I imagine for something like a diploma mill (or not too far removed), where a dissertation may be required to get the degree but there is little genuine advisin

I imagine for something like a diploma mill (or not too far removed), where a dissertation may be required to get the degree but there is little genuine advising or research taking place. I heard a story from an outraged faculty member at a legitimate university concerning the PhD process in the school of education at said university (not EdD, but PhD). Apparently, none or almost none of the education faculty had themselves received a PhD (most had M.S.Ed), yet they were awarding large numbers of PhDs to students each year. Furthermore, the students were apparently doing "group dissertations", which I'm still not sure of how to interpret (I trust the person who told me of this, and I don't think it was hearsay). The point of this anecdote is to suggest that even at good universities, there may be situations where students are able to get away with doing less than would typically be expected of a good PhD program.