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Article Series: Online Degrees
Is An Online
Degree Program For Me?
7
Ways To Spot a Phony Online University
Today, companies, some countries, and institutions
do much to promote the convenient lifestyle. Thanks to online
shopping and banking, virtual job applications, and email correspondence,
much of what you have to do in a typical business day can be
done over the Internet with the click of a button.
Earning a college degree is one of the latest luxuries made
convenient. It is now possible to earn a bachelor’s degree
or even a master’s degree online, without ever setting foot
in a physical college.
But
are these online universities legitimate? While some can
count for continuing education, just as many are phony.
The motivation of phony online universities is to either sell
a diploma or quickly grant you a degree with little to no coursework.
These companies market their services toward the ignorant and
uninformed—as well as those aspiring students without ethics.
Consider seven top ways to spot phony online universities.
One: Does
it sound too good to be true? It probably is. Some
schools promise to sell you a bachelor’s or master’s degree
based on what you have already learned through life experience.
While this might be a fair concept, unfortunately, all that
is required to earn this degree is a short email to the staff
explaining what entitles you to it, as well as a big payment.
No other investigation is done, nor any references taken. Selling
bogus diplomas will not necessarily discredit them—the phony
universities—but it will reflect badly on the graduate once
it is discovered he or she paid for a degree that was not earned.
Two: Is
the school accredited? In the United States, the Council
for Higher Education Accreditations (CHEA) is an association
of 3000 degree granting colleges and universities and commissions
its six agencies to evaluate the standards of an institution
every few years. To be accredited by this council, means that
the degrees are transferable to other universities. The Distance
Education and Training Council (DETC) is another agency that
accredits schools and is recognized by the federal Department
of Education. Consider the fact that there are many schools
that are not accredited, yet are seen as legitimate, and there
are also schools that claim to be accredited but are phony.
Careful research (all of which can be done online) is required
to sort through these and choose the real institutions over
the deceptive ones.
Three: Does the school excessively advertise? Phony universities,
or diploma mills, are in the business of making money fast.
Therefore, many phony universities will advertise in major
publications or popular websites promising anything from a
BA to a PHD in less than a month. Any school that entices you
with such absurd promises is just trying to make a fast buck.
Four: Tricky or vague wording. Many phony universities will
claim accreditation from a nonexistent agency or from a foreign
government. These claims of accreditation are vague and amount
to self-accreditation—not in the least verifiable. Sometimes
investigating the legitimacy of a school’s accreditation can
be as simple as typing the name into a Google search.
Five: State skipping. If a university does not allow students
from certain states enrollment, then there’s a good chance
state law has caught on to the diploma mill’s methods. Sometimes
universities start skipping states and began to move their
location from one to the other, hoping to seek loopholes in
new territory. Pay close attention to the location of the headquarters
and the website name. If you notice over a period of time any
changes, then there is reason to be suspicious.
Six: Conspicuous contact information. If the only method of
contact is a PO Box address, email address, or an answering
service, then it’s possible there is no living human staff
ready to defend the school’s integrity. Some schools don’t
offer a personal reply—or a return email address at all. If
the school can’t even face a potential student via email, then
they have something to hide.
Seven: How desperate are they? Many phony universities will
do anything to recruit (deceive) a new paying student. Some
universities will purposely resemble reputable universities
or misspell the name. Some will post pictures of an academic
building claiming it to be theirs, when in actuality it belongs
to another school. Some will offer special “deals” on buying
master’s degrees or PhDs and continue to SPAM you if you don’t
buy. If a school insists upon recruiting you and consistently
badgers you with email, then it’s very possible they need you
a lot more than you need them.
There are more than seven top ways to spot them, of course.
In short, doing a thorough investigation of a school is the
best way to handle any suspicions.
Other top ways to spot them can be found online; many websites
are devoted to researching phony universities. Be sure and
research any school extensively before investing thousands
of dollars in a degree that might not be worth anything in
the real world. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2007
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