November 9, 2007, Newsletter Issue #161: Online Learning - Evaluating an Online Course

Tip of the Week

Here´s how to check out a distance learning school, college, or university. Before you invest your money in a degree program, spend some time to find out whether it is legitimate.
1. Look for accreditation information on the school´s website or print catalog.
2. Look for the school in the lists of schools on this site. (more are coming) Is it listed? Is its website informative?
3. Visit your library or bookstore and look for the school in one of these guides: Marcie Thorson´s Campus-Free College Degrees, Bears´ Guide to Earning Degrees Nontraditionally, Vicky Phillips´s Best Distance Learning Graduate Schools. Is the school listed?
4. Doublecheck the school´s accreditation by contacting the accrediting agency.
5. Ask the school for more information. When you call during working hours, do you always get an answering service? (A very bad sign.) Can you talk to a professor or two? An academic adviser? Can the school provide names and numbers of graduates who will talk to you about their experience?
6. Ask others in distance learning forums whether they know of this school and would recommend it.
7. Check several different sources of information. Even the most thorough miss some schools, especially new schools, and each has a different perspective.
8. Take your time. Better to spend several weeks evaluating schools than to spend several thousand dollars on a worthless diploma.

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