Information about Diploma Mill

A diploma mill (also known as a degree mill) is an organization that claims to award academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study, and without recognition by official accrediting bodies. These degrees are often awarded based on life experience. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary defines a diploma mill as "An institution of higher education operating without supervision of a state or professional agency and granting diplomas which are either fraudulent or, because of the lack of proper standards, worthless."^[1] Such organizations are unaccredited, although some claim accreditation by non-recognized/unapproved organizations set up for the purposes of providing a veneer of authenticity. Although diploma mills are unaccredited, lack of educational accreditation does not necessarily indicate that an institution is a diploma mill.

Common attributes of diploma mills

Diploma mills are frequently named to sound confusingly similar to those of prestigious, accredited academic institutions. Despite the fact that trademark law is intended to prevent this situation, diploma mills continue to employ various methods to avoid legal recourse. In their marketing and advertising campaigns, the mills will often misleadingly claim to be "accredited" when, in fact, many are found to have been endorsed by "dummy" accreditation boards set up by company affiliates. In an attempt to appear more legitimate to potential students, accreditation mills based in the United States may model their websites after real accrediting agencies overseen by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Some may even advertise services for transcript notation and diploma verification in order to seem more legitimate. Another typical ploy is for mills to claim to be internationally recognized by organizations such as UNESCO. UNESCO, however, does not possess the mandate to accredit or recognize institutions of higher education or their programs and diplomas. As diploma mills are typically also "licensed" to do business, it is also common practice within the industry to misuse their business license to imply government approval.

Compared to legitimately accredited institutions, diploma mills tend to have drastically lowered or practically non-existent requirements for academic coursework, with some even allowing their students to purchase credentials rather than earn them. Students may be required to purchase textbooks, take tests, and submit homework, but degrees are nonetheless conferred after little or no study.

Many diploma mills may claim to offer qualifications on the basis of life experience or completed coursework, but most require payment prior to issuing a diploma, degree or certificate. The mills do not evaluate academic documents or potential. Buyers use the diplomas to claim academic credentials for use in securing employment (e.g., a schoolteacher may buy a degree from a diploma mill in order to advance to superintendent). Some diploma mills claim to be based outside the country they get customers from. This is common with "offshore" jurisdictions.

Characteristics of diploma mills

Characteristics of diploma mills that differentiate them from respected institutions include the following:

• They lack accreditation by a nationally recognized accrediting agency. Some claim accreditation by an accreditation mill; some such institutions may refer to themselves as being "fully accredited." Some institutions base their assertions of academic legitimacy on claims of affiliation with respected organizations (such as UNESCO) that are not engaged in school accreditation. Promotional materials may use words denoting a legal status such as "licensed", "state authorized" or "state-approved" to suggest an equivalence to accreditation. Some advertise other indicators of authenticity that are not relevant to academic credentials. For example, the University of Northern Washington advertises^[2] that its degrees are "attested and sealed for authenticity by a government appointed notary," although notarization certifies only that the document was signed by the person named.
• No teaching facilities — the address is a postal box or mail forwarding service.
• Degrees can be obtained within a few days, weeks or months from the time of enrollment, and back-dating is possible.
• Faculty members hold advanced degrees from the institution itself or similar organizations.
• Academic credit is offered for "life experience," and this is featured heavily in the selling points of the institution.^[3]
• Tuition and fees are paid on a per-degree basis rather than on a per-semester, per-quarter or per-course basis.
• Prospective students are encouraged to "enroll now" before tuition or fees are increased, or they qualify for a "fellowship", "scholarship" or "grant".
• The institution has no library, personnel, publication or research. In short, very little that is tangible can be found about the "institution".
• Getting a degree requires no visits to the school or other face-to-face meetings with its personnel. Theses or credits can be approved on a mail-order basis.
• Doctoral theses and dissertations are not available from University Microfilms International or a national repository or even the institution's own library.
• Promotional literature contains grammatical and spelling errors, words in Latin, extravagant or pretentious language, and sample diplomas. The school's website looks amateurish or unprofessionally made.
• The school is situated in the United States but the website is not on the '.edu' domain. However, an '.edu' domain cannot be taken as verification of school quality or reputation, as enforcement of the '.edu' policy has sometimes been lax and many diploma mills were "grandfathered" in prior to there being any enforcement of the '.edu' policy.
• Jurisdiction shopping: the school is situated in another country or legal jurisdiction, where running diploma mills is legal, standards are lax or prosecution is unlikely. Unfortunately this includes a number of jurisdictions in the United States. Compare forum shopping and tax haven.
• Despite being situated in such a diploma mill-friendly country, the school has no students from that country, and is run entirely by nonnative staff.
• In most of the European Union, tertiary education is free of charge to students and entrance to tertiary education is limited by highly competitive entrance examinations. In this environment, schools that have a tuition fee, no entrance requirements, and possibly based in another country, may be diploma mills, particularly when they match other criteria in this list.
• Unusual academic subjects. Instead of "hard sciences", where competency is easier to verify, the subjects are esoteric and may be based on a pseudoscience, e.g. astrology, natural healing and religious literature. This makes external verification impossible, because when they define their science, they can also define the educational standards without external oversight.

