A federal judge in Florida has temporarily closed a pair of organizations that the Federal Trade Commission alleges have operated as high school “diploma mills,” taking in more than $11 million from marketing and selling bogus academic credentials over the past few years.
At the request of the FTC, Judge James I. Cohn issued a restraining order that halts Diversified Educational Resources LLC, Motivational Management & Development Services, and IDM Services LLC from offering diploma services. He said there is “good cause” to believe they violated federal law.
The FTC says the organizations have been selling online high school diplomas since 2006, using such names as Jefferson High School Online and Enterprise High School Online. Calls to the organizations were not returned.