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Home » Library » Features » The $200 Million Industry That's Given Out Countless Fake Degrees
The $200 Million Industry That's Given Out Countless Fake Degrees
It is a criminal offense in Australia to issue university degrees without authorization through an act of federal or state parliament. In India, the only way to obtain a legal degree is through a university that is empowered by an Act of the Parliament to confer or grant degrees. In Germany, the Ministry of Education must authorize any institution for higher learning's validity. In the U.S., accreditation is a peer review process [PDF] that does not require government authorization. Is it any wonder that the U.S. remains the focus for an industry that has accrued at least $200 million to $500 million through bogus degree offerings?
Diploma mills represent a thriving industry where individuals can purchase a degree without undergoing rigorous undergraduate or graduate academic work. Although this business seems to have blossomed overnight, diploma mills have existed in the U.S. for over a century. What, exactly, is a degree or diploma mill, why do they remain successful, and how can you protect yourself against these illegitimate businesses?
What is a Degree Mill?
A degree or diploma mill is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas to "students" in exchange for money, but official accrediting bodies [PDF] do not recognize the degrees. Although this business isn't new, the Internet has offered a profitable venue for their offerings. Today, Web sites abound with stories about individuals who tested their ability to acquire degrees for as little as $25 for a bachelor's degree and for as much as several thousand dollars for a doctorate.
Some of these degree mills may offer seemingly legitimate coursework, but the academics involved are questionable. These fake universities often advertise in legitimate and respected publications, an activity that adds to the institution's perceived quality. For instance, Columbia State University, which supposedly was located in Louisiana, advertised in the Economist magazine, but the school was shut down in 1999 after it was discovered that orders for degrees were forwarded to a California office where "admissions officers" fielded calls and mailed out thousands of Columbia State Diplomas. Louisiana officials estimated the school took in as much as $1 million per month while in operation.
On the other side of this accreditation coin, unaccredited institutions that allow legitimate academic work and degrees also exist; however, since these organizations are not accredited, the degrees granted by these institutions will be worthless unless they are approved by state agencies such as the ODA (Office of Degree Authorization) in Oregon. State laws under which such institutions are approved vary from state to state, so some employers and other universities may not recognize these unaccredited qualifications no matter how difficult the courses or how well the student performed.
Why Do Degree Mills Remain Active?
Little has been done to crack down on diploma mills since the FBI's Operation DIPSCAM ceased operations in the early 1990s. Unfortunately, the ongoing proliferation of these degrees can make all degrees suspect, especially when accredited degrees are obtained from smaller colleges outside the Ivy League mainstream. These false degrees also cast a sordid light onto any online degree program.
Lack of persecution is one reason why diploma mills remain active. Various other reasons account for the continuation of these operations, from the degree recipients' fear of exposure to a degree mill's ability to move about undetected. Additionally, these fake colleges will assume names that sound familiar and they often will claim accreditation by a fake accrediting agency to attract more students to their degree programs and to make them appear more legitimate.
Despite lack of acknowledgement by accrediting parties, people continue to knowingly or unknowingly participate in these programs. Unfortunately, the degree recipients continue to offer their credentials as legitimate documents for employment because federal and state laws in most states remain lax about this issue. According to the Yale Daily News, "nearly 500 senior federal employees [are] listing diploma mill degrees among their qualifications, many of whom have top-secret security clearance and remain in those jobs today."
What Can You Do?
As distance study and online universities become more popular, the number of organizations that offer fake degrees may increase to take advantage of the cover provided by legitimate educational institutions. To make sure that you do everything to protect yourself from a financial mistake and educational fraud, you can follow the 15 suggestions offered below:
- Is the accreditation agency legitimate? Although the government isn't involved with accrediting an institution, it is involved with listing the accrediting agencies for various degrees. You can compare your chosen college's claims against this list to learn if your institution carries legitimate accreditation.
- Is the college accredited? The CHEA (Council for Higher Education Accreditation) is an association of 3,000 degree-granting colleges and universities and recognizes 60 institutional and programmatic accrediting organizations. Check their list to learn about legitimate accrediting agencies. You can also search for accredited institutions through the CHEA database.
- Is the college recognized by the state where you reside and/or work? Depending upon the state in which you reside and/or the state where you want to work, you might check on state laws regarding diploma mills. Oregon pushes the harshest laws for both diploma mills and for the people who use those degrees to gain employment. But you might use that fake degree to get a job in Florida. You can check states that enforce laws and those that are lax at the Oregon site. But, you might check with other state education sites to learn more.
- Can you obtain a degree for 'life experience'? Watch out for a college that offers a degree for your "life experience," even if you lack a previous degree. Some colleges legitimately offer limited credits for life and/or work experience, especially for undergraduate degrees, but they don't offer an entire degree based upon those attributes. One exception to this rule includes Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey. This publicly funded distance learning facility offers associate's or bachelor's degrees through a combination of previous life, career, and educational experiences and qualified examinations. The legitimate Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools accredits this institution. Beyond this, you will be hard pressed to gain credits for life or work experience in a master's or doctoral degree program under any circumstance.
- Can you gain admittance with little more than a valid credit card? Avoid any college that requires a valid credit card for admittance, especially if your previous academic record, grade point average history and test scores are deemed irrelevant.
- Are you billed for one flat payment? If that college degree requires a flat payment up front, you may lose out on your money and your degree as that organization could take your money and disappear without sending that sheepskin. Legitimate universities charge per credit or per course tuition and fees that are based upon your choice of courses for upcoming quarters or semesters. Most legitimate colleges also offer payment options.
- Can you get a quick turnaround on that diploma? If you are offered a degree within a few days, weeks, or even a few months, you've been scammed. Rapid turnaround is key for profit, so diploma mills usually don't hold onto their students for any length of time.
- Is that online university properly accredited? If the online university that you want to attend tells you that online universities cannot be accredited, they're wrong. At OEDb, our database only lists accredited online universities.
- Does the faculty exist, and what are their credentials? Check out the faculty. If one doesn't exist, then leave the site immediately. If you find a faculty listing, check their degrees to discover whether they attended accredited universities.
- Is the college office located in a foreign country? If the university offers online degrees solely in the U.S., but the office is located in a foreign county, don't be fooled into sending money. Although some of these sites appear credible and although they might advertise heavily, they might be run by organizations located in countries that lack any accreditation system. Usually colleges that have foreign offices also maintain foreign campuses.
- Are you required to attend classes on campus or online? Legitimate colleges require attendance, even if it's only online.
- Is the college recruiter chasing you? If a college is aggressively pursuing you after one inquiry, that college may not be legitimate. Accredited colleges don’t use spam or high-pressure telemarketing to market themselves to prospective students.
- Did the college advertise through spam or pop-ups? If the school caught your attention through an unsolicited email or pop-up ad, it may be a diploma mill. Legitimate institutions, including distance-learning programs, usually won’t advertise through spam or pop-ups.
- Does the college maintain a "real" campus? Check the campus location on Google Maps and use the "Satellite" option to find the campus. Some operations will fail to provide any information about a campus or business location and will provide a post office box, but others might use bogus photographs to push a legitimate campus presence. First, an accredited institution will always provide a street address. Secondly, a legitimate campus layout or map should match the one you see on Google Maps Satellite maps. If it doesn't, you might call the college to find out why they don't show up.
- Have others made complaints against that college? Check with the Better Business Bureau for complaints about the university in question. The BBB registers complaints about online degree mills, so they can tell you if the college in question has been listed or not.
If you feel that you've been scammed by a diploma mill, or if you recognize a college that appears to fill all the attributes of this business, you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. This is another good resource that you can check before you send money to that university.
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