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Choosing an online college
"Fully accredited!" By whom? The fake accreditors behind online colleges
Say the enrolment form ends with a tick-box: "I have checked this institution's accreditation." The footer says, in gold, Fully Accredited. Before you tick, borrow a four-year-old's best trick: ask "says who?" until an official register tells you whether the online college is accredited.
A sentence with the subject missing
A seal is a sentence with the subject missing. Accredited by whom? That one answer decides whether the degree will count: GOV.UK warns that if a degree is not officially recognised, "employers or universities might not accept it".
The gap is where accreditation mills live. EQAR, the European register of quality assurance agencies, calls them fake agencies that claim to review bogus institutions "in order to help them look legitimate".
A diploma mill sells the degree. An accreditation mill sells the seal that makes the degree look safe.
Dead end, circle or balloon: how a fake chain breaks
Every claim of accreditation is a chain of vouching. Fake ones break the way a tired grown-up answers "says who?", in one of three ways.
The dead end: "Says... people"
Ask a college who accredits it, and the reply reads:
"We are proudly accredited by a leading international council for online education."
No name, no link: the chain stops there.
The circle: "Says me"
The accreditor is "recognised" by a council that lists the accreditor as a member. They vouch for each other; nobody outside vouches for either.
The balloon: "Says the head teacher"
The grown-up's last resort is the biggest name in sight: "Approved by UNESCO." "Accredited by the US Department of Education." The chain floats up to it, but follow the string and it isn't tied to anything.
EQAR notes that UNESCO and the Council of Europe do not "recognise or bestow any type of legitimacy to any higher education institution, programme or provision", and DAPIP that "The U.S. Department of Education does not accredit educational institutions and/or programs." More in the seller's two favourite words, decoded.
Play "says who?" in five rounds
Now climb the chain your college offers, one question at a time.
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"We're fully accredited." Says who?
You need: the full name of the body that accredits the whole college. Not a badge for one course, and not membership of an association.
Game over if: you get a description instead of a name (the dead end). Ask in writing:
Before I enrol: which organisation accredits [College] as a whole institution? Please send its full name and the page on that organisation's own website where [College] is listed. If [College] is a trading name, which legal entity holds the accreditation? And which body awards the degree?
A genuine college can answer it in one reply. Picture a good one:
"We are accredited by [Accreditor], which [the national body] recognises. Our entry is on its directory at [link]. The accredited entity is [Legal name], and your degree is awarded by [University], which is on [the official register]."
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"Our accreditor is recognised." Says who?
You need: the accreditor on an official list you open yourself. In the US, the Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) both review accreditors: search the agency list in the Department's DAPIP database or CHEA's Directory of CHEA-Recognized Organizations (PDF, updated from time to time) by full name.
Game over if: it is on no official list. CHEA counts a claim of recognition by the Department or CHEA "when it is not" among the signs of an accreditation mill.
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"And they accredit us." Says who?
You need: the college in the accreditor's own directory, reached from the official list. If the Department recognises the accreditor, DAPIP should list the college too.
Game over if: the listing doesn't match the college's legal name and main address, or shows only association membership. Brands can differ: ask which legal entity is accredited.
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"We award your degree." Says who?
Some online colleges teach for a partner university, and GOV.UK warns: "Not all colleges that teach degrees can award them." Find the awarding body and put it through rounds one to three.
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"Trust us, we're the accreditor." Says who?
Turn the question on the accreditor. Type its name yourself and tick any of these:
- It sells accreditation in "packages" or from a price list.
- It promises accredited status within days or weeks.
- Its reviews are paperwork only, with no site visit or review panel.
- It offers "permanent" accreditation, never reviewed again.
- You can't find the standards it judges colleges against.
- Two schools from its accredited list never mention it on their own websites.
- It claims recognition that the Department's, CHEA's or EQAR's lists don't show.
- Its name is a word or two away from a recognised accreditor's.
These turn CHEA's and EQAR's signs of a mill into tests. CHEA's own rule: if many of its questions come up yes, you may be dealing with a mill.
Now read your result:
| Your result | Your move |
|---|---|
| Rounds one to four pass, and round five has no ticks | Carry on |
| Any of rounds one to four fails | Stop, and follow the steps below |
| One or two round-five ticks | Dig further: ask for its published standards |
| Several round-five ticks | Treat it as a mill |
| You can't tell | Ask the awarding body, or the national recognition centre on ENIC-NARIC's country pages |
One fair caveat from EQAR: some legitimate institutions are still seeking accreditation. Unaccredited isn't always fake, but weigh the risk before you pay.
Where the chain should end, country by country
Recognition is national: a college's own country decides whether its accreditation counts. ENIC-NARIC calls that country's official list the most straightforward check, so round two should end at one of these.
| College based in | Where "says who?" should stop |
|---|---|
| United States | College → accreditor → DAPIP or CHEA's directory |
| England | College → awarding body → OfS Register |
| Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | College → awarding body → the lists in GOV.UK's guide |
| Elsewhere in Europe | College → quality agency → EQAR, and the country's own list |
| Australia | Provider → TEQSA's National Register |
| Canada | Institution → province or territory, via CICIC |
| Philippines | School → CHED: see our CHED guide |
| Anywhere else | Institution → the ministry or regulator's official list |
- US: DAPIP covers US institutions only. For a school abroad, check its own country's list too.
- UK: the chain skips the accreditor. GOV.UK's test is whether the awarding body can award degrees, or the award is on its recognised list.
- Europe: EQAR registration is voluntary, so a missing agency proves nothing; a false claim to be listed is a warning.
- Australia: under section 111 of the TEQSA Act, a "regulated entity" commits an offence if it represents that a course of study is accredited and the representation is untrue.
The four-lap register check walks you through each search.
Is an online college accredited any differently?
No, and that's good news. Online college accreditation works as it does on campus: recognised accreditors review online colleges too, and those accreditors sit on the same official lists.
What online changes is what you can see. A campus shows you its teachers; a website has to be asked. Three checks from EQAR's and CHEA's signs of a diploma mill:
- Named teachers. The site lists its staff and their qualifications.
- Real study. You'll attend, online or in person, and hand in work that someone marks.
- A plain shop window. No sample certificate or card logos on the home page, and more than a PO box for an address.
If nobody will teach you or mark your work, stop there.
If the chain breaks
- Don't pay, or stop paying. Screenshot the seals and the claims first.
- Run two quick checks: the college's web address through the website X-ray, and its name through the official warning lists.
- Already paid? Here are the steps to take next.
- Start a new chain. Filter our map of universities to those teaching online, pick one, and ask it "says who?"
Sources
- EQAR: Accreditation and diploma mills: definition and signs of accreditation and diploma mills, UNESCO and the Council of Europe, unreviewed institutions, scope of the Register
- CHEA: Important Questions about "Diploma Mills" and "Accreditation Mills": signs of a mill, and recognition review by the Department or CHEA
- CHEA: Directory of CHEA-Recognized Organizations (PDF): accreditors CHEA recognises; updated from time to time
- US Department of Education: DAPIP: recognised agencies, accredited institutions, the Department's role, institutions outside the US
- ENIC-NARIC: Recognised higher education institutions: checking an institution on its country's official list
- GOV.UK: Check if your university or college can award a degree
- TEQSA: National Register of Higher Education Providers: registered providers in Australia
- Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011: section 111, falsely representing a course of study as accredited; section 198, the National Register
- CICIC: Quality assurance in postsecondary education: provincial and territorial authority to grant credentials in Canada
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