The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have developed a series of suggestions for ways to discourage and eventually eliminate ‘degree mills’ in countries around the world. These suggestions are contained in a joint statement entitled “Toward Effective Practice: Discouraging Degree Mills in Higher Education”.

Suggested actions to combat ‘degree mills’ include:

• Creating tools for the identification of 'degree mills'.
• Using evidence of quality, provided by acknowledged competent authorities on academic quality, such as recognised accreditation and quality assurance bodies.
• Encourage providers of public and private funding for higher education to avoid funding of ‘degree mills’ and their students.
• Inform the public about ‘degree mills’.
• Pursue legal action against ‘degree mills’ and the use of fraudulent credentials.
• Focus on cross-border ‘degree mill’ operation.

The full statement can be accessed on CHEA’s website:

CHEA