10 Red Flags an Online Degree Program Is Fake

When it comes to choosing an online degree program, there are a lot of options, and experts say thorough research is essential. Many fraudulent options – also known as diploma mills – exist that allow students to easily earn a credential with little to no value to employers.

Here are 10 signs an online degree program may not be legitimate.

Accreditation is verification from an authority that a university and sometimes a specific program meet certain standards of quality. Check whether each is accredited by an agency recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation or the Department of Education.

CHEA and DOE don't recognize any international accreditors, so experts recommend avoiding programs claiming to have international accreditation. The overall university should be nationally or regionally accredited.

If prospective online students are told they can earn a degree without much effort, that should be a warning sign, says Karen Pedersen, chief knowledge officer at the Online Learning Consortium, which aims to advance online higher education.

"While there are institutions that do look at prior learning evaluation for credit, it's done through a very specific way utilizing best practices," she says. "If any institution is sort of, 'You can do this, and it's easy, it's fast' – those would be red highlights for me."

Some fraudulent degree programs online will "steal a renowned name and modify it just a little bit," Leah Matthews, executive director of the Distance Education Accrediting Commission, which accredits online colleges, told U.S. News in 2015.

If you come across an online school with a name like Yale Technological University, be sure to research further.

"You also would be looking for an institution where it's really clear about where they're located," Pedersen says.

Beware of online programs that don't have a campus or business address listed, and only include an email address or P.O. box, experts say. Having a physical campus may also ensure the school has a long history with a reputable brand.

If you come across an online degree program's website and it contains consistent spelling or grammatical errors, investigate it further, experts suggest.

"If something doesn't look right, feel right, especially when you're thinking about an online degree – and not from an institution in your community or down the road from you – it's important to do your due diligence," Pedersen says.

"The '.edu.' URL is used throughout the higher education industry in the United States in particular," Pedersen says. A program with a ".com" or ".net" address should cause a prospective student to dig deeper into whether it gives fake degrees.

If an online program's salespeople and financial aid staff seem overly aggressive, especially when it comes to payment or taking out loans, proceed with caution, experts say.

"Access to financial aid counseling is very important, and students should be very leery if they don't have the information they need, or feel like their questions aren't being answered," Anne Johnson, then director of advocacy group Campus Progress, told U.S. News in 2012.

Few reputable online degree programs will ask for a substantial financial commitment upfront, experts say. Pedersen told U.S. News that in most legitimate options, students pay for courses by term or semester.

An online program may be a scam if it doesn't have much of a social media following, there's little information about it online and it doesn't appear in any news articles, for example, Pedersen says.

She also recommends that prospective online students browse websites of online programs they know are credible and compare them with the ones they are considering to see if anything strange sticks out.

A legitimate online degree program offers various types of student services, whether tutoring, library resources or a career center, experts say.

"Don't go in with the expectation that you're supposed to get less than because it's online," said Judith Eaton, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, in a U.S. News Google Hangout.

You can learn more about choosing an online degree program by exploring the U.S. News 2017 Best Online Programs rankings and checking out the Online Learning Lessons blog.

For additional advice, follow U.S. News Education on Twitter and Facebook.