The recent release of a list of over 9,000 people who bought degrees from St. Regis "University" has helped bring into focus a problem that legitimate institutions like to ignore: An enormous number of people who could be getting real college credentials are buying degree- and diploma-mill ones instead. This causes damage that goes beyond the obvious one of unfair competition. Such degrees introduce counterfeit currency into the market and call into question the value of the genuine thing. This article discusses the differences between degree mills, diploma mills, and legitimate colleges. In the first part of this article, one of the authors focuses on degree mills and their near neighbors, legally operating but unaccredited colleges. The other author discusses international diploma mills in the next section.