Diploma Mills Attacked by Congress

Some members of Congress are getting fed up with diploma mills. They state that diploma mills are a public heath risk, especially in fields like health, engineering and security, so Rep. Timothy Bishop (D-NY), Rep. Michael Castle (R-DE) and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) introduced the bill, Diploma and Accreditation Integrity Protection Act of 2009, this past January to combat diploma mills, especially potential employees of the federal government.

“CHEA [Council for Higher Education Accreditation] applauds this legislation as a measure to protect the integrity of credentials offered by legitimate institutions, which will benefit students and employers,” said President Judith Eaton of CHEA.

The Congress members who sponsored the bill considers a “diploma mill,” an institution that offers degrees, diplomas or certifications for a fee that is intended to represent to the public that the individual has completed a program of education or training beyond secondary education, but little or no coursework is required to obtain such a degree.

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