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In their quest for higher education and training, students sometimes encounter “diploma mills”—dubious providers of educational offerings or operations that offer certificates and degrees that are considered bogus.

Diploma mills mislead students into thinking they’re gaining a valuable education. In the U.S., degrees and certificates from diploma mills may not be acknowledged by other institutions when students seek to transfer or go to graduate school.

There is no single definition of diploma mills in higher education. While a few states have laws or regulations regarding these operations, most do not. Many diploma mills would not pass a review of an accrediting organization.

Identifying diploma mills is not easy. A number of the features of diploma mills are similar to familiar higher education institutions. However, prospective students can look for several indicators that suggest an operation may be a diploma mill.

Here are a series of questions you can ask to determine whether a school you’re considering is a diploma mill. If the answer to a majority of the questions below is yes, you should take this as highly suggestive that you may be dealing with a diploma mill:

• Can degrees be purchased?
• Is there a claim of accreditation when there is no evidence of this status?
• Does the operation lack a state or federal license to operate?
• Is little, if any, attendance and are few assignments required of students?
• Is a very short period of time required to earn a degree?
• Are degrees available based solely on experience or resumé review?
• Does the operation charge very high fees as compared to average fees charged by higher education institutions?
• On the other hand, is the fee so low that it does not appear to be related to a legitimate education?
• Does the operation avoid providing any information about a campus or business location?
• Does the operation avoid providing a list of its faculty members and their qualifications?