How does one determine if an on-line college is legitimate ?

Question

Do on-line colleges have to belong to a certain organization that charters them? Is there a site that lists legitimate on-line colleges & degrees?

I'd like to get a Masters in Education or a degree in Gerontology on-line.

Answer 1

Online colleges have to be accredited, just like regular colleges.  The rule is regional accreditation is good, national isn't good.  Find a college, find out which agency accredited it, and then make sure that agency is recognized by the US Dept of Education.  Some colleges make up their own accrediting agencies to claim they are accredited; if it's not recognized by the dept of education, it's not legitimate.

Answer 2

If you're planning to attend a school in the USA, then recognized colleges are those that have regional accreditation. There are six different regional accreditation agencies.  A school will only belong to one of them, determined by the school's main location.  It doesn't matter which regional accreditation agency the school belongs to, as long as it belongs to one of them.  The following are the names of the organizations:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)

North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA)

Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (MSA)

Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS)

Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)

Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NWCCU)  

Answer 3

Yes there are accrediting bodies that accredit all colleges, both online and offline thus every learning institution has to show who has accredited them if at all they are offering legit education. Some online colleges however play tricks on un-suspecting students and give fake accreditation. Be careful and always check for legitimacy of such institutions for they could be diploma mills.

If you want to confirm whether a college/university is accredited and if it's offering legit education, you can use the accrediting bodies listed here:

http://www.distance-learning-college-gui...

How can you tell if a college is fake or is a degree mill? Check out the "red flags". This is how you can tell..

http://www.distance-learning-college-gui...

Answer 4

The safest thing you can do is get your degree online through a traditional university. Many good schools that have traditionally offered their degrees on campus now offer some of their programs online as well. Find a good school that you know is accredited and go that route. This way, you know you're not getting scammed and you don't have to worry about the possibility of people not taking your degree seriously (many employers don't look at degrees from University of Phoenix, Strayer, etc. as "Real" degrees, others don't care where you get it as long as you have it). My point is this, you don't want to end up having to defend your degree to others after you've spent the time and money getting it.