When choosing a school for your post-secondary education, be sure to choose an educational institution that has established credibility and validity in offering degrees, diplomas, or other credential or accreditated programs.  

The information below is taken from the joint Council of Higher Education of America (CHEA) and UNESCO 2009 document entitled: Toward Effective Practice: Discouraging Degree Mills in Higher Education (see document under Related Links section below). 

A "degree mill" or "diploma mill" may be characterized by:

1.  When the business “…offers a credential purely in exchange for payment and nothing else.”
2.  When money – and only money – is sufficient to obtain a credential at any level and in almost any area of study.
3. When the business practice is accurately described by some or all of the following: 

• Lacks legal authority to operate as higher education institutions or to award degrees;
• Requires little if any attendance, either on-site or online;
• Requires little if any coursework or few if any assignments to obtain a credential;
• Does not provide information about location of incorporation, ownership or governance;
• Provides little or no contact information other than a telephone number or email address;
• Publishes false or exaggerated claims of external quality review (accreditation or quality assurance);
• Issues credentials that are not accepted for licensing; 
• Allows entry into graduate or professional programs in the degree/diploma mill’s home country;
• Lists academic staff whose degrees were issued by degree mills or are unable to provide verifiable lists of academic staff and their qualifications;
• Plagiarizes material from legitimate institutions for inclusion on degree/diploma  mill websites; and/or
• Features websites with Internet domain registration that is obscured by a privacy service rather than being publicly accessible.

*Any one of the descriptors above should be cause for concern. 

Students – If you obtain credentials from a non-accredited institution, you may not qualify for certification or employment in your chosen field.  Check carefully before choosing an institution to obtain your higher education!

Parents – If you make a monetary investment in your child's education, it may prove to be money down the drain if he/she does not receive the level of education and training you expected and cannot get a job because of the sub-standard credentials received.  Check carefully before investing in your child's future!

Businesses – If you hire someone who uses fake, fraudulent credentials to qualify for employment, your business may be at risk for liabilities and the economy and labour market are negatively impacted.  Check carefully for credentials of merit before hiring!

*Information adapted from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.

These web pages provide a complete list and overview of provincially recognized schools:

• Post-Secondary Educational Institutions in Saskatchewan
• Private Vocational Schools in Saskatchewan
• SaskColleges.ca - Saskatchewan Regional Colleges
• Interprovincial Agreements on Health Training 

If the school you are considering is not included in our lists above, ask yourself the following:

1. Can the degree be earned in significantly less time than that of an accredited post-secondary institution?
2. Does it require little, if any, academic work?
3. Does the business charge on a per-degree basis rather than by credit hours, course or semester?
4. Is there little or no interaction with professors?
5. Does the institution fail to provide any information about a campus or business location?
6. Does the institution have a similar name to another well-known college or university?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you may be dealing with a degree/diploma mill.

Please contact the Ministry if you have questions about degree/diploma mills, or suspect a business is a degree/diploma mill:

Quality Assurance Branch
Tel: 306.787.7381
Fax: 306.798.3379
Email: aeeinquiry@gov.sk.ca