What you should know about accreditation and online schools

Online colleges have gained more popularity as an increasing number of students turn to online education to reach their goals. However, along with legitimate online colleges, the abundance of diploma mills has also increased. In order to save yourself some precious time and thousands of dollars, we’ll discuss the importance of accreditation and what to keep an eye out for.

Keep an eye out for Diploma mills Diploma mills are unaccredited, money-making businesses that hand out fake degrees to students for a certain amount of money. These agencies are only concerned with making money and the degrees they hand out hold no value. Diploma mills essentially:

• Award professional degrees in exchange for money

• Require very little or no coursework to secure the degree

• Are unaccredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education

How can you tell if an online school is genuine?

A genuine, reputable online college will hold either a national or regional accreditation ofan accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and/or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). You can also refer to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if a college has met its accrediting standards and is operating legally in a state. An example of one such accredited online college is Independence University. Independence University is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC), recognized by the USDE and offers degree programs in healthcare and business.

Read up on your college’s accreditation and try to find out if it is regional or national. This is important if you wish to transfer your credits to another college.Additionally, if you plan on opting for a specialty program such as respiratory therapy or nursing, it would help if your program has been accredited by a professional organization. So for instance, it would be beneficial if a respiratory therapy program has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC). How can you identify a diploma mill?

It will be easy to identify a diploma mill while doing your research if you pay attention to the following points:

• Degrees that can be earned within a matter of days. For instance, if a college promises to provide you with an associate’s degree in a month or 2 months. If the duration of the program looks suspicious to you, dig deeper and try to look for anything else that might point to the fact that it is in fact, a diploma mill.

• If the college has no mailing address on their website.

• If the college holds an accreditation from an accrediting agency that is not recognized by the USDE. In all likelihood, the accrediting agency is fake and its accreditation holds no value. You need to be careful and thorough with your research when applying to an online college. If you want to have your degree accepted by future employers, and most of all wish to receive quality education, make sure you apply to a college that is rightfully accredited.