Legal considerations

Degrees and diplomas issued by diploma mills have been used to obtain employment, raises, or clients. Even if issuing or receiving a diploma mill qualification is legal, passing it off as an accredited one for personal gain is a crime in many jurisdictions. In some cases the diploma mill may itself be guilty of an offense, if it knew or ought to have known that the qualifications it issues are used for fraudulent purposes. Diploma mills could also be guilty of fraud if they mislead customers into believing that the qualifications they issue are accredited or recognized, or make false claims that they will lead to career advancement, and accept money on the basis of these claims.

Some unaccredited institutions include disclaimers in respect of accreditation in the small print of their contracts.

Fake degrees are risky for buyers and consumers, says John Bear, a distance learning and diploma mills expert. "It is like putting a time bomb in your resumé. It could go off at any time, with dire consequences. The people who sell fake degrees will probably never suffer at all, but the people who buy them often suffer mightily. And -- particularly if their "degree" is health-related -- their clients may be seriously harmed."^[4]

Australia

In Australia it is a criminal offense to call an institution a university, or issue university degrees, without authorization through an act of federal or state parliaments.

Under the Higher Education Support Act 2003, corporations wishing to use the term "university" require approval from the Minister for Education, Science and Training.

The corporate regulator ASIC places strict controls on corporations wishing to use the term "university" and the name must not imply a connection with an existing university (e.g. University Avenue Newsagent Pty Ltd) and the applicant does not intend to provide education services.

The Corporations Regulations 2001 lists the 39 academic organisations permitted to use the title "university".

The use of higher education terms (such as "degree") is protected in state legislation, e.g. Higher Education (Qld) Act 2003.

Specific penalties are given within the individual acts and more generally are also covered by the "Misleading and Deceptive Conduct" provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974, permitting fines in excess of $10M AUS.

Canada

In 2006 the Canada Border Services Agency reported concerns about "visa mills," fraudulent universities operated for the sole purpose of helping foreign nationals obtain student visas to allow them to enter Canada.^[5]

Germany

In Germany it is a criminal offense to call an institution a university, a Fachhochschule, or issue academic degrees, without authorization through an act of the respective state'sMinistry of Education. It is also a criminal offense to falsely claim a degree in Germany if it does not meet accredited approval.

Some corporate training programs in Germany use the English term "corporate university". Although such use of the term might be argued to be illegal, in practice it is tolerated since everyone understands that such programs are not actual universities.

Hong Kong

It is illegal under Hong Kong law's Chap. 320 Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance Sec. 8 to use the word 'University' unless approved by Chief Executive in Council.

Under HK Laws. Chap 200 Crimes Ordinance, Section 73, anyone who knowingly used false documents with the intention of inducing somebody to accept it as genuine, "is liable for a 14 years imprisonment term". Section 76 outlines that anyone who make or possess machines that creates false documents are also "liable for 14 years jail time".

