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National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE) identifies itself as an organization specializing in evaluation of people's educational credentials. Some United States educational authorities identify it as an unrecognized [1] [2] accreditation organization or accreditation mill. NAHE charges fees for a service described as an evaluation of the educational credentials of clients who have studied in other countries or attained degrees through alternative methods.
The NAHE subsidiary Association of Distance Learning Programs (ADLP) offers "accreditation" for all types of educational programs world-wide, including schools, colleges, distance learning programs, evaluation of experiential learning, and other non-traditional education programs. ADLP is not, however, recognized by either the United States Department of Education (USDE) or Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) as a nationally recognized accrediting agency.
Some organizations, including Concordia College and University, Lacrosse University, and The American University of London, that have been identified as diploma mills claim to be "recognized" by NAHE or "accredited" by ADLP . [3] [4] Credential Watch lists both NAHE and ADLP as unrecognized educational accreditation agencies. [1] The California Postsecondary Education Commission lists NAHE as an unrecognized accreditation agency. [2] Accreditation by unrecognized organizations has no known academic value. Organizations that claim accreditation or approval by ADLP and NAHE sometimes acknowledge in their promotional materials that these organizations are unrecognized, but suggest that it is not important for accrediting bodies to have government recognition. For example, the Lacrosse University website [5] states:
ADLP is a private accrediting association not listed with any government agency or the U.S. Department of Education, and is not designed to meet the needs of students intending to utilize federal funds. Students are encouraged to determine, prior to enrollment, that their degree program or studies meet admission or transfer requirements of other educational institutions, if they seek to continue their education. The University makes no representations, promises or guarantees of acceptability of transfer credit to any other public or private educational institution. The National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE) evaluates the educational credentials of clients who have studied in other countries or attained degrees through alternative methods or distance learning to determine if they meet equivalency standards of the United States. NAHE is an International Credential Evaluation Service, founded in 1974 to help graduates gain the recognition they need to pursue their career and educational goals.
People who obtain "degrees" from diploma mills that make these types of statements are likely to find that the credentials they bought are not accepted by academic institutions, governments, or employers.
The website of National Academy of Higher Education as of 2007 [update] is www.nahighered.co.cc, a free URL redirection address; co.cc is an ordinary second-level Cocos (Keeling) Islands domain like any other. The co.cc redirector bills itself as "your free domain for blog" [6] and the nahighered page itself consists of an archived Wayback Machine page from 2005 [7] as nahighered.org, a domain registered using a Canadian whois-privacy service and pointing to a Boston server that is not currently functional.
There is a legitimate organization with the name "National Academy of Higher Education" in Pakistan. [8] The organization in Pakistan was not intended to be an educational accreditation body and is not connected to the "National Academy of Higher Education" accreditation mill.
Its purpose is solely as a resource for professional development of educators at existing educational institutions. According to the Higher Education Commission, "National Academy of Higher Education is a new initiative of Higher Education Commission for faculty development in the higher education institutions. The objective is to enhance basic competencies in academic practice in higher education."
Bronte International University is an unaccredited post-secondary educational institution formerly in South Dakota. It is widely considered to be a diploma mill, operated from an unknown location. Its website offers "fast" degrees for "life experience."
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 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.
Bircham International University is a private, unaccredited institution of distance-learning higher education. It is registered in Spain and Delaware, and formerly operated from the Bahamas.
Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks.
An accreditation mill is an organization that purports to award educational accreditation to higher education institutions without having government authority or recognition from mainstream academia to operate as an accreditor. Implicit in the terminology is the assumption that the "mill" has low standards for such accreditation. Accreditation mills are much like diploma mills, and in many cases are closely associated with diploma mills. The "accreditation" they supply has no legal or academic value but is used in diploma mill marketing to help attract students.
Pacific International University was an unaccredited, conservative, Christian diploma mill college located in Springfield, Missouri. Carl Baugh, a 1989 alumnus, was the university's president.
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".
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.
University Degree Program (UDP) is or was an unaccredited consortium of diploma mills run by Americans Jason and Caroline Abraham beginning in the 1990s. In 2004, The Chronicle of Higher Education called UDP the "granddaddy" of diploma mill operations.
The International Accreditation Agency for Online Universities (IAAOU) is a self-styled "accreditation" board based in the United States. It has no status with the United States Department of Education (USDE) or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Without USDE and CHEA recognition, its "accreditations" are essentially meaningless.
Concordia College and University is an entity with a primary mailing address in Delaware that represents itself as a real life institution that awards associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees based solely on the purchaser's work and life experience, with some credits transferred in. Although the name is similar, Concordia College and University is not in any way affiliated with any of the regionally accredited institutions within the ten-member Concordia University System.
Almeda University was an unaccredited for-profit online university registered on the Caribbean island of Nevis. It offered illegitimate degrees including online certificate programs, general "Life Experience Degrees", and doctorates in religion and theology. Almeda was accredited by the Council for Distance Education Accreditation, the Interfaith Education Ministries (IEM), and the Association for Online Academic Excellence (AOAEX), none of which were recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Almeda University is widely regarded as a diploma mill. It was owned and operated by Pakistani software company Axact.
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.
Online credentials for learning are digital credentials that are offered in place of traditional paper credentials for a skill or educational achievement. They are directly linked to the accelerated development of internet communication technologies, the development of digital badges, electronic passports and massive open online courses (MOOCs).
The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) is a United States non-profit organization, established in 1987, which accredits private companies who, in turn, provide transcript evaluation services of academic degrees awarded from non-United States educational institutions.