Common Attributes of Diploma Mills
Diploma mills are frequently named to sound confusingly similar to those of prestigious accredited academic institutions. Despite the fact that trademark law is intended to prevent this situation, diploma mills continue to employ various methods to avoid legal recourse. Several diploma mills have adopted British-sounding names, similar but not identical to the names of legitimate universities, apparently to take advantage of the United Kingdom's reputation for educational quality in other parts of the world. Some examples of British-sounding names used by diploma mills are "Shaftesbury University", "University of Dunham", "Redding University", and "Suffield University".
In their marketing and advertising campaigns, diploma mills will often misleadingly claim to be "accredited" when, in fact, many are found to have been endorsed by "dummy" accreditation boards set up by company affiliates. In an attempt to appear more legitimate to potential students, accreditation mills based in the United States may model their websites after real accrediting agencies overseen by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Some may even advertise services for transcript notation and diploma verification in order to seem more legitimate. Another typical ploy is for mills to claim to be internationally recognized by organizations such as UNESCO. UNESCO, however, has no authority to recognize or accredit higher education institutions or agencies, and has published warnings against education organizations that claim UNESCO recognition or affiliation. As diploma mills are typically also licensed to do business, it is common practice within the industry to misrepresent their business license as indicating government approval of the institution.
Compared to legitimately accredited institutions, diploma mills tend to have drastically lowered requirements for academic coursework, with some even allowing their students to purchase credentials without any education. Students may be required to purchase textbooks, take tests, and submit homework, but degrees are nonetheless conferred after little or no study.
Buyers often use the diplomas to claim academic credentials for use in securing employment (e.g., a schoolteacher may buy a degree from a diploma mill in order to advance to superintendent). Some diploma mills claim to be based outside the country they market to. This is common with "offshore" jurisdictions.
Read more about this topic: Diploma Mill
Famous quotes containing the words common, attributes, diploma and/or mills:
“The common idea that success spoils people by making them vain, egotistic, and self-complacent is erroneous; on the contrary, it makes them, for the most part, humble, tolerant, and kind. Failure makes people cruel and bitter.”
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965)
“God is the efficient cause not only of the existence of things, but also of their essence.
Corr. Individual things are nothing but modifications of the attributes of God, or modes by which the attributes of God are expressed in a fixed and definite manner.”
—Baruch (Benedict)
“Our father has an even more important function than modeling manhood for us. He is also the authority to let us relax the requirements of the masculine model: if our father accepts us, then that declares us masculine enough to join the company of men. We, in effect, have our diploma in masculinity and can go on to develop other skills.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“You haf slafed your life away in de bosses’ mills and your fadhers before you and your kids after you yet. Vat is a man to do with seventeen-fifty a week? His wife must work nights to make another ten, must vork nights and cook and wash in day an’ vatfor? So that the bosses can get rich an’ the stockholders and bondholders. It is too much... ve stood it before because ve vere not organized. Now we have union... We must all stand together for union.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)