Degree Mills and Accreditation

We’ve all seen the ads and unsolicited emails claiming that you can get your college degree with nothing more than a check for a few bucks (sometimes hundreds or even thousands of dollars). Well I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this is just outright fraud and these diplomas are not worth the paper they are printed on. I will not in help anyone get a diploma from one of these “Degree Mills”.

Most of you are reading this because you want a college degree that you can be proud of and will benefit you in your professional life or just to gain personal enrichment and self satisfaction. A degree from one of these fraudulent outfits obviously provides neither. Although we are advocates of quick and inexpensive alternatives to most traditional university programs, we do not condone flat out scams.

Some organizations masquerade as bona fide institutions claiming accreditation and may even require at least minimal effort on the student’s behalf. These are the ones you have to be most careful of. They seem legitimate, have a nice web site; they tell a convincing story about how you deserve a college degree because you’ve been a student in the school of hard knocks. They almost always offer a degree for “Life Experience”. The best method of weeding these schools out is by looking for their accreditation.

Accreditation in the United States is a tricky subject when it comes to verifying if a school is legitimate. Almost all of these fraudulent institutions claim accreditation, which is generally as fraudulent as the school itself. So how do you know? If a school is accredited by one of the following accrediting bodies you can feel confident that you are dealing with a legitimate college or university. But be careful some scam schools are accredited by deceptively similar named accrediting bodies. The best way to be sure is to double check with the Council for Higher Education Accreditation at http://www.chea.org or one of the following regional accrediting bodies.

Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Testing Out Of College, except in unusual circumstances, only recommends institutions accredited by one of the Regional Accrediting bodies. Other accrediting bodies, such as the Distance Education Training Council, are approved by the U.S. Department of Education and fulfill the needs of many students. However, I feel that for the broadest acceptance it is hard to go wrong with a regionally accredited college or university.

To be clear, not all schools that do not have accreditation are fraudulent scams. Some schools are in the process of attaining accredited status. Other legitimate schools may opt out of accreditation, but these are generally limited to specialized or esoteric studies.