Accredited Online Universities
In present times, more and more people are choosing online education as a means to enhance their knowledge and polish their skills. This way, distance learning is emerging as a mainstream source of education. However, before enrolling yourself as an online learner, you must make sure that your chosen online school or university is accredited. An accredited university or college is one that has been certified as fulfilling certain standards by a National and/or regional professional association. Once you are sure that the Institute you are interested in is offering an accredited degree, then you can freely commence further studies. Online Universities enable their students to continue their jobs or look after other responsibilities while at the same time it grants them the opportunity to learn at your own pace, in the comfort of your home. A recent survey showed that the ratio of online students has exceeded the ratio of students acquiring overall higher education.
An accredited online University can accommodate its students with a variety of degree programs. Many Universities provide Associate degrees to students, along with the facility to transfer their credits to other universities for higher education. Online universities also offer Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD Degrees in different disciplines. Online degrees are offered in a variety of subjects including science, humanities, fine and visual arts, medical, business and education. You can also choose from sub-fields of science, law, computers and I.T. It has been proved that earning an online degree is far more economical than the traditionally earned degree from campus. The degrees acquired through accredited online universities do not lack in quality or quantity and are equal to on-campus degrees. Accredited online universities never compromise on the quality of education and make sure that the curriculum measures upto high quality standards.
The most important thing to consider for distant learners is the accreditation of the university/institute they are studying at. Although, there are several lists of top online institutes available on many websites, but the criterion of their ranking is highly subjective. Some universities claim to be the best depending on the number of student who benefit through their distance learning programs annually. While others think that the marks scored by their students is what matters the most and hence makes their institute top the list. And there are many online universities which on the basis of their faculty reviews rate themselves the highest.
Mere rating and ranking is not enough, the institute has to be accredited by a solid education board. The U.S Department of Education has 6 accreditation boards. It is the responsibility of the concerned board to verify the course outline, syllabus, study material, duration and resource of the institute and then issue it an accreditation certificate. A university certified by anyone of these boards is the valid university for online education. These accreditation boards include:
- Southern Association of Schools and Colleges
- North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
- Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
- New England Association of Schools and Colleges
- Western Association of Schools and Colleges
- Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities