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How to Assess the Credibility of Distance Learning Programs.

People seem to be busier than ever these days, with more and more obligations and less and less time. Advancement on the job- as well as beginning a new career- is increasingly more dependent on a college degree. But who has time?

Enter the Distance Learning Program! The promises seem tailor-made for the time-challenged among us: "Get a degree in just 10 short weeks!" - "Study at home for a new career!" - "Earn your Bachelor Degrees online, at your own pace!"

But is it possible? Can you REALLY take academic courses online, at your own pace, and customized to fit your busy schedule... and earn a REAL degree? The answer is "Yes, but..." It's possible, but you need to do some research first.

Accreditation is most important.

Ideally, you want to work with a Regionally Accredited ("RA") school in the US. An RA school grants legitimate college credit that will be recognized without question by employers and other RA schools.

Next best is an accreditation by the Distance Education Training Council, but this guarantees no transferability of credit to an RA school, which is important if you ever plan to pursue a second degree, or even an advanced degree.

There are also national accrediting agencies and organizations which govern specific fields of study.

A school may claim some sort of official-sounding accreditation, but you should check them out. The US Department of Education publishes a list of accrediting agencies that meet the RA standards. Further research on the agencies' own websites can help you find if the school in question is recognized.

- REGIONAL ACCREDITATION:
http://www.ed.go v/admins/finaid/accred/accredi tation_pg7.html

- DISTANCE EDUCATION TRAINING COUNCIL:
http://www.detc.org/ac cred.html

- NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED ACCREDITING AGENCIES:
http://www.ed.gov/adm ins/finaid/accred/accreditatio n_pg6.html#NationallyRecognize d

- INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION RESOURCES:
http://www.ed.gov/ab out/offices/list/ope/iegps/ind ex.html

Most RA colleges (and by "college", here I mean any institution that has a physical campus where classes are held in person, as opposed to a purely online/mail order system) are now expanding online course offerings which earn you legitimate, transferrable college credit. You can even earn a degree by a combination of online and physical courses. Look into your local community colleges, as well as state and private colleges and universities.

Learn more about this author, Christine Conte.
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