What is a Diploma Mill?

A diploma mill is an educational institution that has not received accreditation from an accrediting agency. These types of degree programs are essentially fraudulent and worthless. Additional types of diploma mills consist of organizations that lack official accrediting recognition, and often claim accreditation through unapproved organizations in an attempt to appear legitimate.

Diploma mills can sometimes be identified by:


• Name: Schools often try to choose names similar to more established/reputable colleges and universities, capitalizing on prospective students' confusion and or lack of awareness.
• Cost/Time: Diploma mills often advertise the completion of degree programs for significantly lower costs and/or time than other similar establishments.
• Affiliate Accrediting Organization: Diploma mills often create affiliate organizations simply for the purpose of accrediting themselves to appear like a true educational institution. Like diploma mills, accreditation mills also exist that try to accredit diploma mill schools without any real evaluation.

To avoid being taken advantage of by diploma mill scams, students should check the school's accreditations, and verify that it is from a legitimate accrediting agency. Also, students should ask the school for more information regarding their degree programs in order to better gauge the authenticity of the institution. It is important that students exercise due diligence before committing to any one educational institution.