Other institutions (for example, some longstanding Bible colleges and seminaries) choose not to participate in the accreditation process because they view it as a government infringement of their religious, academic, or political freedom.
Private institutions may apply to TEQSA for authorisation to offer recognised higher education diplomas and degrees.
Newlands owner Rochelle M. Forrester said she would consider removing the word "university" from the name of her institution in order to comply with the law.
[10] After the University of Newlands was listed as a "wannabe" or "degree mill" by The Australian newspaper, the institution was given permission by the New Zealand High Court to proceed to trial in its suit against the paper's publisher for defamation.
In March 2006, prosecutors in Seoul had "broken up a crime ring selling bogus music diplomas from Russia, which helped many land university jobs and seats in orchestras.
[citation needed] Switzerland does not require prior authorisation to offer higher education courses, organise examinations or issue degrees.
Federal or cantonal authorities may supervise private institutions and/or authorise them to offer courses and issue degrees.
The education offered by federal and cantonal universities is of higher quality than in private institutions, with rare exceptions.
However, it is not an offence for overseas bodies to offer their own qualifications in Britain as long as it is made clear that these are not UK degrees.
[20] Most states require degree-issuing higher education institutions to obtain a basic business license—the same simple paperwork required of any business, such as a day care center or a grocery store—and to register with the state or to have other formal authorization in order to enroll students or issue degrees; however, these legal authorizations are not the same as educational accreditation.
Some U.S. state laws allow authorities to shut down illegal operations of unaccredited schools or diploma mills.
[21] In others, particularly, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and California, the state permits anyone to claim to operate a college and issue degrees with essentially no oversight.
Generally speaking, within academic and government circles, such degrees are rejected, but within the business world, they may be acceptable for certain purposes.
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) has reported, During the latter part of the 19th century, the value of the degree increased substantially, as evidenced by the passage of the Morrill Land Grant Act and the founding of many new colleges.
[32] A review of Morris Fishbein's 1949 article, "Beware the Mind-Meddler" in Woman's Home Companion, highlighted the need for legislative action "to restrain those charlatans who prey on the goodwill and the wallets of emotionally disturbed people".
[33] Fishbein had written, "...there is not one state in the union with adequate legal standards stipulating who may and who may not dispense psychologic advice.
[33] A 1960 study of doctorates unaccredited institutions offered for psychotherapists included a table with the following degrees:[34] In 2019, Bruce Thayer described "legitimate approaches to earning the social work doctorate on a parttime or nonresidential basis" and then identified "predatory social work" programs offering degrees in sex therapy, clinical hypnotherapy, metaphysical hypnosis, natural health, transpersonal psychology, and transpersonal counseling.