Is it a diploma mill?

It is impossible to avoid diploma mills. They are everywhere now and students regularly enroll in them thinking they have chosen an easy path to a prize.

What is a diploma mill? A diploma mill is a fake school. They have several forms:

1. It is unaccredited, but says that it is accredited.
2. It has established a fake accreditor.
3. It accredits itself.
4. It offers you a high school diploma based on life experience.
5. It offers you a high school diploma based on a test.
6. It offers you a high school diploma in two days (or something equally outlandish).

While there have long been fake colleges and high schools, the explosion of the Internet has created a monumental problem. It has never been easier to create one of these diploma mills.

Something you should know: It is my experience that most people who buy these fake diplomas get caught.

If you want to be sure that your school is real, look for it to be regionally or nationally accredited. This type of recognition is a sure sign of quality. Do you want to know my secret? The first place I go to check on schools and accreditation is the U.S. Department of Education. Here is my "secret" link:

Recognized Accrediting Associations

The one other recognized accrediter is CITA. You can find their website here:

CITA

By the way, if anyone tells you that their school is accredited by the U.S. Department of Education, walk away. The U.S. DOE is not an accreditor.

Look at that first advertisement under Fake School #1. While it is possible to earn a free high school diploma, this is not that. The free ones come from schools like Insight Schools, Connections Academy, and K12.com. These are for teens involved in programs that are sponsored by school districts or state departments of education.

What this is is a scam. Pure and simple.

The second advertisement, chsOnlineHighSchool.com, is bad in so many ways. Anything that promises a diploma in two days is something to avoid. Also, if you go to this "school's" website, you will see that it has created its own accreditor. It provides you with a "diploma" if you pass a test. See notes above on that. By the way, there is no such thing as a GED alternative program.

Sometimes it is just so obvious. Take a look at Fake School #2 below. Anything that allows you to make your own diploma is a fake. Please do not do this. Regularly, I get emails from

• students who thought they would take this easy way out and were caught; or

• schools checking with me to see if I also thought the school was fake.

Just say no. You will get caught. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but you will get caught. And then bad things will happen. Like, for example, the college that accepted it will expell you and/or you will lose your job. It really is not worth it.