Inside a Network of Fake College Websites

HEADLINES

Inside a Network of Fake College Websites (Inside Higher Ed, August 14, 2025) Dozens of fake college and accreditor websites, which appear to be connected, are pushing scams. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel warned consumers about Southeastern Michigan University in an alert last week, following a complaint from Eastern Michigan University to her office about the fraudulent website using deceptive practices to scam students. Southeastern Michigan is one of nearly 40 fake university sites that Inside Higher Ed recently uncovered, which appear to have been developed with or supplemented by AI. Read CHEA’s Statement in Response to Fake Accreditor and Higher Education Institution Websites.  

Quick Hits, A Warning on Fake Accreditors (Chronicle of Higher Ed, August 18, 2025) A warning on fake accreditors: The Council for Higher Education Accreditation issued a statement of concern about the rising number of fraudulent accreditor websites, which aim to make fake college sites appear more legitimate. Such scams aim to reel in prospective students by convincing them to pay fees and fork over personal data. The council said prospective students and others should check with the U.S. Department of Education and make sure the college they’re considering is really accredited. (Council for Higher Education Accreditation, Inside Higher Ed).

Standing Together for Trustworthy Education: ECLBS Supports CHEA’s Call to Action (eclbs.ed, August 15, 2025) On August 14, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) released a powerful public statement addressing one of the most concerning trends in the global education landscape—the rise of fake accreditors and fraudulent higher education websites. This statement comes at a critical time, as artificial intelligence and digital tools are increasingly being used to create professional-looking yet deceptive platforms that mislead students and institutions alike. Some even go as far as imitating the logos and language of well-known accrediting bodies, including CHEA, to appear trustworthy.

Community College Accreditor Adopts ROI Metric (Inside Higher Ed, August 12, 2025) The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges is launching new tools to give members of the public more insights into student outcomes at the institutions under its purview. Those tools include dashboards with different student achievement data points as well as a new metric to gauge return on investment. Like the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission, ACCJC is planning to measure ROI using price–to–earnings premium. Developed by Third Way, the earnings premium tracks how long it takes for graduates from different programs to recover educational costs.