A “credit mill” refers to an educational institution that prioritizes profit over genuine academic rigour, often providing credits or diplomas with little to no meaningful instruction or assessment. These schools may operate under the guise of legitimate educational providers but typically lack the standards and accountability associated with quality education. The proliferation of credit mills in Ontario's independent school sector poses significant problems for students and the sector as a whole. The existence of credit mills undermines the integrity of legitimate educational institutions and can diminish trust in independent schools, making it essential to distinguish between reputable schools and those that exploit students for profit.

This study introduced a framework of 17 criteria to differentiate ‘credit mills’ from legitimate schools, applied to a group of 272 independent schools in Ontario previously flagged as potentially harbouring credit mills. The results revealed that 78 schools exhibited weak legitimacy, 156 had moderate legitimacy, and only 38 were considered strongly legitimate. Alarmingly, 251 of these schools were still authorized by Ontario’s Ministry of Education. Through a Freedom of Information request, the researcher obtained Ministry inspection reports, highlighting significant concerns among inspectors about inadequate assessment and evaluation practices, poor attendance and course hour tracking, and overall academic quality. One ministry-authorized school even had links to gambling sites on its website.

What is this important for schools to know?
The concept of school legitimacy is a major factor when it comes to establishing an independent school. This legitimacy is like forming trust in a relationship – it develops with time and involves shared values. For the public district, Ontario’s government is a supporter both financially and administratively, whereas independent schools must rise above the public system standards in order to distinguish themselves and prove their legitimacy. At the same time, independent schools that are perfectly legitimate vary in terms of pedagogy, service to families, and personal values. This sector must, therefore, have regular inspections and affiliation with a distinguished association to establish itself as a trusted, legitimate school.


What is important for parents to know?
In order for their children to be safe and properly educated, parents need to know that the independent school they’re sending their child to is established, trusted, legitimate, and prepared to provide the best, standard-setting educational environment based on each child’s needs. To feel safe and assured in their right to choose an independent school that aligns with their family’s values and needs, parents need to know that more than a checklist of legitimacy criteria is presented as a “check and balance” for any given independent school. Parents need to know that a school they’re considering for their child undergoes regular safety inspections, staff interviews, and on-site visits from licensed education inspectors.

How is this connected to OFIS?
Membership with a known, distinguished association such as OFIS, which has been established and recognized for 50 years, is essential to the aforementioned safety and legitimacy of an independent school.

As VanHof states clearly in her study:
“Since Ontario does not distribute public funds to independent schools and thus does not regulate them as closely as, for example, is the case in Alberta, civil-society institutions play an important role in the accountability and regulation of independent schools. School associations provide their member schools with guidance in best practices in governance, operations, management, and fiscal matters. They offer leadership and professional-development opportunities for educatorsand often provide school-quality assessments or leadership-evaluation protocols.”
(DeJong VanHof, “Can We Call Them Credit Mills?”, 36-37.)

Further to this, OFIS is proud to work with other associations and the ministry to strengthen the infrastructure of Ontario’s independent school landscape, wherein collaboration brings more advocacy for OFIS member schools.

VanHof explains this idea here:
“[The current landscape allows for] conditions that are also conducive to less-than-legitimate actors. To mitigate this, the independent school sector in Ontario should work together to align its common goals of quality and innovation in education, and seek to grow a united voice that can represent its common concerns to the ministry. Further, the government should actively seek to partner with the independent school sector where possible, availing itself of the deep knowledge and trust-buildingpotential inherent in relationships forged by independent school associations and school leaders.”
(DeJong VanHof, “Can We Call Them Credit Mills?”, 37.)

Additionally, in order to allow for the ever-growing independent school sector to “weed out” illegitimate, credit-mill-type schools from the trusted, established ones, the government needs to become more involved in recognizing and supporting this independent education environment. OFIS, again, plays a leading part in working with provincial government officials and fostering a growing relationship with them to bring about revolutionary changes to how independent schools are recognized.

Again, VanHof supports this idea throughout her study:
“The government could also consider other ways of encouraging higher standards by studying the efficacy of existing community-driven, self-regulatory mechanisms (such as Ontario Federation of Independent Schools, and Canadian Accredited Independent Schools) within the independent-school sector. Membership in these types of associations has the potential to ensure the quality of education providedmin Credit Emphasis schools that operate within a minimally regulated environment.”
(DeJong VanHof, “Can We Call Them Credit Mills?”, 38.)

How can you learn more and stay involved in supporting legitimate, distinguished independent schools in Ontario?
Become and OFIS member and join us for our OFIS Independent School Summit 2024. Our guest speakers will include Joanna DeJong VanHof, who will take us through the important points of her study in detail and engage in conversation about how we can work together to continue to bring your independent school to elevated excellence. 

Read the full study here.