Today, a wide range of educational opportunities are being offered entirely or partially online. You can enroll in a single online course or register for a complete degree from the convenience of your home 24/7. The degree offered range from associate's degrees, bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and even a Ph.D. The institutions offering on-line or “distant” education claim that you:
1. Save commuting time and costs of driving to a college campus, parking, and child care.
2. You enjoy dynamic, on-going interaction with your classmates. Online courses allow for high-quality, meaningful dialogue between you, your instructor, and your classmates.
3. You attend class anytime, anywhere and course material is available round the clock all days of the week.
Collectively 187 on-line colleges offer 570 programs, 6,477 courses, and 2,382 degree. Even world’s most prestigious including U.S. Ivy League universities also offer on-line courses. Harvard University’s Extension School offers Harvard academics to the public through evening and online courses, and part-time programs. You can choose from more than 600 fall and spring courses in over 65 fields.
For U.S. colleges, accreditation by the regional and relevant association, affiliated with the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) listed at www.chea.org is a must for their validation and survival. The Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) recognize the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) as the accrediting organization for distance learning institutions and education programs that offer online degrees. There are hundreds of colleges and universities in the United States are not accredited by CHEA. You can check them out at www.michigan.gov
Globally following are the recognized accrediting:
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL)
European Distance Education Network (EDEN)
Canadian Association for Distance Education (CADE)
Norwegian Association for Distance Education (NADE)
Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (ODLAA)
Before you enroll in an on-line college here below are some rules that you should try to follow:
1. Regardless of what some websites or on-line colleges ask you to believe, accreditation is very important. Many questionable "accrediting agencies" exist. Some are outright frauds, offering "accreditation" to any institution willing to pay a fee. Your safest bet is to trust only accrediting agencies approved by the United States Department of Education in the U.S. and outside the U.S. that are listed above.
2. Be sure that the colleges and the degree program you are considering match your long range academic plans.
3. Class size is as important in online education as it is in a traditional college classroom. Investigate average class sizes at the institutions you are considering.
4. Find out about the program faculty and what degrees do they hold and from what institutions?
5. Be sure you understand whether a certificate or degree can be completed entirely online or whether on site projects, class meetings, or residency periods will be required.
6. Investigate your financial aid options. You may be surprised by the financial aid, loans, and scholarships available to you. Ask about tuition installment plans that many colleges and universities offer.
7. Request information from at least 5 or 6 colleges or universities which appear to meet your requirements.
By comparing the information you receive from those
colleges and asking lots of questions, you will be
able to begin narrowing your list to a few on-line
colleges that best meet your needs.
One diploma mill has gone to extremes and offers associate degree to a doctorate for few hundred dollars with no course work and claims to be 100 percent approved and legal on its website. It appears no one is watching. Many diploma mills are located within the U.S.; in states like Wyoming, Mississippi, and Alabama. Fraud laws and higher education regulations are so flimsy in these areas that unaccredited and low-quality colleges and universities do exit and flourish.
You may also be surprised to find on-line colleges that offer courses and degrees in languages spoken in all the six continents. Thus, the opportunities for on-line education are worldwide but it is no easy job to distinguish the genuine from the fraudulent.
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