Education Articles from College Matching Service

Due to the enormous amount of information published on the Internet, both reliable and unreliable information is freely available. Information can easily be published without it being checked over, approved, confirmed or verified in any way. It is possible that there are websites that claim to be accredited online colleges, but in truth, they are just part of an online scam. As a learner, you would want to have quality education that is why you have to ensure that the online school that you are applying to is a fully, and truly certified accredited school. If not, you will definitely encounter a lot of difficulties and problems.

Some of these non-accredited violators have been awarding diplomas and degrees for decades. Courts that have shut them down have cited problems like:

Too few qualified faculty members to maintain the number of students or level of education

Too much credit given for previous life and work experience without properly determining the actual level of knowledge

Not having course objectives

Awarding Ph.Ds to students who haven’t performed the type of research and analysis typically required of such a degree

Basically, the problem relates to the schools having substandard requirements for earned degrees. Some programs even allow students to earn master’s or doctoral degrees without having first earned a bachelor’s degree.

The best bet is to stick with a known, reputable university or college that is offering online/distance learning. That school’s reputation will be at stake so it is more likely to have the same quality online as offline. Of course, there are some good programs from universities that are strictly online. According to an article by a former student at the University of Phoenix Online, many students feel as connected with other students as they would if they were on a campus attending classes in the traditional way.