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How to Avoid Known Scams in Online Diploma Mills
There are many institutions out there that are known diploma mills. How can you avoid these mills?
Where can you find a source that lists diploma mills? There are many great sources with information on how to identify a diploma mill.
Contact Information
One of the first things to look at is if you can easily contact the school. A legitimate college or university will have phone numbers, an address, as well as online contact sources. If the only way to communicate with the school is online, be suspicious.
Accreditation
Look out for sites that use accreditation doublespeak, which means trying to convince you that you do not need accreditation. They often claim to have it, yet try to downplay the fact.
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This is a sure sign of a diploma mill. Not all schools have accreditation, but if they are trying to convince you that it is not necessary or helpful, they are probably up to no good.
Website
Examine the website carefully. If the website looks shabby and unprofessional, stay away. Unfortunately many diploma mills have excellent websites, so this cannot be your only criterion for identifying a mill. Look at the page source, and if it is a low-quality, inexpensive web program, stay away.
Suffix of Website
Quality schools will have a website that ends in .edu. If the site you are investigating ends in .com or .net. or something else, stay away. Some diploma mills do have the .edu suffix but it is becoming more and more difficult for them to attain it.
Staff
Can you find the staff information on the website? Quality schools that have quality staff will be proud to show off the identity of their faculty. This is a good indication you have found a legitimate school.
Size Compared to Majors Offered
While you cannot always get a feel for the size of a school on the Internet, if you find a small or relatively new school, that offers tons of majors, watch out. A small school will not be able to afford enough quality instructors to offer hundreds of majors. This is a good clue that you are look at a diploma mill.
Lists of Diploma Mills
It can be hard to find a good list of known diploma mills or online diploma mills, but the Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning, by John Bear and Thomas Nixon, lists diploma mills.
CHEA Website
The Council on Higher Education Accreditation has a website, chea.org that lists good, accredited schools. If your school is not listed, take note. You could be looking at a diploma mills.
Better Business Bureau
Check the Better Business Bureau for complaints against the school. Their website is bbb.org. If the school has many reports against it, avoid that school. If it has no reports, call the BBB where the school is, and find out if it really exists.
If you are pursuing online education, it is imperative that you find a good quality school. Diplomas from a diploma mill will not help you get the job you are looking for and known diploma mills abound in today's Internet-driven society. Do your research, find a list of diploma mills, and you don't get stung!
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