(B) no previous academic records are re-
quired for admission; 
(C) tuition is charged based on the number 
of degrees purchased, rather than the number 
of credit hours or courses taken; 
(D) credits for degrees are offered based 
on life experience rather than academic work; 
(E) students can receive degrees in far less 
time than at legitimate, accredited institutions 
of higher education; 
(F) faculty do not have degrees or creden-
tials from accredited institutions; 
(G) the use of foreign or post office box 
addresses for the entity, without a physical per-
manent address in the United States; and 
(H) names that are very similar to legiti-
mate, accredited institutions of higher edu-
cation. 
(3) Several hundred diploma mills are operating 
at any given time, with revenues estimated to total 
more than $500,000,000 each year. 
(4) Rapidly growing commerce in fraudulent 
academic credentials imperils the national security of 
the United States. 
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(5) The safety of the American public is par-
ticularly endangered by the sale of fraudulent med-
ical, engineering, science, and education degrees. 
(6) The preeminence of the United States in 
science and engineering, as well as the prestige and 
reputation of American universities, is threatened by 
the trafficking of fraudulent degrees, diplomas, and 
certifications. 
(7) Some individuals who obtain degrees from 
diploma mills are conspirators in fraudulent behav-
ior, but others are innocent consumers who have be-
come victims of financial scams. 
(8) Efforts to shut down diploma mills have 
been weak and erratic due to variations in— 
(A) the laws of Federal, State, and local 
jurisdictions; 
(B) available enforcement mechanisms; 
and 
(C) political priorities. 
(9) In 2004, a Government Accountability Of-
fice investigation revealed weaknesses in the Depart-
ment of Education’s administration of the student 
loan programs for higher education, including the 
possibility that a diploma mill could participate in 
the Federal Family Education Loan Program 
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(FFELP) under title IV of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965. 
(10) The 2004 Government Accountability Of-
fice investigation included an examination of the cre-
dentials of a sampling of Federal employees, and re-
vealed that, of the Federal employees selected for 
the examination, 463 Federal employees held de-
grees from diploma mills and other unaccredited uni-
versities, including 12 employees for the Department 
of Homeland Security, 13 for the Department of 
Justice, and 29 for the United States Postal Service. 
The investigation also found that Federal agencies 
have paid more than $150,000 in tuition payments 
to diploma mills and other unaccredited universities 
on behalf of Federal employees. 
(11) Recent investigations of suspected diploma 
mills have exposed a tangled web of fraudulent be-
havior that spans across State lines and the United 
States border. 
(12) The regulation of education in the United 
States is, in general, a State responsibility, and the 
development and regulation of academic standards 
in higher education is the responsibility of institu-
tions of higher education. 
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