Getting a degree online has its own positives and negatives, it’s a great alternative to pursue a degree while working full-time. However, before pursuing an online degree, you should always check its legitimacy. The main indicator if legitimacy is an (its) accreditation, which is a process conducted by the various regulatory authority to ensure that a course meet certain quality standards.

However, most of the time the common perception is to assume that online programs from reputed universities are accredited, still it’s safe to double check. Accreditation check is especially needed for those who are thinking of pursuing a course from a lesser known online university or institute, mostly due to the rising number of scams related to education.

So, here are few ways so that you can check the accreditation of an online course.

When it comes to accreditation, there are two different levels, one is institutional, that applies to the entire university or the college. Another one is specialized, which applies to specific programs or schools that focus on few certain disciplines. Getting a degree from an accredited institute also makes sure that even online students can receive federal financial aid. So, Finding and Verifying a School’s Overall Accreditation is extremely important.

A school’s website is a great place to start to know about the accreditation of an institute. Most of the institutes or the universities often list their accreditation on the ‘About’ page of their respective websites. After finding the name of the accreditors prospective students should also verify them from the respective websites of Department of Education or else Council for Higher Education Accreditation. In these two websites, prospective students can also have a look at the list of the verified accrediting agencies.

Prospective students who are looking for an online institute’s institutional accreditation, then if necessary one should also look out about the Institute’s Regional or National Accreditation. Employers always look for students from a school that has regional accreditation as it is perceived as slightly better. Transferring credits from a regionally accredited institute is a bit easier than those of the nationally accredited institutes.

Determining if Your Discipline Requires any Programmatic Accreditation is also important as programmatic accreditation is completely limited to few career-specific fields, especially for those who needs licensing. On the other hand, students who are pursuing courses like liberal arts don’t require to have any programmatic accreditation as they don’t need any licensing.

Verifying Accreditors are also a very important part in the process. Prospective students should also check the program’s website for all its specialized accreditation. When necessary, student should also check if the accreditor is recognized by the Council. If a student fails to check the accreditation then he/she can search directly on the department’s or the council’s website for better clarity.

So, here we have listed out some point for you guys, which will eventually help to choose a better program which suits you and your career. So, why wait? Just start your research and thank us later.