List of unaccredited institutions of higher education

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Main articles: Diploma mill, school accreditation, and United States Department of Education

This article lists colleges, seminaries, and universities whose qualifications may possibly not be accepted by civil service or other employers. These institutions may have been listed on publicly available lists of unaccredited institutions, or are absent from UNESCO related IAU Universities List of world universities (see "external links" at the bottom of this article). Some are also suspected of being diploma mills, while others are no longer in existence. Several unaccredited universities have names chosen because they are similar to those of accredited institutions or falsely imply that it is a public university.

Therefore, taking the legal issues mentioned below into account, this list should not necessarily be viewed as complete or authoritative.

Legal issues and considerations

United States of America

Unlike some countries, the term "university" is not protected — anyone can found a "university", and some diploma mills operate legally in the United States. The most reliable source for verifying information about a school, including its accreditation status is the US Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and its College Opportunities Online (COOL) link. Lists of accredited institutions may be obtained from the United States Department of Education [25] or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). In the United States, unaccredited degrees may not be acceptable for state or federal civil service or other employment; in certain cases and circumstances; criminal penalties may even apply should such a degree be presented in lieu of a degree from an accredited institution. However, such degrees in and of themselves are illegal only in Oregon, New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, North Dakota, Nevada and Texas, where they are considered as misdemeanors mostly punishable by relatively small fines [26].

Wyoming-based Kennedy-Western University sued Oregon to cease listing it as a diploma mill in 2004 [27], claiming that its degree-holders had a First Amendment right to say they were degree-holders. The case never reached a trial because the "University" and the Oregon Department of Justice reached an out-of-court settlement, which affects only Kennedy-Western and is not a precedent. According to the settlement, Kennedy-Western degree-holders may now say that they have degrees when applying for jobs in the private sector in Oregon, but must also reveal that Kennedy-Western is unaccredited in all job applications, resumes, business cards and advertisements that mention the degree. Public employment and licensed professions are excepted from the agreement.[28] Oregon now lists Kennedy-Western as "unaccredited", stating that its "degrees do not meet requirements for employment by State of Oregon or for work in any profession licensed by the State of Oregon for which a degree is required" [29].

Australia and New Zealand

The University of Newlands, a school that was listed as a "wannabe" or "degree mill" by The Australian newspaper, was given permission by the New Zealand High Court to proceed to trial in its suit against the paper's publisher for defamation.[30] The presiding judge noted that such degrees may be illegal and that purporting to offer such degrees could be deemed dishonest or unethical conduct. He also ruled that defamation occurs in the country where the material is downloaded from the Internet. In December 2005 the Court of Appeal said the defamation case could not go ahead. Newlands and Ms Forrester had not shown it had a good arguable case that an act had been done in New Zealand for which damages could be claimed from a party outside New Zealand . Without their showing a good arguable case, New Zealand courts would not assume jurisdiction.

In Australia, it is a criminal offence to purport to offer University degrees (Bachelors, Masters, Doctors), without government authorization. This authorization is generally given in the form of an Act of a State or Federal Parliament, specifically referring to that institution. (Each state will recognize the institutions authorized under the law of the other states.) Separate to this, there is also the authorization under the Higher Education Funding Act to receive federal government funds for students; this is a separate process from authorization to grant degrees, so some institutions are entitled to grant degrees but not to receive government funds to do so. There is also registration under CRICOS (the ESOS Act) - a student visa can only be issued to a student if they are studying at an institution with a valid CRICOS registration.

India

According to the India Department of Education, regarding institutions without accreditation or an Act of Parliament, "It is emphasized that these fake institutions have no legal entity to call themselves as University/Vishwvidyalaya and to award ‘degrees’ which are not treated as valid for academic/employment purposes."[31]

Ireland

Legitimate higher education qualifications in Ireland are placed on, or formally aligned, with the National Framework of Qualifcations. This framework was established by the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland in accordance with the Qualifcations (Education and Training) Act (1999). It is illegal under the Universities Act (1997) for any body offering higher education services to use the term "university" without the permission of the Minister for Education and Science. It is likewise illegal under the Institutes of Technologies Acts (1992-2006)to use the term "institute of technology" or "regional technical college" without permission.

South Korea

In March 2006 prosecutors in Seoul had "broken up a crime ring selling bogus music diplomas from Russia, which helped many land university jobs and seats in orchestras."[32] People who used these degrees were criminally charged.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom the institution offering degrees must be accredited and a list maintained by the Department for Education and Skills.[33] Prosecutions under the Education Reform Act are rare, as many of the bodies on the internet are based outside UK jurisdiction.

