HOW NOT TO FALL INTO A TRI-VALLEY TRAP

In order to avoid falling in Tri-Valley like trap, this is what unassuming students can do.

1.Find out who is the accreditor? A mere accreditation doesn’t mean it is a quality institution. Just as there are diploma mills churning out fake degrees, there are accreditation mills that sell accreditation.

2. Visit CHEA’s website:  http://www.chea.org/ It has a database of accredited institutions and programmes.  Apart from CHEA, a few websites have names of some non-accredited schools. For example this link has partial listing of non-accredited schools: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Non-accreditedSchools_78090_7.pdf.

3. The notion that suffixes like ‘.edu’(education) and ‘.ac’(academic) is for legitimate academic organizations, is false. Noted US-based writer John Bear also cautions edu being in the domain name. He says, ”There are many degree mills that insert ‘ edu’ into their domain name, but not as suffix for example. ‘schoolname_edu.com”.

4. Check if the attractive building or a huge campus on the college’s website is indeed the college’s property and not rented for a ceremony. One of the clever marketing techniques is false depiction of the campus.

5. Only virtual presence-Some fake institutions may exist in the world of Internet only. There is no real infrastructure and changing addresses is easy.

6. Get regular updates on dedicated blogsites like http://diplomamillnews.blogspot.com/ .

7. Check out the rankings is also a good way of knowing about credibility of an institution. Website of ‘US News & World Report’ and ‘Princeton Review’ is a good idea, suggests Vivian Doskow, a 2010 graduate student from New York. 

8. States like Idaho, Hawaii, Montana and California have low or doubtful standard academic institutions.

9.Some US states like Oregon gives a list worldwide schools unacceptable to them. For e.g., “Schools that are not Authorized to Offer Degrees in the State of Oregon” , check out at http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/unaccredited.aspx.

10. Alumni Descriptions: If the school boasts of an impressive list of alumini or produces a long list in its short existence, it should ring an alarm bell.

11.  US-bound students can also consult educational advisers at the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF). Says Adam J. Grotsky, executive director, “USIEF is ready to assist students and parents in their endeavour to identify US institutions where they will have a satisfying experience.” Details of their services to students are available at www.usief.org.in