Great online programs offer the flexibility and affordability that students need. Schools ranging from local community colleges to elite universities like Stanford University and the Georgia Institute of Technology offer individual classes and entire degrees.
Sometimes, though, it’s not immediately obvious whether a program is a valuable educational experience or an offering aimed at grabbing tuition money. Before sending out any applications, potential online students should understand how to distinguish between a great opportunity and a terrible mistake. They can do so by following these three tips.
1. Look at accreditation: This means that some outside organization has vouched for the quality of the education offered by a particular school.
If an institution can’t point to some accrediting body that stands behind it, it’s definitely not a good place to be. Even if they can, make sure that it’s a legitimate accreditor.
[Learnhow to tell if an online program is accredited.]
2. Explore rankings: U.S. News has been maintaining rankings of colleges since 1983. They are a very popular resource for traditional students looking to apply to a university campus, but they also have sets of rankings specifically devoted to the best online programs out there.
U.S. News even breaks down the regionally accredited programs they rank into bachelor’s degree programs, MBA programs and graduate school programs in various disciplines, to make it easy to find schools that excel within the right niche.
3. Ask around: Before investing in an education, students should already have an idea of what they want to study and where they hope it will take them in their career.
By contacting professionals, either people they already know or those they find on social networks like LinkedIn, potential online students can learn more about what employers in an industry or a specific company think. A student who dreams of working at Google, for example, can contact actual recruiters and find out whether a specific online program would be helpful, neutral or harmful on a resume.
When I decided to pursue an online graduate degree for myself, the Georgia Tech name was enough to make me feel confident that I was making a good choice. Though the online Master of Science in computer science was a new program at the time, it was being built by one of the best schools in the world for computing.
[Understandwhat employers really think about your online bachelor’s degree.]
On the other hand, some students haven’t had the great experience that I have. For some students, their attempt to get an education at the troubled for-profit institution Corinthian Colleges left them with a debt and no degree — or or even usable credits, in some cases — after the school closed amid controversy and federal government sanctions.
The takeaway: The first step toward getting a great education online is doing some basic research to make sure that the program has a good reputation.
More from U.S. News
Online Degree Programs: How to Tell the Good From the Bad
How to Tell if an Online Program Is Accredited
4 Ways to Use Social Media as an Online Student
Tell if an Online Program Has a Good Reputation originally appeared on usnews.com
