Degrees offered by unaccredited institutions of higher education

Unaccredited institutions of higher education may include legitimate religious institutions offering ordination or doctoral degrees based on religious training, but most other unaccredited institutions are diploma mills offering counterfeit degrees for a price.[1]

Further information: Academic degree

Degrees offered by unaccredited religious institutions

Some unaccredited religious institutions may award degrees that are accepted by civil service or other employers, though employment qualifications vary from state to state in the United States. Some seminaries and bible colleges see accreditation issues as a government intrusion on religious freedom.[2][3] Unaccredited bible colleges may offer associate's degrees, diplomas, or certificates. Seminary degree titles offered may be Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or D.Div.).

Historical perspectives: diploma mill degrees

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) has reported,

During the latter part of the 19th century, the value of the degree increased substantially, as evidenced by the passage of the Morrill Land Grant Act and the founding of many new colleges. This created a market for degrees, and fraudulent providers moved into the market to meet the demand. The first documented reference to degree mills was in 1876 when John Eaton, a United States Commissioner of Education, called them a disgrace to American education.[4]

Walter C. John wrote in School Life in 1937 that he first learned of "counterfeit degrees" in 1903. John listed examples of counterfeit degrees offered: "Business psychologist, practitioner of truth, doctor of psychology, doctor of metaphysics, doctor of divinity".[5]

Describing "$100 doctors" in 1940, Joseph Burton Vaschen listed the degree offerings of five degree mills: Doctor of Psychology (Ps.D.), Doctor of Metaphysics (Ms.D.), Doctor of Divinity (D.D.), Doctor of Psychology (Ps.D.), Doctor of Mental Science (D.M.S.), Doctor of Universal Truth (U.T.D.), Degree of Master of Education (M.Ed), or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Education, and Doctor of Education (Ed.D.).[6]

A review of Morris Fishbein's 1949 article, "Beware the Mind-Meddler" in Woman's Home Companion, highlighted the need for legislative action "to restrain those charlatans who prey on the goodwill and the wallets of emotionally disturbed people".[7] Fishbein had written, "...there is not one state in the union with adequate legal standards stipulating who may and who may not dispense psychologic advice."[7] He identified "Doctor of Psychology" and "Doctor of Metaphysics" as "quack degrees".[7]

A 1960 study of doctorates unaccredited institutions offered for psychotherapists included a table with the following degrees:[8]

  • Doctor of Psychology
  • Doctor of Metaphysics
  • Doctor of Science
  • Doctor of Psychotherapy
  • Doctor of BioPsychology (BPD)
  • Doctor of Philosophy in Metaphysics (PhDM)
  • Doctor of Divinity in Metaphysics (DDM)
  • Doctor of Divinity
  • Doctor of Naturatics (NaD)
  • Master of Psychology and Scientific Truth (ScTM)
  • Master of Psychic Science (MPsSc)
  • Licentiate in Hypnotherapy (LHy)
  • Psychic Reader
  • Metaphysical Counselor
  • Master Metaphysician
  • Ordination

In 2019, Bruce Thayer described "legitimate approaches to earning the social work doctorate on a parttime or nonresidential basis" and then identified "predatory social work" programs offering degrees in sex therapy, clinical hypnotherapy, metaphysical hypnosis, natural health, transpersonal psychology, and transpersonal counseling.[9]

According to CHEA, "...there is more and more pressure on individuals to earn degrees, not only bachelor's degrees, but master's and doctoral degrees as well. Jobs and promotions increasingly go to individuals with the greatest educational qualifications, even when individuals' work experience may be more relevant to the job than is a degree. This creates pressures on individuals to obtain degrees, tempting some to take the easy route to a degree – the degree mill."[4]

See also

References
  1. "Important Questions about "Diploma Mills" and "Accreditation Mills"" (PDF). Council for Higher Education Accreditation, Fact Sheet 6. May 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 31, 2010. Retrieved October 17, 2010.
  2. Berry, Kelle (January 22, 2021). "Canceling Accreditation of Faith-Based Schools Would Destroy Religious Education". First Liberty. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  3. Destro, Robert. "ABA and AALS Accreditation: What's "Religious Diversity" Got to Do With It?". Marquette Law Review. 78: 427–479. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020.
  4. "Degree Mills: an Old Problem & a New Threat". CHEA.org. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  5. John, Walter C. (1937). Counterfeit Degrees. School Life: Official Organ of the United States Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior. pp. 245–246.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. Vasché, Joseph Burton (1940). ""$100 Doctors": The Facts on Today's Degree Mill Racket". The Clearing House. 15 (3): 159–161. doi:10.1080/00098655.1940.11473050. ISSN 0009-8655. JSTOR 30182277 – via JSTOR.
  7. Sigrist, Joseph (January 1949). "Beware the Mind-Meddler". American Journal of Psychotherapy. 3 (1): 162–163. doi:10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1949.3.1.162. ISSN 0002-9564.
  8. Brophy, Alfred L.; Durfee, Richard A. (June 1960). "Mail-order training in psychotherapy". American Psychologist. 15 (6): 356–360. doi:10.1037/h0044462. ISSN 1935-990X.
  9. Thyer, Bruce A. (January 2, 2019). "Predatory Doctoral Programs: Warnings for Social Workers". Journal of Social Work Education. 55 (1): 5–10. doi:10.1080/10437797.2018.1517624. ISSN 1043-7797. S2CID 150751783.
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