Diploma mills have been around for a long time and often claim to be "fully accredited" or "nationally accredited" – but, of course, the wise person will ask "by whom?" and "in what nation?"

The educational food chain from top to bottom is as follows:

Occasionally people refer to non-accredited schools as diploma mills, but they aren't always the same. Many non-accredited schools do require a student to read, do papers, write exams, etc. Diploma mills, however, generally take your money (sometimes thousands of dollars) and give you a "diploma" but no education in exchange. These degrees could not be any more fake if they gave a child a pack of crayons and asked them to draw you one. Do not waste your time and money – unless you're solely looking for a bizarre degree to hang on your wall for entertainment purposes.