A "diploma mill" is doing business on St. John. The Virgin Islands Daily News found Concordia College and University using a box at Connections as a mail drop. The News' story.
The institution is not accredited by any US nationally or regionally recognized bodies, according to the U.S. Education Department. Condordia is licensed to do business in Dominica, and is accredited by education departments in Indonesia and Liberia.
Concordia invites applicants to send resumes, which are then considered for degrees based on "life experience." John Bear, an expert in diploma mills, told the News, "The only requirement that have (to your getting a degree) is that your credit card (clears).
When correspondence piles up, the newspaper reported, Connections forwards it to an address in Belgium. A person in Concordia admission department e-mailed the News saying, "In a number of countries where we have no offices ... we rent forwarding addresses. Concordia also has a Web site, reportedly located in Pakistan.