Hi all I was wondering if anyone had a list of (or knows where one is) of all the diploma/degree mills past and present - especially UK ones. The educational institute i work for (we run financial based qualifications at various levels in conjunction with UMIST in the UK) often deals with potential students who, in order to get onto one of our courses, need to provide details of past degrees etc. Sometimes, they list bogus university degrees which would have possibly slipped through the net (if it wasnt for me reading about them on this excellent website!) A handy list would be useful for my collegue to refer to when potential students apply. Many thanks James Ba (Hons) Christ Church University College, UK
No one maintains such a list, but you can (largely) cover it. A current copy of Bears' Guide will give you the lion's share of it.
The current edition of Bears' Guide (15th) is nearly two years old. So the section listing and briefly describing about 600 (I think) mills is out of date, but still a good source. (There should be a 16th edition in spring 2005, I think.) The State of Oregon's list is another excellent resource, but also not as up to date as it might be. The Shadow knows that Oregon has a list of well over 1,000 schools that probably qualify for their list, but time and budget constraints have delayed possible inclusion of these. http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/diploma_mill.html The State of Michigan also maintains a helpful list of about 1,000 schools that can't be used for state jobs in Michigan: www.michigan.gov/documents/non-accreditedschools_78090_7.pdf
I don't believe that it's reasonably possible to have a complete list of degree mills. The life of some diploma mills might be measured in weeks. The UK seems very diligent in keeping their list of UK universities up to date. Not finding a school in that list that was claimed by the degree holder to sell UK degrees would mean that it's most assuredly a degree mill.
Thanks Hey everyone - thanks for all your help. I will probably purchase a copy of bears guide for the office! Many thanks Jamerson
