Diploma mills in the United States (also known as a degree mill) are organizations that award academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without academic approval by officially recognized educational accrediting bodies or qualified government agencies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit. These degrees are often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some organizations claim accreditation by non-recognized/unapproved accrediting bodies set up for the purposes of providing a veneer of authenticity.
Various schemes have been implemented to curb the proliferation of diploma mills, and a number of states have passed bills that make it illegal for an organization to confer degrees without accreditation.
In recent years unaccredited for-profit higher education institutions have specialized in enrolling foreign students and have been called sham schools.
Legal status
The United States does not have a federal law that would unambiguously prohibit diploma mills, and the term "university" is not legally protected. The United States Department of Education lacks direct plenary authority to regulate schools and, consequently, the quality of an institution's degree. Under the terms of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, the U.S. Secretary of Education is required by law to publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies that the Secretary determines to be reliable authorities on the quality of education or training provided by the institutions of higher education that they accredit.
Diploma mills are mainly found in the U.S. jurisdictions which have not adopted tough laws to prohibit them. Also, some degree mills have taken advantage of the U.S. Constitution's protection of religion by representing themselves as Bible colleges, since in many jurisdictions religious institutions can legally offer degrees in religious subjects without government regulation. Nevertheless, some religious colleges and seminaries have been fined for issuing degrees without meeting educational requirements.
Although the DipScam operation in the 1980s led to a decline in diploma mill activity across the United States, the lack of further action by law enforcement, uneven state laws, and the rise of the Internet have combined to reverse many of the gains made in previous years.
A 2002 Seattle Times article noted that some believed Wyoming had "become a haven for diploma mills." Conversely, "Oregon, New Jersey, and North Dakota have adopted tough laws that include fines and jail time for using fake degrees to gain employment." However, Wyoming passed stricter laws in 2006 requiring universities and colleges to either be accredited or be candidates for accreditation to operate in the state.
In 2004, a housecat named Colby Nolan was awarded an "Executive MBA" by Texas-based Trinity Southern University. The cat belonged to a deputy attorney general looking into allegations of fraud by the school. The cat's application was originally for a Bachelor of Business Administration, but due to the cat's "qualifications" (including work experience in fast-food and as a paperboy) the school offered to upgrade the degree to an Executive MBA for an additional $100. As a result of this incident, the Pennsylvania attorney general filed suit against the school. The operators were fined over $100,000.
In February 2005, the US Department of Education launched "The Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs" to combat the spread of fraudulent degrees.
The state of Washington passed a bill in March 2006 "prohibiting false or misleading college degrees." The law was approved and introduced penalties of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for knowingly granting or promoting an unaccredited award. In Tennessee, a law that took effect in July 2004 made diploma mill degrees illegal, but the state does not have an agency or authority to investigate. Florida enacted a state law making it a criminal offense to claim a degree from an unaccredited college, but in 2003 it was reported that Hillsborough County, Florida, authorities had been advised that the statute was unconstitutional. Wyoming passed a law requiring a post-secondary institution granting degrees to Wyoming citizens to be accredited, or to be a candidate for accreditation. (There is an exemption for religious schools.)