A degree completion program provides a way for learners to get college credit for learning which they picked up in a haphazard way. Degree completion programs, unlike diploma mills, work within the established university community to provide accredited degrees.

The Unification Theological Seminary, for example, provides a degree completion program for missionaries and others who for one reason or another did not manage to graduate from college. Credits from old courses and CLEP or GRE tests are combined and evaluated, leading to Regents diploma which is generally accepted by US graduate schools.