diploma mill
noun
: a usually unregulated institution of higher education granting degrees with few or no academic requirements
Examples of diploma mill in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Canada's various student and temporary foreign worker programs have come under great scrutiny, with questionable diploma mills taking advantage of international students who often live together in fairly cramped conditions and are regularly exploited in horrific ways.
—
Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025
This led to the rise of diploma mills that sell guard certificates to people uninterested in or unable to dedicate a day or more of uncompensated time to training.
—Jasper Craven, Harper's Magazine, 23 July 2024
Efforts to encourage education in the United States have led to a proliferation of diploma mills, which deliver second-rate schooling to increasingly desperate students.
—Menzie D. Chinn, Foreign Affairs, 16 Aug. 2012
All were targets of a massive federal crackdown on a nursing-school diploma mill that authorities say was centered in South Florida and extended to the northeast and Texas.
—Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2024
For example, Eaton notes, creating a definitive blacklist of fake schools or diploma mills would be impossible, because the fraudsters can easily change their names, internet domains and other information to keep themselves off such lists.
—Emma Whitford, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2023
Mota’s doctorate comes from a diploma mill that provides honorary degrees for a price, the Globe’s research found.
—Amanda Milkovits, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Mar. 2023
Even though the Chronicle is the journalistic equivalent of a diploma mill, the story was picked up by the Conservative Party and all its downstream social media partners.
—BostonGlobe.com, 26 Oct. 2019
In the last decade much has been written about diploma mills: schools that teach nothing, yet graduate their students, many of whom just happen to be elite athletes.
—Pete Thamel, SI.com, 22 June 2016
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Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025
This led to the rise of diploma mills that sell guard certificates to people uninterested in or unable to dedicate a day or more of uncompensated time to training.
—Jasper Craven, Harper's Magazine, 23 July 2024
Efforts to encourage education in the United States have led to a proliferation of diploma mills, which deliver second-rate schooling to increasingly desperate students.
—Menzie D. Chinn, Foreign Affairs, 16 Aug. 2012
All were targets of a massive federal crackdown on a nursing-school diploma mill that authorities say was centered in South Florida and extended to the northeast and Texas.
—Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2024
For example, Eaton notes, creating a definitive blacklist of fake schools or diploma mills would be impossible, because the fraudsters can easily change their names, internet domains and other information to keep themselves off such lists.
—Emma Whitford, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2023
Mota’s doctorate comes from a diploma mill that provides honorary degrees for a price, the Globe’s research found.
—Amanda Milkovits, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Mar. 2023
Even though the Chronicle is the journalistic equivalent of a diploma mill, the story was picked up by the Conservative Party and all its downstream social media partners.
—BostonGlobe.com, 26 Oct. 2019
In the last decade much has been written about diploma mills: schools that teach nothing, yet graduate their students, many of whom just happen to be elite athletes.
—Pete Thamel, SI.com, 22 June 2016
Cite this Entry
“Diploma mill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diploma%20mill. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
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