Im thinking about doing online school,Is online schools/colleges real?

Question

I was thinking about trying to do college online but I wanted to know if you really get a degree or not for online school.my friend said I shouldnt do it because he thinks its a scam.would I have to sign up to a online school thats in the same state as me?If I do pass and get a degree,how would I get it?Will they mail it to me or something?how expensive is online?can somebody please let me know and I also wanna know has anybody did online school and succeeded and got they degree?

Answer 1

Hi

There are a lot of legitimate online schools. You can go to one of these websites to look for online schools:

http://www.elearners.com/
http://www.colleges.com/

When dealing with online universities, you have to make sure they are legitimate. If you do decide to enroll at an online university, make sure that it is an accredited university and that the school's accreditation agency is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). You can also check the US Department of Education. Remember, just because a school states that it is accredited, does not mean that its accreditation agency is legitimate. Schools can make up their own accredition agencies and they can appear to be very legitimate. They will even use names that are similar to legitimate accreditation agencies to throw you off, so watch that as well. An example of one is Belford University. Belford University states that it is privately accredited. However, Belford University's accreditation agency is NOT recognized by CHEA. ANY legitimate accreditation agency in the U.S. is recognized by CHEA, and there are no private accreditation agencies (well at least any legitimate ones). If you attend a college that is not accredited, future employers most likely will not recognize your degree. In other words, your degree may be worthless.

Here is the CHEA website:

http://www.chea.org/default.asp

Here is some websites that will help you identify fake colleges:

http://www.online2college.com/online-college/fake-online-degree.html
http://www.geteducated.com/services/diplomamillpolice.asp

Online universities tend to be more expensive than traditional colleges. When you take online courses, you will have to do more work than in traditional, on-campus classes. Make sure you complete your assignments in a timely manner, because it is easy to get behind in an online class. Online courses may have the same level of difficulty as on-campus classes, if not harder. When you graduate, I believe they will mail your degree to you. You can try this website below to help you pick decent teachers at the school you eventually choose. Students from the school will rate teachers and write comments about them concerning their attitude, clarity, helpfulness, etc. It may have your school listed, but you may or may not find the teacher you are looking for on there:

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/index.jsp

I hope this helps you.

Answer 2

"Is online schools/colleges real?" 'Are' online schools.... some are, some aren't. You have to do some research and make sure the school you pick is legitimate. At a minimum it needs to be regionally accredited. For best results, it should be a college that has a campus somewhere and that people you know have heard of. Is Harvard University "real"? They teach online now.

"my friend said I shouldnt do it because he thinks its a scam" Harvard University, Stanford University, UC-Berkeley, Duke University, Florida State University, etc... all teach online now. Ask your friend if he thinks these too are a scam. If he does, he's ignorant. It's 2007 and real colleges are teaching online. Some scams are too so be careful what you find.

"would I have to sign up to a online school thats in the same state as me?" No, you can go to school in another country too if you want, the University of South Africa and University of London have online programs. You may have to pay out of state tuition if you're out of state though.

"If I do pass and get a degree,how would I get it?Will they mail it to me or something?" You can either attend commencement on campus or they will mail it to you, your choice.

"how expensive is online?" It can be as low as $5000 or as high as $100,000 and many in between. For the most part, if you pick a good school, it won't be any more or less than if you went to that school in person.

"has anybody did online school and succeeded and got they degree?" 'has anyone done...' My Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts (performing arts area of focus) was online. It was sufficient to get me into graduate school. The highest ranking sailor in the US Navy got his bachelor's degree at Excelsior College (online). http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=346


Getting a degree from a reputable college online is the hard way to get a degree. Don't think this is the easy route, you will fail out if you go in thinking you'll skate through like you can at many in the classroom programs.

Answer 3

First, the standards for online Universities (i.e. University of Pheonix) are the same as those at traditional Universities. While some schools are "Scams" many others are actually accredited institutions of higher learning. Unfortunately the cost of online programs tends to be significantly higher than if you were to go to a college in person. Grading also tends to be a little bit tougher since the professor never actually meets you as he/she would under normal conditions. I will use my university as an example. Each class that I took in the classroom was $440. I took two classes online and each of those classes cost me $1060. These costs did not include books or lab fees. I would highly recommend that you start at a community college if you are nearing college age. Don't take this negatively but there are marked weaknesses in your grammer skills. You will want to strengthen your weak areas before jumping into a full fledged university environment. Best of luck.

Answer 4

Just an addition to the accreditation saga - many places will take your aid without telling you the hours don't transfer anywhere useful, so do beware. For the record, be sure a school has "regional accreditation" - the best place, and source for most colleges, is www.collegesource.org. All major schools will fall under one of the US regions. If your school of interest isn't, don't count on the credits transferring to any other major public/private institution -- or your employer recognizing. As long as you do your research ahead of time, it should be smooth sailng from there.

For the record, we offer online degree programs at my institution -- and the faculty who teach online also teach on campus. None of this adjunct-for-hire randomness so many of the online-only school do :(

Answer 5

There are some fine schools that offer online degrees. Look for those colleges that have established physical campuses and also offer online programs. Also, make sure they are accredited. Don't be afraid to ask them for their credentials and for their hiring statistics post graduation. Good luck.

Answer 6

They are very real but do your research! There are some excellent online programs out there.