Diploma & Accreditation Mills

Students do not pay for degrees. They pay for education. Purchasing an unearned degree is a waste of your money, does not prepare you to enter your profession, and could potentially damage your future career outlook. You should be aware of fraudulent institutions and be certain that your education is legitimate.

The number of fake or unaccredited institutions and programs is rising dramatically. These organizations, also known as diploma mills, often offer high-cost, low-effort degrees.

Businesses and the government are examining employees’ credentials more thoroughly to ensure they earned their degrees from a legitimate institution. Citing a purchased degree on your resume may be considered fraud in some states and in many countries. Even worse, you won’t have learned anything of any value.

ABET accreditation is one way of guaranteeing the legitimacy of your program, avoiding the trap of diploma mills. Also known as degree mills, they award degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official accrediting bodies. ABET accreditation assures you that your program provides the knowledge and skills necessary to enter your chosen profession.

What are diploma mills?

Diploma mills or degree mills tend to have drastically lower requirements for academic coursework, with some even allowing students to purchase credentials without any educational activity. Students may be required to purchase textbooks, submit homework, and take tests, but degrees are nonetheless conferred after little or no study. Diploma mills are motivated by profit and often claim accreditation by non-recognized or unapproved accrediting bodies (accreditation mills) set up for the purposes of providing an appearance of authenticity.

What are accreditation mills?

An accreditation mill is an organization that awards educational accreditation to higher education programs without having government authority or recognition from mainstream academia to operate as an accreditor. Accreditation mills are much like diploma mills and, in many cases, are closely associated with diploma mills. The “accreditation” they grant has no legal or academic value but is used in diploma mill marketing to help attract students.