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A diploma mill is a company or organization that claims to be a higher education institution but provides illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee. The degrees can be fabricated (made-up), falsified (fake), or misrepresented. These degrees may claim to give credit for relevant life experience, but should not be confused with legitimate prior learning assessment programs. They may also claim to evaluate work history or require submission of a thesis or dissertation for evaluation to give an appearance of authenticity. Diploma mills are frequently supported by accreditation mills, set up for the purpose of providing an appearance of authenticity. The term may also be used pejoratively to describe an accredited institution with low academic admission standards and a low job placement rate. An individual may or may not be aware that the degree they have obtained is not wholly legitimate. In either case, legal issues can arise if the qualification is used in resumes.
Breyer State University, also called Breyer State University-Alabama, is an unaccredited distance education, for profit, private university that formerly operated in the U.S. states of Idaho and Alabama and now reports a location in Panama. It has been described by The New Republic magazine as a diploma mill that "claimed official-sounding accreditation to attract hundreds of people to obtain degrees". Breyer State University disputes this categorization.
Ashwood University is a diploma mill in Pakistan. It claims to award academic degrees based on "life experience." Ashwood University is not accredited by any recognised accreditation body. As such, its degrees may not be acceptable to employers or other institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.
Suffield University is an unaccredited internet school specializing in what it calls Life Experience Degrees, issued upon payment, with life experience assessment based on the word of the applicant. Suffield is not accredited by any accreditation body recognized by its country. According to the US Department of Education, unaccredited degrees and credits might not be acceptable to employers or other institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.
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.
Rochville University was an online diploma mill offering a "Life Experience Degree, and Certificate Program" without coursework or prior transcript evaluation. The State of Texas classified it as an "illegal supplier of educational credentials" whose degrees may not be used in Texas. The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization lists it as "fake". Its operation is believed to be centered in Pakistan, and its diplomas and degree certificates have been mailed from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Along with many similar enterprises, it is owned by the Karachi based company, Axact, whose main business, according to a New York Times investigation, is "to take the centuries-old scam of selling fake academic degrees and turn it into an Internet-era scheme on a global scale".
American Central University (ACU) was an unaccredited distance learning private, for-profit university licensed by the state of Wyoming in 2004. The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization stated that the institution may be run from Malaysia.
Rushmore University is an unaccredited institution of higher learning offering online degrees in a variety of business-related fields, exclusively via distance learning. It has been described as a diploma mill, providing illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee.
Madison University is a non-accredited distance learning college located in Gulfport, Mississippi. The state of Mississippi considers Madison an "unapproved" college. Madison is also listed as an unaccredited and/or substandard institution by four other U.S. states. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Madison University has been referred to as a diploma mill by the state of Oregon.
St Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine was a medical training establishment in Luton, England, as a college within the University El Hadji Ibrahima Niasse of Dakar, Senegal. The Luton, England campus was closed in 2011.
St Clements University is a higher education institution which has reported itself to be registered in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Its website lists a number of affiliations and recognitions and a network of over 10 centres and offices in a number of countries. Since 2005 it has established locally registered autonomous schools, St Clements University Higher Education School in Niue, St Clements University in Somalia, and the Université Suisse Privée St Cléments.
The Clayton College of Natural Health was a non-accredited American distance-learning college based in Birmingham, Alabama, offering classes in various forms of alternative medicine. The school was founded in 1980 by Lloyd Clayton Jr. as the American College of Holistic Nutrition. According to its website, the school at one point had more than 25,000 students and graduates. The school and some of its more notable graduates have been the subject of controversy.
The American University of London (AUOL) is an online diploma mill. The company disputes the label and instead describes itself as a for-profit unaccredited educational institution offering undergraduate and graduate degrees solely by distance learning. It is a different organization than the American University in London.
Unaccredited institutions of higher education are colleges, trade schools, seminaries, and universities which do not have formal educational accreditation.
St. Theresa's Medical University was a medical school located in Basseterre, St. Kitts prior to its closure in 2009.
Bienville University was an unaccredited institution that was based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was run by Thomas J. Kirk. Bienville University was referred to as a diploma mill or degree mill in a 2003 article by KVBC News 3. It was never recognised or approved by any accreditation agency and was not approved by the US Department of Education nor the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and has been closed by the State of Louisiana.
A diploma mill is an organization that awards 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.
West Coast University of Panama is a higher education provider based in Panama.
Warren National University, previously known as Kennedy-Western University, was an unaccredited private distance learning university that claimed to offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in the United States from 1984 to 2009. It has been described by federal investigators and news sources as a diploma mill, a designation it has disputed. Its administrative offices were located in Agoura Hills, California.
References
- ↑ Unaccredited Colleges Archived 2012-10-05 at the Wayback Machine , Oregon Office of Degree Authorization website, accessed October 6, 2010
- ↑ MIC Authorization, website, accessed October 6, 2010
- ↑ "Management Institute of Canada: Corporate programs". Micanada.org. 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2012-12-31.
- ↑ Le MIC, une école non reconnue en activité depuis 2005, Enquête, 1 mars 2012, Radio-Canada (en français)
- ↑ MIC is a recognized School in Quebec, MIC is a fully recognized school - confirmation of the Quebec Ministry of Education.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Unaccredited colleges Archived 2012-10-05 at the Wayback Machine , Oregon Office of Degree Authorization
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, Diploma Mills and Accreditation
- 1 2 3 State mulls online learning Archived 2008-01-15 at the Wayback Machine by the Associated Press, Billings Gazette , January 30, 2005
- ↑ Maine Higher Education - Non-Accredited Schools
- ↑ Higher Education Coordinating Board Archived 2008-01-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas". Archived from the original on 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
- ↑ "Is Oregon the only state that disallows use of unaccredited degrees?". Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
