College Success Blog

Fake College Degrees: Why to Avoid

This is Part 2 of a series of three on diploma mills.

A lot people feel like they need a degree more than they need the education and earning that degree is suppose to represent. I will go over the motivation and why of degree mill exist in the next installment. Right now, I just want to tell you why you should avoid them and what they are.

What is a degree mill? Wikipedia defines it as “A diploma mill (also known as a degree mill) is an organization that awards academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies. ” It is important to note that while being accredited is part of the definition it in itself does not make it a diploma mill. For example, It is unlikely that a bartender school is accredited but if all the students that graduate know how to bartend then it would not be a diploma mill.

First, you can harm others with your degree. If you are using a degree to convince someone you are qualified to perform a task that you are not. This could be as a financial planner or even in the medical field. An article in USA Today stated, “Diploma mills insert degree of fraud into job market” tells the story of a gentleman with a “slew of medical degrees from universities” and a mother who had taken her diabetic daughter off insulin. The girl later died.

The second reason to avoid degree mills is it can harm you. Many employers will fire you if they find out you did not have a legitimate degree. Some states are starting to criminalize the use of degrees from degree mills. This can also hurt your reputation because once you are caught not only do you not have a degree but you are also liar and a fraud.

While some students actively seek out such degrees others are fooled. The schools can have great websites and mail you glossy brochures. Make sure the school is accredited and more important, not claiming bogus accreditation.

Degree mills are no short-cut to success in college. Real college success requires hard work and dedication.

This is the first of three posting on degree mills and online education.

I just finished going to nursing school at 40 years old and got my Computer Science degree at 30. I did not go to college right after high school like most people think I probably should have. To be honest I would have fallen flat on my face if I went to college right after high school.

There are many reasons that people decide to go back to college later in life but mostly they need a better job. There are also many reasons that people did not go to college after high school perhaps they did not even complete high school and that is what I want to address here. The person that want to go to college for a better job but does not have a high school diploma.
A recent article “Quick-Fix Diplomas Often Aren’t Real GEDs talks about how colleges do not accept High School Diplomas that are offered either online or though the mail. The marketing for these programs are all too familiar “Earn your high school diploma in 30 days” with a picture of a smiling parent in her cap and gown with a proud child looking on. These programs pray on students that are low income and strapped for time that want nothing more than to earn a fair living.

So how do you avoid this pitfall and save yourself some time. Either it is a GED or it is not. Do not except any thing that is just as good as a GED. Secondly, visit a local publicly owned college. Either a State university or a community college and speak to an adviser on what is needed to be accepted- do this even if the you do not plan on attending that school because as a publicly owned entity they have no profit motivation to deceive you. Then ask them is there any financial assistance available, there may not be but it does not hurt to ask.

Ok, you got your Real GED and are ready to apply to college now what. Decide on what your goals are either to get a good job or is it to get a good job in a specific career. Then do some research in whether this degree will help you achieve your goals and what is the best school for you to attend to achieve that degree? But beware of sales pitches that sound to good to be true.

The Dumb Kid

For more information see:

Just because the college is accredited…

Eight steps to choose the right college