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Employers: Don’t Get Fooled By The “Diploma Mills” Degree

What are “diploma mills”?

A diploma mill or degree mill is an organization that awards academic and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official  educational accrediting bodies. All that is required to get an education from a diploma mill is a valid credit card. There are no real standards and studying is not necessary.

With so many schools out there, ligitimate or otherwise, how can employers make sure they are not being duped by unethical employees? The best way for an employer to get verification is to hire a professional employment background screening agency to research the educational background of an applicant or employee. These agencies have the experience, resources and skills to distinguish between legitimate and bogus schools.

Why employees buy into this

Today’s job market is very demanding. The competition is among job candidates is fierce. As a result, some job seekers feel justified in lying on their resume′ to get a job.
A few of the reasons employees buy into diploma mills is out of desperation, ignorance, laziness and greed. Not exactly the qualities an employer looks for or needs in an employee.

Some employees purchase diplomas under the impression they are getting legitimate degrees. They are sold on the marketing ploys diploma mills use such as accepting “life experience” for credit towards a diploma. While it is true that some legitimate colleges offer “life experience” for credit, it usually under very strict guidelines.

On the other hand, some employees purchase fake diplomas to fool current or prospective employers. These employees see it as an easy way to get ahead with as little effort as possible. After all, $1000 for a bogus medical, nursing or certified public accountant  degree is even cheaper than a legitimate community college degree. And for $20 anyone can purchase templates to create the diplomas right of a printer.

How fake diplomas may be a liability for employers

Imagine hiring an employee that turns out to have a fake medical or accounting degree. The consequences can be devastating to innocent clients and to an organization. Keep in mind that the employer is liable for any damage that an employee may cause while on the job. This is especially true if the employee was hired without verification of his or her qualifications.

Accredited, unaccredited and diploma mills

How can an employer tell the difference? Sometimes it is very obvious. Real school: Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. Fake school: Stanford University--anywhere else. But sometimes it is not so obvious. This must be the case as diploma mills are a billion dollar business. It’s very unlikely these fake schools will disappear any time soon.

In order to attract customers, many of these diploma mills use the exact name or similar name of a well-known college. The people who run these mills know they will eventually be closed down, but in the meantime they will have profited millions of dollars. And even if they are closed down today, they will just open up another “school” tomorrow. This is partly due to the ease to advertise on the internet and the demand for fake diplomas.

How can an employer protect itself against applicants with fake diplomas?

One of the best ways to combat this increasing and persistent problem is to make sure every employee goes through an employment background screen, including an educational background search. A professional employment background firm will be able to distinguish accredited schools from unaccredited diploma mills.