India

The University Grants Commission Act 1956 explains,

"the right of conferring or granting degrees shall be exercised only by a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, or a State Act, or an Institution deemed to be University or an institution specially empowered by an Act of the Parliament to confer or grant degrees. Thus, any institution which has not been created by an enactment of Parliament or a State Legislature or has not been granted the status of a Deemed to be University, is not entitled to award a degree."^[6]

Ireland

Legitimate higher education qualifications in Ireland are placed on, or formally aligned, with the National Framework of Qualifications. This framework was established by the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland in accordance with the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act (1999). It is illegal under the Universities Act (1997) for any body offering higher education services to use the term "university" without the permission of the Minister for Education and Science. It is likewise illegal under the Institutes of Technologies Acts (1992-2006) to use the term "institute of technology" or "regional technology college" without permission.

Mexico

In July 2007 a Mexican newspaper reported that the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) of Mexico had issued an alert against foreign institutions alleged to be committing academic fraud through the issuance of degrees for a price after short durations (between seven and 60 days). Eleven foreign institutions were named as fraudulent: Atlantic International University, Pacific Western University, Endicott College, Alliant International University, United States International University, Newport University, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Westbridge University, West Coast University, Bircham International University, and Vision International University. The Secretariat announced a public relations campaign to warn employers, students and parents of prospective students against this form of fraud. In the future, Mexican private universities would be required to include official government registration information, including numbers and dates, in all publicity materials.^[7]

New Zealand

The New Zealand Education Act prohibits use of the terms "degree" and "university" by institutions other than the country's eight accredited universities. In 2004 authorities announced their intention to take action against unaccredited schools using the words "degree" and "university," including the University of Newlands, an unaccredited distance-learning provider based in the Wellington suburb of Newlands. Other unaccredited New Zealand institutions reported to be using the word "university" included the New Zealand University of Golf in Auckland, the online Tawa-Linden and Tauranga Universities of the Third Age, and the Southern University of New Zealand. Newlands owner Rochelle M. Forrester said she would consider removing the word "university" from the name of her institution in order to comply with the law.^[8]

South Korea

It is illegal to falsely claim a degree in South Korea if it does not meet accredited approval. For example, in March 2006 prosecutors in Seoul were reported to have "broken up a crime ring selling bogus music diplomas from Russia, which helped many land university jobs and seats in orchestras."^[9] People who falsely used these degrees were criminally charged.

Early 2007, Shin, Jung Ah (native 신정아) has been criminally charged for forging and misusing a degree from Yale University. This led to domino reactions due to her career status as a Professor in Dong-kuk University along with a curator position at a art gallery known to have many ties with both economical and political figures.

Sweden

In June 2007 the Swedish Minister for Employment, Sven-Otto Littorin, was discovered to have an MBA degree from Fairfax University. Aware that claiming a MBA from this diploma mill would be illegal in many states in the USA, Littorin tried to convince the Swedish media and people that the MBA was granted to him in good order. Probably due to the fact that he did not let anyone peer review his thesis, he was eventually forced to remove the reference from his official CV, but he remained in office.^[10]

Switzerland

In federal law qualifications from federal Institutes of Technology (ETH Zurich, EPF Lausanne) and those from Fachhochschule-institutions are protected and it is a criminal offense, under unfair competition legislation, to claim any unfounded academic or occupational qualifications.

There are three notable diploma mills in Switzerland: Freie Universität Teufen, Freie Universität Herisau and Freie Universität Zug.

United Kingdom

In the UK it is illegal to offer something that may be mistaken to be a UK degree unless the awarding body is on a list maintained by the Department for Education and Skills. This is difficult to enforce on the Internet, where a site may be based abroad. However, UK Trading Standards officers have had notable success in countering a large diploma mill group based abroad that was using British place-names for its "universities".^[11]

United States of America

The United States does not have a federal law that would unambiguously prohibit diploma mills, and the term "university" is not legally protected. As a result, the United States is a diploma mill haven from a global viewpoint. The United States Department of Education lacks direct plenary authority to regulate schools and, consequently, the quality of an institution's degree. Under the terms of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, the U.S. Secretary of Education is required by law to publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies that the Secretary determines to be reliable authorities on the quality of education or training provided by the institutions of higher education that they accredit.

