Ashwood University

Ashwood University is a diploma mill in Pakistan. It claims to award academic degrees based on "life experience". Ashwood University is not accredited by any recognised accreditation body. As such, its degrees may not be acceptable to employers or other institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions.

The website "onlinelearning101" lists Ashwood University among examples of degree mills, and suggests that the name was selected because it "sounds like the very reputable Ashford University". Degree mills have been dubbed by John Bear, an ex-FBI consultant, as a "huge crime wave...and almost no one has noticed."

The Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization states that Oregon "has no evidence that this is an accredited or otherwise acceptable provider of postsecondary education meeting Oregon standards." The location of the organization's offices is not known with certainty; no address is given on the website or the whois record; a 2003 Usenet posting indicated that the company is based in a California strip mall, but all diplomas are mailed from Pakistan. It has been listed as a diploma mill by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

In a 2008 article in the Chicago Tribune, a reporter described his experience obtaining a series of "bogus academic credentials" from Ashwood, including a "Doctorate Degree in Medicine & Surgery". He wrote: "All I have to do is persuade my editors to pay $699 'tuition,' including a $75 surcharge guaranteeing me a 4.0 grade-point average."

Several journalists or entertainers have publicized their experiences when they applied for and received bogus credentials from Ashwood in order to investigate its practices.

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