Looking for an Online Degree? Buyer Beware!

The Federal Trade Commission, America's watchdog consumer agency, has issued yet another warning about an education-related scam. The FTC's missive, entitled "Diploma Mills: Degrees of Deception", takes dead aim at diploma mills, a particularly insidious form of online trickery that plays on the country's love affair with distance learning and online degrees. Victims of the scam respond to an email message promising a college-level degree based solely on their extensive life experience, all in exchange for a relatively modest, one-time fee. Instead of setting off alarm bells, the fact that the degree requires little or even no classroom work makes the offer so compelling that some just can't resist.

Those familiar with the online education phenomenon say diploma mills have been a scam waiting to happen. Distance learning and legitimate online degrees from accredited institutions like the University of Phoenix, Westwood College or Kaplan University have made it easier than ever for Americans to better their lot through education. The job qualifications that come with an online degree generally mean better pay and better career prospects.

While legitimate online degrees are now widely accepted by employers as proof of a job candidate's education qualifications, it's safe to say employers will not easily suffer the embarrassment of hiring a "diploma mill" graduate. If you get caught holding a diploma mill degree when applying for a job or - perhaps even worse - a graduate degree program, expect to be shown the door in no uncertain terms.

According to the FTC, diploma mills trolling for "graduates" often set their hook and then reel in their catch using a bogus claim of accreditation. By claiming to be "accredited", a diploma mill can easily create a sense of security in those it targets.

While many people know that American colleges and universities voluntarily have their educational programs reviewed as part of the accreditation process, few are well acquainted with the roughly half a dozen regional and eighty professional accrediting associations in the United States. When a diploma mill makes up an official sounding name for its supposed accrediting association, it's easy to be fooled. One way to positively confirm a school's accreditation credentials is to check the database of accredited colleges and universities at the Department of Education website.

Of course, says the FTC, a claim of accreditation is really just the icing on the cake for diploma mill scammers. If they're going to take the bait, most recipients of an email offering a diploma mill degree are already hooked by the idea of having their life experience "officially" recognized, especially when there's no waiting and no attendance requirement. But there are other giveaways, too, that an email offer of a degree isn't everything it's cracked up to be.

At the top of the list, perhaps, is the ever-present offer of a degree in exchange for a one-time payment. Legitimate online colleges and universities charge by the credit hour, reminds the FTC, and not by the degree. Also, an instant degree offer in the form of an unsolicited email or online pop-ups is almost unquestionably a scam. Finally, be on the lookout for imitative names. While not always a dead giveaway - some search engine marketers legitimately target common misspellings of a university's name - diploma mills like to choose names that intentionally mimic the names of well-known colleges and universities, a practice that goes so far as to proffer on-the-spot degrees from institutions with foreign names that seem both persuasive and credible.

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Matt Paolini works from home as a distance learner. Visit University of Pheonix or MBA Degree University of Pheonix for free distance learning info.