Belford University

Belford University was an organization that offered online unaccredited degrees for "life experience". The organization maintained a post office box in Humble, Texas, but its certificates were mailed from the United Arab Emirates. Along with many similar websites, it was owned by the Karachi-based company Axact, the main business of which, according to a New York Times investigation, is "to take the centuries-old scam of selling fake academic degrees and turn it into an Internet-era scheme on a global scale."

On August 31, 2012, Belford University was shut down and its founder, Salem Kureshi, “ordered to pay $22.7 million in damages”. “The judgment established the truth of allegations that Belford High School and Belford University are fake schools that do not actually exist.” Court documents from "McClusley v. Belford University" revealed that Belford University was run by 30-year-old Salem Kureshi from his apartment in Karachi, Pakistan. The court found that Kureshi “operates a sophisticated internet ripoff scheme through various websites, which falsely represent the existence of an accredited and legitimate high school, whose diplomas will be widely accepted by employers, professional associations, other schools, colleges and universities.” Kureshi has created 44 online universities and more than 100 promotional websites. “With an inkjet printer, a Microsoft Word template, and a few cheap websites, Kureshi became an overnight millionaire.” He earns over $70 million per year “selling fake diplomas.” He is currently involved in a class action lawsuit over his involvement with Rochville University. Although a U.S. District Court ordered its website to be shut down, as of February 25, 2013, Belford University continues to operate from an alternate website address.

The school was not accredited by any accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE) or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Neither of the organizations from which Belford claimed accreditation, the International Accreditation Agency for Online Universities (IAAOU) and the Universal Council for Online Education Accreditation (UCOEA), are recognized accreditation associations of higher learning. Without recognized accreditation, Belford's degrees and credits might not be acceptable to employers or other academic institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions. Jurisdictions that have restricted or made illegal the use of credentials from unaccredited schools include South Korea and the US states of Oregon,Michigan,Maine,North Dakota,New Jersey,Washington,Nevada,Illinois,Indiana and Texas. Many other states are also considering restrictions on the use of degrees from unaccredited institutions. It has been listed as a diploma mill by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

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