How to Determine if an Online College or Distance Learning Program is Right For You

With the increased options available for college students who are interested in distance learning, it is easy sometimes to fall victim to unaccredited or diploma mill “colleges and universities”. Here are some easy tips to help you decide if your prospective online school is right for you.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Internet research about the college
• Internet research about your chosen career path

1. First make sure your school is accredited. By accredited, I am not referring to the DETC “accreditation”, but make sure it is accredited by one of the regionally accrediting bodies. Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Western Association of Colleges and Schools, etc. are all regional agencies that accredit brick and mortar colleges. By choosing to go with a school that has regional accreditation, your degree and college credits can easily transfer to another school or be used to fulfil a professional licence requirement (like a teacher). A good way to find out if your school is regionally accredited is to see if they offer federal, not private, student loans. If they do, there is a good chance your school is regionally accredited.
2. Next, going along with the same sentiment as above, if you are looking to borrow or seek financial aid, be sure that your school is regionally accredited. You would hate to waste years in college and accumulate a loan, only to find out your degree is worthless. Do your research. Also, whenever possible never borrow a private loan. Federal loans have guidelines that are uniform no matter if you choose to start your college studies in California and end in Florida.
3. Finally, make sure your state recognizes your education. By this, while some degrees may offer the same major, each state for professional licensing purposes may require a specific number of degree credits in order to site for a professional exam. If you come up short, even though you may have a degree, you may be required to take additional coursework, thus adding an extra expense and delay to your new career. Also, inquire about internships, as some licensing requirements do stipulate that an applicant for a professional license complete a certain number of “clock hours” as part of an internship prior to submitting an application for exam.

Tips & Warnings

• If you know that you are relocating to another state in the future, go ahead and check with that state's professional education requirements.