{"service":"education-accreditation-verification","architecture":"lazy in-memory index of the US-gov public-domain DAPIP bulk dataset (institution <-> recognized-accreditor + status) built on first use and TTL-refreshed WITHOUT a daemon; optional per-call College Scorecard enrichment; deterministic fusion + diploma-mill heuristic, no LLM.","index":{"ready":false,"built_at":null,"ttl_seconds":172800,"refreshing":false,"last_error":null,"counts":{}},"sources":[{"key":"dapip","name":"US Dept of Education — Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP)","covers":"institution <-> recognized-accreditor join + accreditation status, and the authoritative list of ED-recognized accrediting agencies","host":"ope.ed.gov","attribution":"US Dept of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education (DAPIP)","site":"https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/","license":"US Government public domain"},{"key":"scorecard","name":"US Dept of Education — College Scorecard API","covers":"operating status, ownership (public / nonprofit / for-profit), primary accreditor code, degree level","host":"api.data.gov","attribution":"US Dept of Education, College Scorecard","site":"https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/","license":"US Government public domain (api.data.gov free key)"}],"diploma_mill_methodology":{"note":"The diploma-mill flag is a CONFIDENCE heuristic (weighted signals), not a binary verdict — false positives are possible.","threshold":35,"signals":[{"signal":"not_in_federal_database","weight":35,"severity":"high","reason":"The institution was not found in the US Dept of Education DAPIP database of accredited postsecondary institutions."},{"signal":"fake_accreditor","weight":45,"severity":"high","reason":"The claimed accrediting agency does not match any accreditor recognized by the US Dept of Education — a classic diploma-mill tell."},{"signal":"denied_accreditation","weight":30,"severity":"high","reason":"The institution has an accreditation record with a Denied status."},{"signal":"accreditation_lapsed","weight":30,"severity":"medium","reason":"Every institutional-accreditation record for this institution has ended (end-dated or terminated) — accreditation appears lapsed."},{"signal":"not_operating","weight":15,"severity":"medium","reason":"College Scorecard reports the institution is not currently operating."},{"signal":"for_profit_unaccredited","weight":12,"severity":"low","reason":"A for-profit institution with no current recognized accreditation."},{"signal":"claimed_accreditor_unverifiable","weight":8,"severity":"low","reason":"A claimed accreditor was supplied but the institution could not be resolved to cross-check it."}]},"coverage_boundary":{"scope":"US-only, institution-level accreditation","not_covered":"person-level credential verification (whether a specific individual earned a specific degree) — requires the National Student Clearinghouse or the institution directly"},"disclaimer":"US-only, institution-level accreditation indicators derived from US Dept of Education public-domain data. NOT a background check and NOT person-level credential verification (whether a specific individual earned a specific degree requires the National Student Clearinghouse or the institution directly). The diploma-mill flag is a confidence heuristic, not a binary verdict; false positives are possible. Verify against the official DAPIP system before any hiring or enrollment decision.","deferred_sources":["CHEA recognized-accreditor directory (copyrighted — NOT scraped; ED recognition used instead)","IPEDS / NCES College Navigator (richer institution attributes)","DAPIP AccreditationActions history (granted / probation / withdrawn timeline)","state authorization / degree-granting authority (non-federal)"]}