Акредиттеуді жалғандау: Білім беру ұйымдарын алдаудың жолдары

Fraudulent organization, not recognized for educational accreditation
An accreditation mill is an organization that purports to award educational accreditation to higher education institutions without having government authority or recognition from mainstream academia to operate as an accreditor. Implicit in the terminology is the assumption that the "mill" has low standards (or no standards) for such accreditation. Accreditation mills are much like diploma mills, and in many cases are closely associated with diploma mills. The "accreditation" they supply has no legal or academic value but is used in diploma mill marketing to help attract students. Some institutions obtain accreditation from an independent group with low standards. In other cases, the institution sets up its own seemingly independent accreditation board and then accredits itself. This gives the appearance that an outside group has approved the education that is offered at the school. In many countries, accreditation is a government function. In the United States, governments normally do not accredit academic institutions, but federal education authorities recognize about 18 private accrediting organizations for institutional accreditation of higher education institutions While standards vary from organization to organization, without recognition from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) (a non governmental organization) or the United States Department of Education, the claims made by independent groups hold no value in the academic community.

To help consumers avoid diploma mills and accreditation mills, several national and international bodies publish lists of recognized accreditors and accredited educational institutions, as well as accreditors that are known to lack the necessary legal authority or recognition, and higher education providers known to lack accreditation.

A proposal for legislation that was announced in the U. S. House of Representatives in January 2010 would have inserted a definition of "accreditation mill" into U. S. law. The proposal, sponsored by Congressmen Timothy Bishop of New York and Michael Castle of Delaware, would have defined the term to mean "an education or corporate organization that offers a form of educational recognition or accreditation, for a fee or free of charge, that extend[s] a permanent recognition or accreditation status to an institution with few or no requirements for subsequent periodic reviews; (B) publish[es] a list of institutions and programs recognized or accredited by such organization that includes institutions and programs that did not apply for or otherwise request such recognition or accreditation by the organization; or (C) lack[s] national recognition by the Secretary of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation."