A diploma mill is an educational institution that has received no accreditation from an accrediting agency, making its degree programs essentially fraudulent or worthless. Also referred to as a degree mill, these types of organizations lack official accrediting recognition and oftentimes claim accreditation through unapproved organizations as a means to appear legitimate.

Diploma mills can sometimes be identified:


• 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 by diploma mill scams, students should check with the school's accreditations and verify that they are indeed from legitimate accrediting agencies. Also, students should ask the school for more information regarding their degree programs and look for accreditations from possibly shady organizations. It is important that students exercise due diligence before committing to any one educational institution.