Degree Mills

Degree mills have existed for literally hundreds of years, and are still blatantly advertising their fake degree offerings with little to zero questions asked, all over the world. In the 1980s, many of these fake schools were put out of business thanks to the "DipScam" FBI task force, but the ones that were not caught only became smarter.

Up until the FBI got involved, degree mills went all but unchecked. Then the FBI scaled back DipScam in the 1990s, and these scandalous institutions have been using the advent of technology to their full advantage. One major issue with these frauds is that sometimes even the customer can't tell they are receiving a fake degree.

How Degree Mills Dupe You

Trinity College of The Bible degree mill, also known as Trinity College and University, has had some pretty high profile customers. Apparently several United Nations staff members were fired because they padded their resumes with Trinity fake degrees. The worst part is, they may not have known that it was a degree mill.

For example, be careful of companies offering degrees for “life experience.” More likely, they may be a life experience degree mill college. Even checking a list of degree mill colleges will not be all that reliable, since degree mills are so hard to track. They get away with it again and again through use of mail forwarders, operating and selling outside their home state, and using loopholes in laws meant to prevent their actions.

Yet Degree Mills Still Flourish

Isn't it tempting? Your degree could be in your hands without ever stepping foot in a college, for a fraction of what it would otherwise cost to earn that degree. This is why they are still around. That and the fact it is just about impossible to distinguish degree mills from the real deal with anything short of a full-on investigation.

While most of them are non-accredited schools, some actually have the law on their side. Religious schools in particular. Due to the separation of church and state, it is increasingly difficult to regulate these schools. Most states require religious schools to only grant religious degrees.

However, degree mills in Louisiana were given a major windfall when courts upheld twice that God created everything, and so no matter what was studied, it was the study of the work of God, and thus a religious degree was awarded.