Followby Melissa Rubin
Diploma mills are no laughing matter. They have caused hundreds of Americans thousands of dollars, fines, and abashed dreams of turning an online university education into a promising career. How can you make sure you aren’t one of the many whose been conned?
The following is a checklist of items you want to make sure your online university does not have. Remember, anything worth having is earned – and earned by hard work and perseverance.
Make sure the online university you’re looking at does not meet the following, and your online education s on the right path.
- They often have names similar to well-known colleges or universities, but fail to mention an accrediting agency or name a fake accrediting agency.
- The organization frequently changes addresses, sometimes moving from state to state.
- Written materials typically include numerous spelling and grammatical errors, sometimes on the diploma itself.
- Overemphasis on the speed and brevity with which someone can receive a degree (e.g. “Call now and have your degree shipped to you overnight!”).
- Degrees can be earned in far less time than normal (e.g. 27 days) or the diploma is printed with a specific backdate.
- There is no selectivity in admissions, or any questions about previous test scores or detailed academic history.
- No interaction with professors or faculty (e.g. only two emails are received from a professor).
- Degree requirements are vague or unspecified, lacking class descriptions and without any mention of how many credit hours are required to complete a program.
- Tuition and fees are typically on a per-degree basis.
- Grade point average (GPA) and academic honors (e.g. Summa Cum Laude) can be specified at the time of purchase.
Source: universityfacts
