by Dr. Michael Smith

Created on: February 25, 2010

How often have you seen online schools offering great careers that you can prepare for from the comfort of your own home? Couple that with offers of financing, and the attractiveness and convenience of getting an needed education suckers many into enrolling with aspirations of better pay, great hours, and a plethora of other promised changes to your life. But it should come as no surprise that many of these “schools” are less than honest about the outcome or prospects of their graduates. Before you sign on the dotted line consider some truths about this type of offering.

Realize that these “schools” are businesses and their advertising, while designed to be attractive to you, is also designed to sell you a bill of goods. Most of these “schools” are not brick and mortar buildings, have little staff, and are not a valid means of education. You should never sign up for online classes from a company that is not a valid school.

These companies do not have the same accreditation as a state school, making their degree next to worthless. There are schools and there are schools. Realize that when you ask about accreditation these for profit companies will tell you anything to get you enrolled. That is the nature of advertising. Many are scams and will tout accreditation from some organization that is itself a mailbox and not valid, but their name looks impressive. If a school does not possess accreditation from a federal or state recognized organization then it is worthless. Without regional accreditation credits cannot be transferred and your degree may not get you the job you want. If your company reimburses you for educational expense they might refuse based on the status of such a school. Veteran benefits usually do not cover this type of education.

Never sign a financing agreement when you do not know what is in it. These companies are in the educational field to make huge profits. They work with finances companies that are of lower standing than a bank and usually work with people of dubious credit. That means a much higher rate of interest on your educational loan-usually like that of a credit card. Tuition and interest may or may not be tax deductible. Don’t check your brain at the door. You can get better terms going to your local technical school or community college and allowing them to help you find financial help, grants, and even student loans with much lower interest.

Online education is more difficult because

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