Avoiding the Fakers! Spot Online Diploma Mills

If you are looking to earn an online degree, you need to watch out for known diploma mills. There are many red flags to warn you as well as several

sites that offer a list of diploma mills. You are going to invest time, money, and energy into your online degree. Make sure you are getting it from a reputable source!

What Is A Diploma Mill

A degree mill, or diploma mill, is a company that awards “diplomas” with very little academic study. With the growth in interest in affordable online education, there are many college diploma mills out there. Online diploma mills are often organizations that claim to award degrees or certificates while they hold no accreditation, even though they may claim accreditation. Even if they appear to have authentic accreditation, national recognized accrediting bodies, such as the United States Department of Education, do not accept their accreditation.

Combating Diploma Mills

The United States Department of Education is working hard to get rid of these online diploma mills. One of the things the department has done in this regard is to compile a database that lists schools and universities that have been recognized and accredited by good accreditation agencies. The database can be accessed at ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

The Department of Education database can be searched a variety of ways. You can search for the accrediting agency including national agencies and regional agencies. You can also search by geographic region, state, or city. If you know the name of the institution, you can search by name. If a school is not listed, that's a red flag. (You can also search by the type of institution, and number of students enrolled.)

When you find a school you will be provided with the name, address, and phone number. If the school has a website, that will also be listed. You will also be given the agency where the school has their accreditation, with a link to information about the agency.

Continue to: How to Avoid Known Scams in Online Diploma Mills

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