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Received an email
claiming you can get a degree in months instead of years? Too good to be
true? Then…. Beware
of Unrecognized Degrees
Read
on to find out more and equip yourself with knowledge about degree mill and
be on alert when considering furthering your education in a foreign distance
learning university. Don’t think that Singapore is safe from these
unscrupulous individual! |
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Definitions
There are many definitions about degree
and diploma mills. I offer my definitions here. Registration by MOE does not in any way
represent an endorsement or accreditation of the quality of the courses
offered.” |
Introduction We lived in a country
where “we are safe”; low crime rate, no natural disasters but if you are
looking to further your education…. Be warned! What you will read about
from this article is about people who are preying on your desire to earn a
university degree or may be just another piece of paper. Degree
Mill A degree mill grants degree based on very little
course work, which usually can be completed in a very short amount of
time. I do believe that there are
many genuine operators out there with honest intention to provide quality
education. Diploma
Mill A diploma mill sells diploma for a price. These
diplomas are granted by “university” that may resemble a prestigious
university. For example, names like Columbia State University, Harrington, or
maybe miss spelled Harvard. So, if it
is too good to be true. It probably is! You better think twice. Others may claim to be diploma replacement service.
The fact remains whether your diploma be replaced by a third-party without
proper verification of the degree authenticity? Think about it. The Ministry
of Education’s Statement on Private Institutions “Ministry of Education (MOE) registers private
schools, the courses they offer and the teachers conducting the registered
courses. To be registered,
prospective private school operators need to fulfill the requirements as laid
out in the information notes for the setting up and registration of private
schools. As all private schools are
owned by private entities, the operators themselves are responsible for the
management and administration of their schools and courses. Registration
by MOE does not in any way represent an endorsement or accreditation of the
quality of the courses offered.” |
Why I wrote this article? This article records my research on unrecognized degrees,
diploma and degree mills. but I compiled this article for a very simple
reason: “To let my fellow Singaporeans and
fellow human know that there are unscrupulous businesses or individuals who
are preying on your need for academic achievement!” I see more and more of
such advertisements in local newspapers and you might have heard of degrees
you can buy with a simple phone call.
Interesting,
over the past years, I received many
emails; some flame mail, some compliments, some good advise, some legal
threats, and many questions. In
conclusion, I hope that my research on this topic will benefit you in your
pursuit of higher education Singapore! Thank you for all your
input and God Bless You! |
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What is a recognized
qualification? What about
unrecognized degrees? Hear it for yourself! This link brings
you to BBC Audio report on Degree Mill. (You need a RealPlayer
plug-in). |
Recognition is one of the most mentioned buzzword in Education.
Recognition is also one of the most difficult issues in Education. It differs
from country to country, university
to university. Every university
claimed to have some kind of recognition. Unlike the Commonwealth countries,
the government does not recognize a university directly but through
accrediting agencies sanctioned by the Department of Education of the United
States. In the United Kingdom or Singapore, an education institution can only
recognized or accredited by Royal Charter or an Act of Parliament or Ministry
of Education. In the United States, Department of Education and Council for Higher Education Accreditations
(CHEA) commissioned six regional
accreditation agencies to evaluate the standards of an educational
institution every four to six years. The accreditation process is based on
stringent criteria that the university must met. You will therefore be assured that the degrees granted by these
institutions are transferable to other universities or colleges in the US. Distance Education and Training Council
(DETC) is another accreditation agency that grants recognition for Distance
learning courses in the US recognized by the Department of Education, they
accredit degrees up to Master’s level. To simply put it, they are
universities that are not accredited by the six Regional Accreditation
Agencies recognized by the Department of Education in the There are many of such
universities around the world. The university will never gain accreditation
status due to the sub-standard academic standing of the school. So, they form
their own DIY accreditation agencies.
Others claimed "State Accreditation" or “State Recognition”
which is none other than a form of rubber stamp for educational business. The
“university” will never tell you until it is too late, so DO YOUR
HOMEWORK! |
Singapore Context In Singapore a university can only gain its
recognition or accreditation by an Act of Parliament. These universities are:
National University of Singapore (NUS); Nanyang Technological University
(NTU); Singapore Management University (SMU). The Public Service Commission (PSC) is the “Human
Resources Department” of the Singapore Government. They set the employment
standards and guidelines for the recognition of foreign universities
qualifications. Since the government is the largest employer in Singapore,
most local companies use PSC’s standard as a yardstick. To
my understanding, PSC will recognize U.S institutions that are accredited by
the six regional accreditation agencies mentioned previously. For most
commonwealth countries, a parliamentary or a royal charter should suffice. |
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Is it necessary to
get a recognized degree? By the way, the owner of Columbia State
University is behind bars |
Recognition or accreditation is important. It
protects and guarantees the worthiness of your qualification. You want your
degree to be widely accepted for its quality, and not a piece of junk printed
from some laser printer from a garage
university. This is what the accreditation agency does, to ensure the
quality of your hard earned diploma. Once in a while, I receive mails coming from people
defending their unaccredited schools or degrees. Let’s face the facts; an
unaccredited degree will not bring you anywhere in the long run. There were
many horror stories about innocent people victimized by degree/diploma mills
because of their ignorance. Search
the Internet and see for yourself! Here is a case for you to think about. Assuming
that you have paid your life’s saving for degree from an unrecognized
university knowingly or unknowingly. Then later found out that you are unable
to use the degree you worked and paid for.