Diploma mills are mainly found in the U.S. jurisdictions which have not adopted tough laws to prohibit them. However, some degree mills take advantage of the constitutional division by establishing themselves as ersatz Bible colleges which can legally offer degrees in religious subjects without government regulation. Nevertheless, some religious colleges and seminaries have been fined for issuing degrees without meeting educational requirements^[12]. In fact it has been noted that:

Fraudulent educational institutions continue to proliferate. These diploma mills survive by operating in states with lax law governing schools, such as California, Utah, Hawaii and Louisiana. They assume identities of well-known schools or as "religious" organizations. Because of constitutional safeguards in the United States guarantee separation of church and state, most states have been reluctant to pass any laws restricting the activities of churches, including their right to grant degrees. John Bear has asked, "What about a school that requires a five-page dissertation before awarding the Doctorate? Nobody seems to want the government stepping in to evaluate doctoral dissertations before permitting schools to grant degrees."[13]

Although the DipScam operation in the 1980s led to a decline in diploma mill activity across the United States, the lack of further action by law enforcement, uneven state laws, and the rise of the Internet have combined to reverse many of the gains made in previous years.

A 2002 Seattle Times article noted that some believed Wyoming had "become a haven for diploma mills."^[14] Conversely, "Oregon, New Jersey, and North Dakota have adopted tough laws that include fines and jail time for using fake degrees to gain employment."^[15]

In 2004, a housecat named Colby Nolan was awarded an "Executive MBA" by Texas-based Trinity Southern University. The cat belonged to a deputy attorney general looking into allegations of fraud by the school. The cat's application was originally for a Bachelor of Business Administration, but due to the cat's "qualifications" (including work experience in fast-food and as a paperboy) the school offered to upgrade the degree to an Executive MBA for an additional $100. As a result of this incident, the Pennsylvania attorney general has filed suit against the school.

In February 2005, the US Department of Education launched www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation to combat the spread of fraudulent degrees.^[16]

The state of Washington passed a bill^[17] in March 2006 "prohibiting false or misleading college degrees."^[18] The law was approved and introduced penalties of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for knowingly granting or promoting an uncredited award. In Tennessee, a law that took effect in July 2004 made diploma mill degrees illegal, but the state does not have an agency or authority to investigate.^[19]

Similarly, Wyoming passed a law requiring a post-secondary institution granting degrees to Wyoming citizens to be accredited, or to be a candidate for accreditation. (There is an exemption for religious schools.) ^[20]

In June 2006 the "NCAA has been scrutinizing the standards of nontraditional high schools to identify 'diploma mills'."^[21] Reportedly this started when "The New York Times exposed University High in Miami."^[21] Currently, there are 22 schools that are under review to make sure they meet NCAA requirements.^[21]

Government jobs scandals and GAO investigation

In 2004, Laura Callahan resigned from the United States Department Of Homeland Security after it was learned that she had received her doctorate from the unaccredited Hamilton University (not to be confused with the fully accredited Hamilton College in Clinton, New York). Callahan had previously been a senior director at the DHS and held supervisory positions at the United States Department of Labor and within the Bill Clinton White House. According to an article in Reason magazine, “The (Callahan) scandal raises serious doubts about the government's ability to vet the qualifications of public employees on whom the nation's security depends.”

The Callahan scandal caused a public outcry that stimulated an 11-month congressional investigation into fraudulent use of and reimbursement for non-qualifying academic degrees by government workers, the first such major inquiry since Operation Dipscam. A 2004 report^[22] released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) detailed a pattern of widespread and ongoing abuse by numerous federal employees, based on information provided by three unaccredited schools that cooperated with the initial probe. The institutions, California Coast University, Kennedy-Western University, and Pacific Western University, represented a small fraction of the dozens of suspected diploma mills in existence nationwide. The particular concern addressed was that the regulations allowing Federal funding of degrees mandate that the program must be accredited. Note that California Coast University has since gained national accreditation and is fully accredited by the DETC, which has Department of Education approval to accredit degree programs.

463 federal employees were discovered to have been enrolled in the three schools at the time of the inquiry. The Department of Defense had the highest number of enrollees, with 257 employees registered. The GAO also found that the government itself had paid at least $170,000 for questionable "coursework" by federal employees at California Coast and Kennedy-Western alone, and believed that even this amount had been significantly understated by the institutions involved.

