Saint Regis University sometimes styled as St. Regis University was a diploma mill operation that was one of about 120 connected institutions operated by an American fraud ring from about 1999 until 2005, when it was shut down by U.S. government authorities. The operation was known as "Operation Gold Seal".
A diploma mill or degree mill is a business that sells illegitimate diplomas or academic degrees. The term diploma mill is also used pejoratively to describe any educational institution with low standards for admission and graduation, low job placement rate, or low average starting salaries of its graduates.
Stevens–Henager College was a private college headquartered in Ogden, Utah which was founded in 1891 and closed abruptly in August 2021. It was one of four educational institutions affiliated with the Salt Lake City–based Center for Excellence in Higher Education (CEHE). Established in 1891, the college had campuses in Idaho and Utah. It offered online and on-campus programs for associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, and master's degrees.
Belford University was an organization that offered online unaccredited degrees for "life experience". The organization maintained a post office box in Humble, Texas, but its certificates were mailed from the United Arab Emirates. Along with many similar websites, it was owned by the Karachi-based company Axact, the main business of which, according to an investigation by The New York Times, is "to take the centuries-old scam of selling fake academic degrees and turn it into an Internet-era scheme on a global scale". In July 2018, Shoaib Ahmed Sheikh, the CEO of Axact was arrested and sentenced to prison for 20 years for his role in perpetuating this scam.
Everest College was a system of colleges in the United States, and with Wyotech, made up Zenith Education. It was until 2015 a system of for-profit colleges in the United States and the Canadian province of Ontario, owned and operated by Corinthian Colleges, Inc. In 2021, former Everest students were made eligible for automatic student loan debt relief through the US Department of Education.
Independence University was a private online career college headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was the online branch of Stevens–Henager College, and operated four schools: the School of Healthcare, the School of Business, the School of Technology, and the School of Graphic Arts. IU was founded by Carl Barney and owned and operated by the Center for Excellence in Higher Education (CEHE). Independence university was accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges but the accreditor has begun withdrawing its accreditation because the university allegedly "failed to demonstrate successful student achievement by maintaining acceptable rates of student graduation and employment." In 2021, IU canceled classes scheduled to start May 10. On August 1, 2021, Independence University closed its doors permanently.
Branford Hall Career Institute was a for-profit career college, owned by Trigram Education Partners, with campuses in Branford, and Southington, Connecticut; Amityville, New York; Jersey City and Parsippany, New Jersey. According to the US Department of Education, "BHCI’s last day of educational instruction was September 25, 2020, which serves as its official closure date for purposes of the federal student aid programs." Students may apply for a closed school discharge of their federal loans.
Unaccredited institutions of higher education are colleges, trade schools, seminaries, and universities which do not have formal educational accreditation.
Diploma mills in the United States are organizations that award academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without academic approval by officially recognized educational accrediting bodies or qualified government agencies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit. These degrees are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some organizations claim accreditation by non-recognized/unapproved accrediting bodies set up for the purposes of providing a veneer of authenticity.
California College San Diego (CCSD) was a private college in San Diego, California. The college was one of four educational institutions affiliated with the Salt Lake City-based Center for Excellence in Higher Education (CEHE). It awarded associate, bachelor's, and master's programs in healthcare, business, and technology. The college was accredited by Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) and was affiliated with Stevens-Henager College for providing online education.
In the United Kingdom a bogus college is a fake college or university used as part of an immigration and visa scam, whereby people from overseas can apply for a British student visa and illegally reside in the United Kingdom. They have also been set up as a money making scam, selling fake qualifications which have no official accreditation, often at the taxpayer's expense.
Higher education accreditation in the United States is a peer review process by which the validity of degrees and credits awarded by higher education institutions is assured. It is coordinated by accreditation commissions made up of member institutions. It was first undertaken in the late 19th century by cooperating educational institutions, on a regional basis.
Higher education accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of post-secondary educational institutions or programs are evaluated to determine if applicable standards are met. If standards are met, accredited status is granted by the agency.
Tri-Valley University (TVU) was an unaccredited private university in Pleasanton, California. It was shut down after being raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement due to possible visa fraud.
Herguan University was a private, unaccredited, university and alleged visa mill in Sunnyvale, California operated by Dr. Ying Qiu Wang. As of 2019, its domain names herguanuniversity.edu and herguanuniversity.org appear to be abandoned.
Harris School of Business (HSB) was a for-profit college with locations in the northeast United States, and was a subsidiary of Trigram Education Partners. According to the US Department of Education, "HSB’s last day of educational instruction was Oct. 9, 2020, which serves as its official closure date for purposes of the federal student aid programs." Students may apply for a closed school discharge of their federal loans. HSB was founded in 1965 to provide post-secondary educations in allied health and business management. In August 2020, the US Department of Education cut off Title IV funds to the schools.
The University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ) was a fake university created and maintained by the United States Department of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2016 to investigate student visa fraud. It claimed to be based in Cranford, New Jersey, with plans to expand to Harrison, Hoboken, and Morristown.
The University of Farmington was a fake university set up in 2015 in Michigan by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to expose student visa fraud in the United States. The sting operation, which was code-named "Paper Chase", was overseen by the United States Department of Homeland Security. Over 600 individuals were identified in the operation, many of whom face deportation from the United States for visa violations.
For-profit colleges, also known as proprietary colleges, are post-secondary schools that rely on investors, and survive by making a profit. They include for-profit vocational and technical schools, career colleges, and predominantly online universities. For-profit colleges have frequently offered career-oriented curricula including culinary arts, business and technology, and health care. These institutions have a long history in the US, and grew rapidly from 1972 to 2009. The growth of for-profit education has been fueled by government funding as well as corporate investment, including private equity.