Worst you are arrested for the use of such diploma. Think about it!
With the Internet fuelling the “degree mills industry, there are many of such
cases unveiling each day. Better, tell people that you get your PhD in 27
days from |
My
thoughts…. To be fair, I believe that
there are unaccredited schools out there that are genuine and honest about
providing good education, but without proper accreditation you need a lot of
convincing. So, if you really want to have a good education and do not
worried about your degree being transferable to another university. You can
consider this option only after careful consideration. But if you wish to
secure a job without having to later make a lot of justifications, get one
that you know is recognized! There are some good
unaccredited universities out there, for instance Bob Jones University. This is a |
Tactics of
Degree/
Diploma Mill
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1.
Tactic Number One Advertisements.
You can always find a degree/diploma mill in well-known professional journals
such as Economist, or Times, even in some popular local
newspapers. The most notorious diploma mill runs a series of advertisements
in such publications offering degrees in the shortest possible time with
minimal effort. 2.
Tactic Number Two Claimed
accreditation. Many claimed accreditation from their own DIY agency. Again,
the same trick from the bag is employed. The name resembles that of the six
regional accreditation agencies. Others make very vague claim about their
accreditation. For example: " The above is a typical
example of vague claims. They used words like "several governments and
their agencies" and “member of a number of international university”
without mention of which one. What is
even more interesting is the fact that they do self-accreditation. This
university is incorporated in the Unlike those claiming
accreditations, others slam the accreditation process claiming that it is
entirely voluntary. I do agree that accreditation may be a bureaucratic
process and have many loopholes. With the absence of a government sanction,
the fact remains that accreditation by the regional agencies is still the
best approach. 3.
Tactic Number Three Some of
the universities claim that their students are able to get reimbursement for
the course fees from employers or claims that their student comes from
government offices etc. But the fact remains that most of the government
offices or agencies do not have enough understanding about these
institutions. 4.
Tactics Number Four Claimed Recognition Foreign Government. More and More institutions out there use this
approach in hope to deceive people. 5.
Tactic Number Five Make your
university site just like a big school. Download and change the name of the
catalog and claim that it is yours! Plagiarized legitimate university’s
websites. Have a look at this
excellent research by George Gollin
of the |
Our perception of popular professional journals is the
fact that there is a set of stringent criteria to protect its reader. Think
again! It is an advertisement. Vague words are often employed without justifications. Some may claimed accreditation from another country
because of a loophole. Unlike those claiming accreditations, others slam the
accreditation process claiming that it is entirely voluntary. I do agree that
accreditation may be a bureaucratic process and have many loopholes. But the
fact remains that this is the best approach so far. I would highly recommend that you read article by George
Gollin. |
Tell tale signs
of a degree/
diploma mill
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1.
They are not allowed to recruit students from certain
states due to some state regulations.
If you are a legitimate school, would your home state deny you to
recruit students? 2.
They move from one location to another frequently.
Strange? Many universities were incorporated in the state of 3.
If you see a university that has a PO Box address, or an
answering service out of Hawaii, double check. 4.
Similar to the “dynamic addresses”, diploma mill’s web
site is extremely dynamic too. They are here today and gone tomorrow. 5.
Names that resembles reputable universities, such as the
infamous 6.
Tuition fees based on per degree basis instead of per
credit basis. For example, they may charge a fee of 3-5K for BS degree, 5-6K
for MS or PhD. 7.
Like their claims of accreditations, brochures also
contain very vague terms. Sample diploma is shown on the marketing material
and on the sites. 8.
Show a picture of nice academic building, which in actual
fact belongs to another college. 9.
There are many universities in the 10. They SPAM
you with emails and you cannot reply to their email except to call them on
their 1-800 number which is an answering machine. |
The Golden Rule The rule is: if it is too good to be true, it probably is! |
Where to find
out more about the Distance Education and Diploma Mills?
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To find out more
information, there are many discussion on the usenet newsgroup, you can
search for the latest discussion on
"Alt.Education.Distance" on http://www.dejanews.com There are many good reliable information sites for
this purpose. I have compiled some useful sites below to help you with your
research: 1.
George Gollin’s
excellent research on degree/diploma mill. 2.
www.degree.net John Bear is considered the
guru in Distance Education. He has publish numerous book on this subject and
he is also specialist consultant for degree mills to FBI. 3.
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/education/distance-ed-faq/part1/
To get the general picture of distance education, read the Official FAQ of Alt.Education.Distance. 4.
Links to Known
Degree Mills. This is my personal list that I have compiled over the past
years. I don’t think it will be complete without showing them in action.
Please be aware that these universities are unaccredited, for whatever
reasons, you want to try them out, consider again… there might be better
choices out there.. Good Luck and God Bless!! |
As mentioned earlier this site has excellent information
for your research on degree mill. John Bear has an excellent Forum Discussion on this topic. |