Accreditation mill An accreditation mill is a bogus accrediting agency that is not recognised by the authority responsible for governing education provision in its country of operation. They offer accreditation for a fee and will carry out little or no investigation into the quality of education provided by the institutions they claim to accredit. They often choose names similar to recognised accrediting agencies and will even falsely add recognised schools to their lists of accredited members. Accreditation mills are often fabricated by the owners of diploma mills who are trying to deceive people into thinking their schools are legitimately accredited.