Today’s guest post is by Vicky Phillips, CEO and Founder of GetEducated.com. She shares with you today a cautionary tale about diploma mills and how not to get stung by one. As always, remember that the information you find on collegechoicesforadults.org is from institutions accredited by accrediting bodies recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
My dog is special. He has a college degree. A graduate degree that he earned online.
I wish the little pooch had buckled down and earned his paper pedigree the old fashioned way, by taking a bite out of some thick juicy textbooks, but alas, my pug gave in to temptation and bought his college diploma cheap at a degree mill site.
Poor Chester the Pug, he fell for one of those flashy online ads that promised him an “affordable online degree fast,” based on a review of his life experience.
Chester faxed in a copy of his resume — which truthfully declared he had substantial life experience in food tasting and bowl licking – to an online school named Rochville University. Ten days later, he received an express mail packet of college credentials from Dubai.
Chester Ludlow, MBA dog
Total cost of his online MBA degree $499.
Rochville University kept its word. My dog had an instant, fast degree. It was also a very cheap degree, considering the average real online MBA degree program costs close to $25,000 for tuition and fees. The instant degree package sent to my dog contained a gold-embossed MBA diploma, two sets of college transcripts with decent grades, a certificate of distinction in finance — apparently my little pug is especially gifted in corporate number-crunching — and a student council certificate of participation. Also included were official signed letters from Rochville University officials and faculty that Chester was instructed to use to impress potential new employers.
The highly embossed “college” paperwork says my smart little pooch graduated with a GPA of 3.19 (for an additional $100, he could have graduated with honors).
Chester also also received a flashy Rochville University window decal for his car (though we are at present refusing to let him drive).
Rochville University is one of scores of online universities operating from foreign post office boxes that advertise cheap, fast degrees online for one flat fee. The university advertises (truthfully) as being “fully accredited.”
The trick is that they are accredited by the “Board of Online Universities Accreditation” and the “Universal Council for Online Education Accreditation.” The scam lies in the fact that neither of these agencies is recognized as a college accreditor by the U.S. Department of Education or the Council of Higher Education Accreditation. In fact there are more than 30 fake online college accreditation mills, that attest to the “authenticity” of bought diplomas and transcripts from more than 300 reputed diploma mills.
Chester’s tail — er, tale? — should alert everywhere to the dangers of falling for high pressure ads from fly by night colleges that only exist in the form of web page pixels.
All degree mills are accredited — but by fake agencies. Believe it or not, degree mills create fake accrediting agencies so they can say, “yes, we are indeed accredited.” They rely on consumer ignorance about accreditation to keep them safe. Since few people other than higher ed nerds know the names of real college accreditation agencies the scam often works.
Want to ensure your fellow online students aren’t real dogs?
Make sure your online college is properly accredited by a recognized agency.
To help combat degree mill fraud, Chester is now a watchdog for the free consumer protection service, The Diploma Mill Police,
This free service will help you verify the accreditation status of any online college.
If that “fast” online degree smells too good to be true it probably is.
Be safe. Get Educated before you enroll.
