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Avoiding Unscrupulous Online CollegesWith Regional Accreditation AgenciesOne cannot stress enough the need to do your due diligence in order to avoid unscrupulous online colleges. They offer no accreditation and are a complete waste of money. Here are some key pointers that will help you to spot whether a distance learning school is a degree mill and save you tons of money in the process: 1)Be wary of life experience courses. One of the warning signs of a bad school is if it claims to offer an accredited life experience degree without any classes or examinations. These could be a BA or an MBA. Don't be fooled. There is no such thing as an accredited degree that is based purely on life experience. 2)Check the accreditation agencies that they mention as being certified by. Most are usually non-existent and so getting their certificates are a waste of time and money. If they are certified by one of the following six regional agencies then they are not solely a diploma factory. a) MSA: Middle States Association b) NCASC: North Central Association of Schools and Colleges c) NEASC: New England Association of Schools and Colleges d) NWCCU: Northwest Commission on College and Universities e) SACS: Southwest Association of Colleges and Schools f) WASC: Western Association of Schools and Colleges You also have the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), which has been the standard-bearer for distance learning accrediting agencies since its establishment in 1926. So how do you check the accreditation od online colleges initially? You can check their status by first asking the school. Reputable schools will have no problems telling you if they are accredited. Furthermore, they will have no problem telling you in what state they are accredited and which of the regional accrediting bodies have accredited them. Still, some unscrupulous online colleges will try their very best to give the appearance of being accredited. They do this by using such words as "authorized", "legitimate" or "pursuing accreditation." Again, don't be taken in by this. Judge an online college by their association; not by their buildings, address or by any of the advertisements they place in the magazines. 3)Another crucial thing to look out for is the online school's operating license. Every institution of higher learning must have a charter for operations in a particular state. If they don't have one, then they are operating illegally and most likely an unscrupulous online college. 4)Applying for Federal Student Aid (FSA) Tuition Assistance can also help to validate an institution's credentials. In order for a student to receive financial assistance to pay for your education, the school must petition the federal government and demonstrate its accreditation status in the first place. If the school isn't up to par, it won't qualify. So, if the government won't pay for you to go there, chances are there is a lack of accreditation. The bottom line is that you are going to have to spend time, energy and money getting your qualification. To ensure that you do not waste either of these things, check out the school first. Doing this will ensure that your school of choice is accredited and save you a ton of heartache later.
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