diploma mill
Americannoun
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an organization claiming to be an institution of higher learning but existing for profit only and granting degrees without demanding proper qualifications of the recipients.
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a college or university having such a large number of students that none receives individual attention from the teachers.
Etymology
Origin of diploma mill
First recorded in 1925–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Even by those standards, John Brinkley — who was awarded his medical degree by a disreputable diploma mill — was one of a kind.
From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2022
This is just another example of a diploma mill, what a scam.
From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2018
She was referring to the fact that the university where Robertson got her master’s and doctoral degrees, Corllins University, was nothing more than a diploma mill.
From Washington Times ● May 3, 2017
Even private schools require the students attend classes at that institution and make the grades to play, not go to a strip-mall diploma mill.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2016
According to an imposing certificate on his office wall, issued by a diploma mill called the "American Academy of Medicine & Surgery," he is a "Doctor of Medicine & Master Diagnostician."
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
