Diploma mill

A diploma mill or degree mill is a business that sells illegitimate diplomas or academic degrees, respectively.[1][2] The term diploma mill is also used pejoratively to describe any educational institution with low standards for admission and graduation, low career placement rate, or low average starting salaries of its graduates.

The degrees can be fabricated, falsified, or misrepresented.[3] These businesses may claim to give credit for relevant life experience but without actual prior learning assessment programs. They may also claim to evaluate work history or require submission of a thesis or dissertation for evaluation to give an appearance of authenticity.[4] Diploma mills are frequently supported by accreditation mills set up for the purpose of providing an appearance of authenticity.[5] Diploma mills are considered a global threat to academic integrity.[6][7][8]

  1. ^ "Diploma Mills | Consumer Information". Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
  2. ^ "Diploma Mills and Accreditation - Diploma Mills". www2.ed.gov. 23 December 2009.
  3. ^ "General guidelines for academic integrity: report" (PDF). European Network for Academic Integrity. 2019-09-23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-03-31.
  4. ^ "Bogus Institutions and Accrediting Bodies" (PDF).
  5. ^ Luca Lantero, Degree Mills: non-accredited and irregular higher education institutions Archived 2015-05-13 at the Wayback Machine, Information Centre on Academic Mobility and Equivalence (CIMEA), Italy.
  6. ^ Fake Degrees and Fraudulent Credentials in Higher Education. Ethics and Integrity in Educational Contexts. Vol. 5. 2023. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-21796-8. ISBN 978-3-031-21795-1.
  7. ^ Qiriazi, V., Lantero, L., & Finocchietti, C. (2022). New recommendation aims to advance fraud-free education. University World News. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20220714161748657
  8. ^ Ezell, Allen (2023). "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: A Tour of Axact, the "World's Largest Diploma Mill"". Fake Degrees and Fraudulent Credentials in Higher Education. Ethics and Integrity in Educational Contexts. Vol. 5. pp. 49–94. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-21796-8_3. ISBN 978-3-031-21795-1.