a school is fake if no professor responds to your emails and you have a hard time getting anyone to answer your questions. Legitimate schools are always available to help because they care about their students.
Easy admission – an admission process that is too simple is one of the signs of a diploma mill. These companies will admit you without any tests or transcripts, only asking some limited information about you. Providing vague information on the courses you’re taking and what you need to do to reach your goals are also signs of a diploma mill.
Honors and Grade Point Average – the school is guaranteed to be illegitimate if you can buy what other students work hard for.
Lack of accreditation – one of the most tell-tale signs of a bogus school is a failure to mention an accrediting agency, or mentioning a fake one.
Checking a School’s Accreditation to Ensure it’s Not a Diploma Mill
Many bogus schools are out there, so doing your research and checking the accreditation of the schools you’re interested in is essential. After all you don’t want to be scammed instead of schooled. What is accreditation, exactly? It’s a way to make sure about some very important details, including the legitimacy of a school’s degrees, the quality of its educational programs, and its credits being transferable. It also helps ensure that you’ll receive the education that employers in your field of interest require.
The U.S. Secretary of Education is legally required to publish a list of accrediting agencies that are nationally recognized. These agencies have been determined to be the most reliable in accrediting high quality educational institutions. The list is published on the Department of Education’s website. It includes national, regional and specialized accrediting agencies. It also includes the Distance Learning and Education Council, which was created especially for online schools. You can rest assured about the legitimacy of the school you’re interested in if either it or its accrediting agency is listed on this government website. You can make sure your research is thorough by doing several things:
Look at the Department of Education’s Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs;
*Perform an online search regarding the school; and
*Find out if the school is connected to any reputable parent companies.
A wide range of opportunities have been opened up by the Internet, including the ability to work and learn from the home. Unfortunately, the Internet also provides opportunities for unscrupulous people to cheat others out of their money. A careful eye for detail will help you find the relatively obvious errors an illegitimate school makes and therefore help you avoid scams. The key to revealing a company as a diploma mill, however, often is checking its accreditation.
About the author
Visit the author Barbara Pearson at www.Distance-Learning-Counselor.com where she freely shares her knowledge about online college degrees and online colleges. See her top recommendations.Tags: Diploma Mills