How to Determine If An Online School is Accredited
Over the past decade, Americans have increasingly taken advantage of opportunities to pursue further education online. As the Sloan Consortium reports in its 2010 survey, 5.6 million Americans enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2009, representing an increase of almost a million students from a year prior. When considering options for online education, a school's accreditation provides a key indicator of its quality. While the U.S. Department of Education doesn't accredit schools, it recognizes accrediting agencies and maintains a database of schools accredited by these agencies.
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Instructions
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Access the U.S. Department of Education's "Search Institutional Accreditation System" page.
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Enter the name of the online school in the "Name of Institution" field. If you know what the school's address is, enter that information in the "Address," "City," and "State or Outlying Area" fields.
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Click the "Search" button.
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Review the search results. If the school is accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, the database will list its name. If the school isn't listed, it's likely not accredited.
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Drill down. If the school is listed in the search result, click its name to review information on its institutional and specialized accreditation.
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Tips & Warnings
If a school says it's accredited, yet it's not listed in the U.S. Department of Education's database, its accreditation agency may be unrecognized. As with many purchases, buyer beware!
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