Diploma Mills
Diploma mills, also known as degree mills, are organizations that play themselves off as accredited or official, but give away degrees for little to no study and just a single flat fee. Occasionally, a more enterprising scammer will set up an "accreditor" who is merely a shill to add further authority and authenticity to themselves.
A lot of Diploma Mills try to get away with this by claiming to offer "real life skill degrees", and claiming to test their "students" before awarding a degree about a particular subject. One diploma mill I surveyed, Belford University, even offered the option of upgrading your degree to a Masters or Doctorate for just a few hundred extra. That's right, they were actually upselling a Ph.D. as if it were a USB Cable.
I called their toll-free number and asked a few pointed questions, but the agents tried to dodge anything that insinuated that they might be a degree mill. They stated that anyone graduating from them could just give their number to any potential employers to verify that they had graduated. Although their post-office box is located in Humble, Texas, reports indicate that their degrees are actually mailed from the United Arab Emirates.
Needless to say, Diploma mills are a very dangerous and costly mistake for anyone interested in true, legitimate higher education. For more higher education information, check out EdSoup.com
Some other highly recommended websites to check out are:
DeVry University Online
Walden University
University of Phoenix Campus
Westwood College Online
And for those interested in learning even more about online learning, click here: achieveyourcareer.com
A lot of Diploma Mills try to get away with this by claiming to offer "real life skill degrees", and claiming to test their "students" before awarding a degree about a particular subject. One diploma mill I surveyed, Belford University, even offered the option of upgrading your degree to a Masters or Doctorate for just a few hundred extra. That's right, they were actually upselling a Ph.D. as if it were a USB Cable.
I called their toll-free number and asked a few pointed questions, but the agents tried to dodge anything that insinuated that they might be a degree mill. They stated that anyone graduating from them could just give their number to any potential employers to verify that they had graduated. Although their post-office box is located in Humble, Texas, reports indicate that their degrees are actually mailed from the United Arab Emirates.
Needless to say, Diploma mills are a very dangerous and costly mistake for anyone interested in true, legitimate higher education. For more higher education information, check out EdSoup.com
Some other highly recommended websites to check out are:
DeVry University Online
Walden University
University of Phoenix Campus
Westwood College Online
And for those interested in learning even more about online learning, click here: achieveyourcareer.com