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EDUCATION |
Sham
degrees, fake scholarships, grants that will never exist
and financial aid that evaporates after you have put
down money to acquire them are the tools that con
artists use to get a hold of your money. |
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Get your degree in 30 days
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College credits for real world experience
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Website doesn't have a .edu suffix
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Negative reports at the Better Business Bureau
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Location is outside the US or in certain states
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Tuition paid on a per-degree basis
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School's Address/Phone and Other Basic
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Information is Missing
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Names that are similar to well known reputable
universities
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Unprofessional website
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Little or no interaction with professors
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Offer "Free" Education Grants
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We're the Real Thing
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No studying required
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Turn your experience into a degree
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Advance Fee required
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Get Government Grants Free
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Get Up To $250,000 From The Gov't
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Free Money From The Government
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Small fee of $1.99
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Huge list of Degrees or Majors Offered
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Precautions
You Should Take |
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TOP |
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Beware of old out
dated grant web site and phone number information.
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When
companies get
enough complaints they simply close the site and start up a new
one.
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Amateur looking web
sites with broken references should be avoided.
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Beware of
someone who tells you that the grant process is too complicated and
only they can truly understand it.
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No legitimate web site ever
requires you to purchase another product or pay in order to be
obtain aid
or a scholarship.
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Never pay up-front, processing,
handling, origination or advanced fees.
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Outrageous claims and refuse to
provide information without first receiving your financial
information.
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Never reveal information about
your bank account.
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Uses terms such as a loved one's
future at stake.
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No one can guarantee
they will get you
government aid.
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High
pressure
seminars prey on the fear of parents and students.
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Fake
websites may have the word FAFSA on them and look official, even using terms like
foundation, federal, national or association.
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View any free offers with
skepticism.
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Stay away from company's
requiring up-front money,
complex financial aid process, deadline pressures
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There are no secret sources of
federal or state student aid.
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Guarantee success for a fee
is a fake
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Charging to help process, fill out
and submitting the FAFSA application is a waste.
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It's
against the
law for a company to imply that you need to purchase a financial
product (such as insurance or an annuity) to receive federal
student aid.
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Your most
recent tax return must be on file in order to apply for federal
aid in the first place. Given that federal money is doled out on
a first-come, first-served basis, you want to hop on this task
right away.
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"Foundation," "Federal,"
National," or "Association" in a company's title or
promotional material doesn't mean that it's on the level or
endorsed by any lawful entity.
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Pre-approved for student financial
aid is a scam.
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Stay away from a company offering to apply for
federal student aid on your behalf, for a fee.
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Carful, identity theft may be related to
Financial Student Aid programs
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Offer
student loans but have to pay a fee of 3% or 4% of the loan
amount.
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Loan
consolidation fees is to cover "processing," "administrative" or
"consolidation" charges but legitimate & federal consolidation loans have no
fees whatsoever.
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There are only a few private lenders that offer loan
consolidation
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Offer of "Free" Education Grants
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Websites that warn of education grant scams, only to assure you
that they
are "genuine" are scams
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Watch out for
organization that state they are part of "economic stimulus
programs"
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We can help you qualify
for a payment from the government economic stimulus package for
a small fee.
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E-mail messages may ask
for bank account information so that the operators can deposit
consumers' share of the stimulus directly into their bank
account.
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E-mail may appear to be
from government agencies and ask for information to "verify"
that you qualify for a payment are clear scams.
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For a small sum of money - as
little as $1.99 in some cases - consumers can get a list of
economic stimulus grants they can apply for. NO! NO!!
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Schools may list
accreditation by organizations that are not recognized
by the U.S. Department of Education.
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Addresses that are box numbers or
suites may be a mail drop box or
someone's attic.
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Guarantees to get you grants just by making a phone call; not
possible!
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Even small fees for an education grant
or
grant-writing kit are scams.
