The government does what it can to try to locate and shut down any illegal diploma mills posing as legitimate universities. While there are laws in place to help protect students from diploma mills, the real onus is on students to make a smart choice in the first place when choosing a school. Avoid schools with questionable accreditation and make sure that choosing a school without accreditation will be the right choice for your career goals. To get started, students can use these resources created by the government and concerned citizens to help learn how to distinguish a fraudulent university from a legitimate one and to fight back against diploma mills.
U.S. Department of Education Resources
The US Department of Education provides some of the best tools for fighting against diploma mills and fraudulent online education programs.
- List of All Accredited Post-Secondary Institutions: Through this list, you can check to see if a school has been accredited by any of the approved accrediting agencies out there. If it’s not on the list, you might want to think twice about attending.
- Oregon’s List of Unaccredited Collees and Diploma Mills : Check out this list for schools you’ll want to avoid.
- Michigan’s List of Non-accredited Colleges and Universities : Michigan also maintains a list of schools that are not accredited or that have been proven to be diploma mills.
- Maine’s List of Non-accredited Colleges: Even if you’re not in Maine, check out their list of non-accredited schools to learn which ones might be operating online in your state.
- Federal Trade Commission Facts For Business – “Avoid Fake-Degree Burns By Researching Academic Credentials.”: This article from the FTC will make it abundantly clear why avoiding diploma mills and unaccredited colleges is so important.
- Federal Trade Commission Consumer Alert – “Diploma Mills: Degrees of Deception.”: In this informative resource, the FTC provides insights that can help you see the warning signs that a school might be a diploma mill.
Other Resources
If you are duped by a diploma mill, you may be able to sue and get compensation for your lost money, but the results are never guaranteed and you can never get back the time you put into the degree. It’s better to use resources like these ahead of time to make sure your school of choice is legitimate and will help you to meet your career goals by providing a valuable and marketable degree.