The GAO report revealed that at least 28 senior-level employees had obtained their degrees from diploma mills or unaccredited universities, while cautioning that "this number is believed to be an understatement." The implicated officials included three unnamed National Nuclear Security Administration managers with emergency operations responsibility and top "Q level" security clearance allowing access to sensitive nuclear weapons information. In May of 2004, NNSA spokesman Brian Wilkes told reporters that "the [managers'] conditions of employment did not rest on the education that they were claiming," and that the revelations would not affect their job status.^[23]

Many of the federal officials implicated in the scandal were never publicly named, and their status remains unclear. Charles Abell, the principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, was identified by the press as having obtained his master's degree from Columbus University of New Orleans, an unaccredited distance learning school. Daniel P. Matthews, Chief Information Officer for the Department of Transportation (which oversees the Transportation Security Administration) was reported to have received his $3,500 bachelor of science degree from Kent College, a diploma mill in Mandeville, Louisiana. In spite of these revelations, both remained in their positions and continued to hold security clearances.^[24] Abell continued in his Defense Department job until August 2005, when he joined the staff of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services, where he remained until 2007.^[25]

Terrorism worries

On December 15 2005, CNN aired a report on diploma mills and terrorism. The report explained that "H-1B visas can be issued to anyone who is highly skilled and can get a job in the U.S. McDevitt is concerned a phony advanced degree could be the first step for someone in a terrorist sleeper cell."^[26]

The report explained, the Secret Service "bought their own degree for a perfect terrorist candidate, although theirs was fictional." The person was Mohammed Syed with no formal education, but training in chemical engineering with the Syrian army. "The Secret Service even added to Syed's application that he needed a degree quickly, so he could find employment and obtain an H-1B visa, allowing him to stay in the US." Furthermore, "In less than a month, the imaginary Syrian army expert was notified, James Monroe University was awarding him three advanced degrees in engineering and chemistry, all for $1,277."^[26]

See also

• Accreditation mill
• .edu
• Essay mill
• List of unaccredited institutions of higher learning
• List of unrecognized accreditation associations of higher learning
• School accreditation
• Name It and Frame It?

References

Footnotes

Books

• Levicoff, Steve: Name It and Frame It?: New Opportunities in Adult Education and How to Avoid Being Ripped Off by 'Christian' Degree Mills. (4th ed., 1995)
• Bear, John: Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning, Ten Speed Press, 2001
• Noble, David: Digital Diploma Mills: The Automation of Higher Education, Monthly Review Press, 2002, ISBN 1583670610

External links

General information and news

• Information resources concerning unaccredited degree-granting institutions – A collection of links by George Gollin
• Psst. Wanna Buy a Ph.D.? The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 25 2004. "Some professors have dubious doctorates, other professors sell them, and colleges often look the other way."
• A Video on Distance Learning and Online Degrees: Are They Worth It?
• Information about Diploma Mills from eLearners.com
• Sperry, Paul. Cut-Rate Diplomas: How doubts about the government's own "Dr. Laura" exposed a résumé fraud scandal. Reason magazine, January 2005.
• Associated Press. U.N. Fired Staff Members With Academic Degrees From Diploma Mill, via Fox News, 11 February 2007.

U.S. state sites

• List of non-accredited colleges/universities by State of Michigan
• Unaccredited colleges by Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization
• List of non-accredited colleges/ universities by State of Maine
• List of Fraudulent or Substandard Institutions with a Texas connection
• List of Fraudulent or Substandard Institutions with no known Texas connection

Accreditation databases

• The World Higher Education Database (IAU/UNESCO) List of accredited schools throughout the world
• Database for Accreditation in the United States (CHEA)
• Database for Accreditation in the United States (USDE)
• Database for Accreditation in the United Kingdom
• Database for Accreditation in Australia
• Database for Accreditation in India
• Database for Accreditation in Malaysia
• Database for Accreditation in the Netherlands
• Database for Accreditation in Pakistan
• Database for Accreditation in the Philippines
• Database for Accreditation in Russia
• Database for Accreditation in Sweden
• National Recognition Information Centres