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Call stating that you're
entitled to or have won a hefty grant
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Disregard a government
contact promising to give you a grant to fund a
business, pay a loan, seed a project or for any other reason,
unless you have applied to them, since
government agencies that give grants do not make random calls.
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Ignore grant offers that you see in classified ads.
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Check the correct names of government agencies. Just because the
caller says they're from the "Federal Grants Administration"
doesn't mean that they are.
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Company offers to apply
for federal student aid on your behalf, for a fee.
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Ignore phone calls telling you've won a college
scholarship or have been awarded a grant unless you have
applied for them. They always come by letter!
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Calls or mail from the Department of Education
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been selected to receive a grant or student loan.
Scholarships |
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Scholarship search
services and financial aid advice services
provide information that can be found elsewhere
for free.
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Misrepresent themselves as
a government agency in order to appear
legitimate
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Asks for payment before
it will help you find funding
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Invitation for an interview or
seminar you never contacted.
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Anyone who tells you the
information they offer cant be found anywhere
else.
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Pre-approved for a scholarship
or specially selected for a scholarship-matching
service, are a scam.
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Legitimate scholarships do not require
applicants to pay up-front fees.
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There is no secret vault with scholarship money.
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There are no unclaimed Scholarship Dollars.
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You
don't have to be an "A" student, since scholarships also exist for community and
extracurricular activities, skills and talents.
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Degrees |
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School only asks for a signing up fee for
admission.
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Abundance of degrees to
students in the USA yet operate out of a foreign
country.
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Check with the Better
business bureau for any complaints against a school.
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Diploma mills, for lifetime
achievements are not
recognized by legitimately accredited
institutions, official professional licensing
authorities or reputable employers.
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If you purchased your
degree probably no one will hire you.
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Promising a degree in days weeks or a few months
is a scam.
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Degrees are not granted based upon the knowledge
you already have, but rather upon the successful
completion of a process that includes training,
interaction with professors and a process of
learning.
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Real schools have a domain that ends in .edu. A
few scam schools sneak in.
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Reputable overseas schools don't recruit via
email in the U.S.
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Many diploma mills are located within Wyoming,
Mississippi, and Alabama.
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Tuition based on the degree you choose or discounts
for enrolling in multiple degree programs are
scams.
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Names that are similar to well known reputable
universities are fake names: "Oxford England
University", "Hardvard University", "University
of Britain".
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In some states, it can be illegal to use a
degree from an institution that is not
accredited by a nationally recognized
accrediting agency.
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School saying they have to be accredited only is needed
if you want to obtain federal
financial aid.
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Most diploma mills make dreadful looking
websites.
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Huge list of Degrees or Majors Offered for a
small, unknown school are signs of a scam.
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References for
Unaccredited/Accredited Schools, Grants and Loans & Tips |
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Start aid search (scholarships,
grants, etc.) early,
when your child is a sophomore or junior in high school.
FAFSA is a prerequisite for
applying for federal Stafford and PLUS loans, state grants and
college financial aid.
Fill out
the FAFSA, even if you think you won't qualify for aid,
rules change all time. Plus, if you have other children in
college (or even private school), the FAFSA formula takes that
into account.
Unaccredited schools
http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/Education_Degree_Scams_Unaccreddited.php
More Sources of Unaccredited schools
http://www.web-miner.com/deunaccredited.htm
Council on Higher Education Accreditation's website
CHEA http://www.chea.org/
Financial
Student Aid (Loans and Grants)
https://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/aboutus.jsp?backURL=/xap_pack/Default.asp&Language=en&returnurl=/students/english/aboutus.jsp
Private lenders that offer loan
consolidation
http://www.finaid.org/loans/privateconsolidation.phtml
US Department of Education list of accredited schools
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/
Applying for federal aid requires a FAFSA form (Free
Application for Federal Student Aid)
www.fafsa.ed.gov/index.htm
Aid application deadlines
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/deadlines.htm
Financial Aid Advisor
http://www.finaid.org/questions/askadvisor.phtml
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www.stopthescam.org |
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