Higher Education Online

At one time, there was some question as to whether or not online learning could be considered a legitimate source of education. It wasn't just because students were not in a traditional classroom setting or the shorter length of study. The question arose in the area of accreditation of online schools and just who or what agency these virtual classrooms would be certified by. Online education was doubly hurt by the zoo of online diploma mills that popped up overnight offering degrees for little or nothing. It was also not uncommon to hear of hardworking souls who had invested great amounts of time and money into earning their degree online, only to find out the program's lack of accreditation made their degree worth less than the paper it was printed on.

As the accreditation of online schools came under scrutiny, more and more people became aware of the possibility of scams and fly by night operations. Not only did working adults and prospective students looking to earn a degree begin to research their choices, employers also began handing out lists of accredited and acceptable programs for online learning. While this put the damper on a number of shady operations, there are still those that lurk around catching the unsuspecting off guard. Over the years, as legitimate programs began consistently producing success stories, online learning was able to recover from its black eye.

Without accreditation, it is likely one's hard work in a program will never be recognized as legitimate. An accredited school is one that is recognized by an outside agency certified by the National Education Association or U.S. Department of Education. For the most part, accreditation is a process that is not easy to come by. However, it is also not a requirement and many schools operate without it. One way to spot an illegitimate online educational provider is if it is brand new yet claims to have a full accreditation. Aside from being hard, accreditation is quite lengthy and can take many years to accomplish. Even with its virtual existence, accreditation of online schools is held to the same strict standards as online schools.

When choosing an online school, it is important to make sure that it is accredited and that the agency that deems it as such is certified with the National Education Association or the U.S. Department of Education. The accreditation of online schools can also be regional, national or specialized. While all are recognized by employers, a regional accreditation is considered to be the best of the three. The Distance Learning and Education Council also works to accredit online schools. It should be noted that a school that is not accredited can sometimes be in the process of accreditation. However, most degrees must come from fully accredited programs to be considered legitimate.

Higher Education Online |