Degree mills. How to avoid them

Degree mills or diploma mills are dubious providers of education who are not accredited by a recognized accrediting agency and who issue fraudulent certificates and degrees or which are not based on any standards and which makes those qualifications worthless.

Most of these organizations hide under fake accreditation agencies and it is not a surprise that they claim they are accredited.

You should take care and confirm the accreditation status of any college before you enroll because if you do not, you may be tricked to enrolling in a degree mill. You will have wasted all your time and money because qualifications from these institutions may not be recognized by employers.

Accredited colleges will not recognize degree mills when you need to join a graduate school to further your studies.

Here are some of the signs that a college may be a dubious provider of education.

• Students can purchase degrees.
• There is claim of accreditation and there is no evidence to support the claims or the accreditation is from a dubious accrediting organization.
• The institution does not have state or federal licensure to operate.
• There is little or no attendance required in class or online and there is no interaction with lecturers.
• There are few or no assignments required for students to earn credit.
• The degree is earned in a short period with possibility of earning it in less than a year.

Degrees are available based on life or real world experience.

• The institution fails to provide information about campus or business location or address and rely on a post office box or emails.
• The organization fails to provide a list of its faculty with their and their qualifications.
• The organization has a name that is near similar or similar to other well-known colleges and universities
• The organization makes claims in its publications which are not verifiable or there is no evidence.

Note: Not all degree programs that are not accredited dubious providers of education. But if you spot some of the characteristics mentioned above, please do not waste your money with that kind of an education because you will come to regret later.

These face providers of education have taken advantage of the growth of online education to hide behind genuine accredited programs.

Search for Accredited Online Colleges