diploma mills
Fake degree vendors
Diploma mills are institutions that award degrees with little or no academic rigor, essentially selling credentials rather than education.
Students pay tuition and receive diplomas without meaningful coursework, exams, or attendance requirements.
The term is derogatory, implying fraud or worthlessness: His PhD came from a diploma mill.
Accreditation bodies and employers treat such degrees as illegitimate.
Lacking official authorization
- unregisteredNot formally recorded
- uncertifiedLacking official approval
Promotion using false claims
- deceptive marketingPromotional dishonesty toward buyers
- empty promisesInsincere verbal commitments
- victimsThose who suffer harm
- misrepresentationFalse or misleading statement
false promises · bait-and-switch · hidden fees · debt trap · broken dreams
unaccredited
Lacking official authorization
- unregisteredNot formally recorded
- uncertifiedLacking official approval
misleading advertising
Promotion using false claims
- deceptive marketingPromotional dishonesty toward buyers
- empty promisesInsincere verbal commitments
- victimsThose who suffer harm
false promises · misrepresentation · bait-and-switch · hidden fees · debt trap · broken dreams
fake degrees
Unearned academic certificates
- academic fraudplagiarism, academic dishonesty, exam cheating, fake degrees, cheat sheets
- quackerysnake oil, cure-all, miracle cure, panacea, patent medicine
- educational failuresdropout, illiteracy, innumeracy, failing grades, dropout rates
- fraudscam, fraud, swindle, con, deceive
- College Policytuition caps, federal funding, state funding, financial aid, student aid
- cybercriminalshacker, hackers, scammer, scammers, phishers
diploma millsresearch universities
Institutions combining teaching with investigation
elite universities · Oxford · Harvard · Cambridge · Ivy League
diploma, diplomas, diplomatic, diplomacy, diplomat, diplomats, diplomatically, mill, mills