When you are seeking knowledge online, you may not be able to know whether a degree course is a scam or genuine. There are many signs to guide you into identifying a genuine and fake degree program.
Here we discuss various ways to know a genuine and a fake degree.
The university name looks prestigious and slightly similar to that of a popular university
Fake online universities have slightly similar names to those used by popular universities. For instance, someone can come up with a name Ox-ford.com,and develop a beautiful website. He then starts offering online course in MBA.When you see such a name, you should start questioning the credibility of the course you are about to enroll for.
To earn a degree seems too easy
Most online degree programmes require you provide academic certificates and transcripts. In most cases, people with low grades don’t qualify to pursue courses offered by prestigious universities like Yale, Michigan, Warwick, California State University and University of Columbia. These universities have set standards so high that average applicants don’t secure admissions.
A fake university will accept anyone as long as he promises to pay the amount required for the program. Fake degree programmes have relaxed entry rules, and have made it possible for one to be admitted the same day he applied for admission. Sometimes these universities don’t ask for academic certificates.
No Evidence of Alumni
Every university has alumni. If you search online and find no one has ever graduated from the university, start questioning the credibility of the university.
Before you decide to enroll for an online degree, please do your own research to find out whether there is a graduate who completed from the university.
Address, contacts and physical location
A genuine university has a business email address, office, postal address and phone numbers that you can call and confirm some information. There should also be University Management Team, About US, degree programmes and more about the history of the university. Though some universities provide these details, many of the fake ones leave out management team, phone contacts and business emails.
The program requires a lot of money upfront
When you are enrolling for a program, say MBA,and the university say you must pay $10,000 upfront, don’t pay.A genuine MBA program will require that you pay admission fee and fee for the semester you are about to begin.
This is what happened to Liz, who wanted to enroll for a degree in Software Engineering.
“I spotted an online course in Software engineering, which was being offered by a UK university. The university had a familiar name, so I thought instead of travelling all the way to pursue the course in UK let me do it online and at the same time continue with my full time job. The worst happened when I paid $5,000 the university was demanding. I enrolled for the online classes but when it came to asking for notes, I never got an answer. Few months later, the website disappeared and I never heard from the people to date. I lost my money”
No online notes and tutors
In most cases online courses have online tutors and tutorials. Universities world over provide notes to their students on regular basis. There are also lectures from the universities who guide their students as the semester progress. In case you enroll for an online course and the university fails to provide notes and a lecturer to guide you, know that you have been conned your money.
Graduation
Most institutions demand that you visit their school premises when graduation occurs. If you are issued with a degree without graduating, then that is a fake degree
There’s a lot of pressure to enroll
Another clear sign of a scam is when you are forced to join.Immediately you inquire about the course and provide personal details; the university will send regular emails begging you to join. They will even promise to negotiate the fees if you claim you don’t have enough cash for the program.
