Warning Signs Associated With Degree Mills and Scam Schools
The number of diploma mills in the US is on the rise as prospective students seek to take action against their perceived economic insecurity. In fact, a scam school operated a fake nursing program for five years, separating pupils from their tuition dollars. In too many cases, the education received from these schools does not lead to increased earning potential for graduates. More commonly, graduates find themselves in intractable debt. This piece lists the red flags commonly associated with diploma mills and scam schools.
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Until a few decades ago, a high school diploma or GED was suitable enough to secure a good job in the US. Soon after high school graduation, people on the vocational track found entry-level positions at factories, steel mills, construction sites, unionized grocery stores, automobile plants, or insurance firms and often stayed with the same workplaces for 30+ years. In return, these loyal workers relished a number of middle class comforts over the years before retiring with a considerable employer-sponsored pension plan. Unfortunately, lifetime employment is a relic of a bygone era.
Fast-forward to the 1970s and 1980s, however, and we see the first significant handful of "predatory" racketeers making serious private investments into vocational training, purely as a profit-seeking business (CollegeTimes, 2013). Since a high school diploma doesn't open the doors to a great job anymore, and with nearly 70 percent of Americans over the age of 25 lacking a bachelor's degree, trade schools and business colleges are alluring to those who perceive that their economic situations are insecure. Sadly, a few of these schools are outright diploma mills and scams crafted to line the pockets of individuals, corporations and proprietorships. Some scam schools are designed solely to amass tuition monies, federal grants, and student loans (Yeoman, 1997).
Diploma mills, also called degree mills, are non-accredited schools that confer degrees and certificates with relatively insufficient academic standards. The prototypical diploma mill or scam school boasts open admissions and miniscule academic work requirements. In exchange, the 'graduate' is granted a diploma or degree upon completion that carries little to no respectability in the job market. Scam schools and diploma mills come with warning signs, but an unfortunate number of people do not detect them until it is too late.
Be alert for the following red flags:
The school has been sued and/or is under investigation by a federal agency.
Degrees are issued based on qualities such as life experience.
Staff is freely available when payments are due, but unavailable at other times.
Professors and instructors are grossly unqualified and often unavailable.
Diplomas / degrees are conferred after a swifter time frame than usual.
Rather than per credit, students pay for clock hours or entire degrees.
Contact information is nebulous. 1(800) numbers are common.
Online / distance-based tests and quizzes are never proctored or monitored.
The school's official website is deluged with errors in spelling and grammar.
Accreditation is granted by a questionable accrediting agency.
The school's official website ends in .com, .net, or anything other than .edu
The school is heavily criticized online and few graduates recommend the school.
Compared to nonprofit schools, tuition is staggeringly expensive.
If several of these warning signs are present, tread carefully and do some further research because the entity may or may not be a scam school. Numerous readers might wonder, "These red flags are common sense. How could anyone fall for a degree mill in this day and age?"
Regrettably, people are scammed by diploma mills all the time. People who perceive they are too busy to handle the rigors of higher learning pay top dollar for degrees that have no value in academia or the workforce. In fact, a phony nursing school operated as a diploma mill for five years (2006 to 2011), conning a large number of students out of their much-needed money. Click on the following website link to read about the fake nursing school and its three shady owners:
Be cognizant that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Any educational program that seems quicker and easier than usual might be nothing more than a diploma mill or scam school. Use your common sense and do not fall victim to any academic scams.
