Universities Weblog

Apparently, the UK has garnered the reputation of the best place to turn if you wish to order a fake degree. Educators decry the amount of 'diploma mills' available, and fear that the value of a legitimate education obtained in the UK will be devalued.

Of course, the existence of diploma mills anywhere casts a shadow on education everywhere.

The Times reports:The international reputation of UK universities is being put at risk by the increasing number of diploma mills that use UK addresses to sell fake degrees, quality watchdogs have warned.

Academic inspectors across the world have raised concerns that the UK has become a haven for foreign companies posing as universities and selling degrees and doctorates online. Overseas operations can exploit a legal loophole in the UK that allows them to register in the country as a university as long as they are not offering UK degrees. The companies, which use authoritative sounding British titles, mention only in small print on their websites that their degrees are not validated by a UK academic institution.

While it is not known how many diploma mills use UK addresses, a Swedish study concluded recently that the number of fake universities worldwide had risen from about 200 in 2000 to more than 800 last year.

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