How to Spot a Diploma Mill (and the Fake Accreditors Behind Them)
A degree you can buy in a week isn’t a shortcut. It can cost you a job offer, a license or worse.
A diploma mill is a business that sells degrees, often with impressive names and official-looking paperwork, for little or no academic work. The Federal Trade Commission warns that these degrees can lead to lost jobs and damaged reputations when employers or licensing boards discover them.
Warning signs
- Degrees based mostly or entirely on “life experience”, with no real coursework or exams.
- A flat price per degree rather than tuition per course or credit.
- Very fast completion, such as a bachelor’s degree in weeks.
- Little or no contact with instructors, and assignments that are trivial or optional.
- Accreditation from an agency you can’t find on the Department of Education’s or CHEA’s lists.
- A name that closely imitates a well-known university.
- Pressure to buy extras, like transcripts, honors or backdated graduation dates.
Accreditation mills
Because people know to ask about accreditation, diploma mills often claim it, from agencies they invented. These “accreditation mills” have official-sounding names and websites, and they may accredit dozens of schools that all happen to share an address.
The test is simple: a legitimate U.S. accreditor appears in the Department of Education’s or CHEA’s list of recognized agencies. Our guide to checking accreditation walks through it.
Caution: Several states have laws against using a degree from an unaccredited or fraudulent school to get a job, a license or a promotion. Listing a purchased degree on an application can have consequences long after the purchase.
Degrees from outside the United States
Legitimate foreign universities aren’t accredited by U.S. agencies, so checking them works differently. Employers and U.S. colleges usually ask for a credential evaluation from an independent evaluation service, which compares the degree with U.S. equivalents. Members of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) are widely accepted. Be wary of an “evaluation” offered by the same company selling the degree.
How employers check
Many employers verify degrees directly with the school or through the National Student Clearinghouse’s degree verification service. A diploma mill’s “verification line” that confirms anything you ask is itself a red flag.
The legitimate shortcut
If you’re looking to turn experience into a degree faster, there are real ways to do it: credit by exam, portfolio assessment and credit for military and workplace training at accredited colleges. See credit for prior learning.
In brief
- A diploma mill sells degrees with little or no real academic work.
- Accreditation mills are fake accreditors that make diploma mills look legitimate.
- Degrees for life experience alone, flat fees per degree and very fast completion are classic warning signs.
- Employers can verify degrees, and using a fake one can break state law.
Readers ask
Can I get credit for my work experience legitimately?
Yes. Accredited colleges award credit for prior learning through exams, portfolios and reviews of military and workplace training. The difference is that you earn credits toward a real program, rather than buying a finished degree.
Are .edu websites always legitimate?
In the U.S., new .edu addresses are restricted to accredited institutions, so a .edu address is a good sign. Many diploma mills use .com or .org addresses, but a missing .edu alone doesn’t make a school a mill, especially outside the U.S.
I already paid a diploma mill. What now?
Stop paying, keep your records and report the company to the Federal Trade Commission and your state attorney general. If you paid by credit card, ask your card issuer about a dispute.
Admission rules, accreditation status and licensing requirements change. This guide is general information for students in the U.S.; confirm the details with the school, its accreditor or your state licensing board before you enroll.