Prosecutions under other legislation do occur. In 2004 Thames Valley College in London was prosecuted under the Trade Descriptions Act for offering degrees from the 'University of North America', a limited liability company set up by themselves in the US with no academic staff and no premises other than a mail forwarding service.[citation needed]

Characteristics of diploma mills

Not every unaccredited school is a diploma mill. For example, all new educational institutions start out unaccredited.

Characteristics of diploma mills that differentiate them from respected institutions include the following:

  • They lack accreditation by a nationally recognized accrediting agency. Some claim accreditation by an accreditation mill; some such institutions may refer to themselves as being "fully accredited." Some institutions base their assertions of academic legitimacy on claims of affiliation with respected organizations (such as the American Library Association or UNESCO) that are not engaged in school accreditation. Promotional materials may use words denoting a legal status such as "licensed", "state authorized" or "state-approved" to suggest an equivalence to accreditation. Some advertise other indicators of authenticity that are not relevant to academic credentials. For example, the University of Northern Washington advertises[1] that its degrees are "attested and sealed for authenticity by a government appointed notary," although notarization certifies only that the document was signed by the person named.
  • No teaching facilities — the address is a postal box or mail forwarding service.
  • Promotional literature contains grammatical and spelling errors, words in Latin, extravagant or pretentious language, and sample diplomas.
  • Degrees can be obtained within a few days, weeks or months from the time of enrollment, and back-dating is possible.
  • Faculty members hold advanced degrees from the institution itself or similar organizations.
  • Academic credit is offered for life experience, and this is featured heavily in the selling points of the institution.
  • Tuition and fees are paid on a per-degree basis rather than on a per-semester, per-quarter or per-course basis.
  • Prospective students are encouraged to "enroll now" before tuition or fees are increased, or they qualify for a "fellowship", "scholarship" or "grant".
  • The institution has no library, personnel, publication or research.
  • Doctoral theses and dissertations are not lodged with the Library of Congress or other national repository.
  • The school's website looks amateurish or unprofessionally made. The school is situated in the United States but the website is not on the .edu domain — the only U.S. institutions of higher education that can get an .edu address are those approved by the USDE.
  • Getting a degree requires no visits to the school or other face-to-face meetings with its personnel. Theses or credits can be approved on a mail-order basis.
  • The school is situated in another country, where running diploma mills is legal, standards are lax or prosecution is unlikely. Unfortunately this includes the United States (see above).
  • Despite being situated in such a diploma mill-friendly country, the school has no students from that country, and is run entirely by nonnative staff. Compare forum shopping and tax haven.
  • In most of Europe, tertiary education is free of charge to students and entrance to tertiary education is limited by highly competitive entrance examinations. In this environment, schools that have a tuition fee, no entrance requirements, and possibly based in another country, may be diploma mills, particularly when they match other criteria in this list.
  • Unusual academic subjects. Instead of "hard sciences", where competency is easier to verify, the subjects are esoteric and may be based on a pseudoscience, e.g. astrology, natural healing and religious literature. This makes external verification impossible, because when they define their science, they can also define the educational standards without external oversight.

List

References

  1. ^ UNW website, accessed 1 April, 2007
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ [3]
  5. ^ [4]
  6. ^ [5]
  7. ^ a b The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization lists it as an "unaccredited college." "Degree holders are ineligible for Oregon professional practice or licensure."
  8. ^ http://www.coltonuniversity.org/pages/legal.htm "Colton State University is not accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Secretary of Education."
  9. ^ [6]
  10. ^ [7]
  11. ^ [8]
  12. ^ Stephen Barrett, MD. "Questionable Organizations: An Overview". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  13. ^ http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation/InstList.asp
  14. ^ [9]
  15. ^ [10]
  16. ^ [11]
  17. ^ [12]
  18. ^ [13]
  19. ^ [14]
  20. ^ [15]
  21. ^ [16]
  22. ^ [17]
  23. ^ Cited by Times Higher Education Supplement, Sept 8 2006 "College above discount shop dashes hopes"
  24. ^ BBC article
  25. ^ [18]
  26. ^ #564
  27. ^ [19]
  28. ^ [20]
  29. ^ [21]
  30. ^ [22]
  31. ^ Grant, Tim (July 08, 2005). "Judge shuts down Erie 'diploma mill'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2007-07-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ "Judge Lets Diploma Mill Stay in Business". University Business. 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
  33. ^ [23]
  34. ^ [24]

See also

External links

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