Employers Care About Credentials From College Distance Learning
Why bother to check on whether a college distance learning program that interests you comes from an institution that has educational accreditation? There’s a simple reason for being cautious: many employers won’t accept degrees from so-called “diploma mills” and you’ll have wasted your precious educational dollars.
Accreditation should be the first criterion a seeker checks when he or she is researching college distance learning. That’s because degrees awarded through the programs offered by some Internet programs may not result in credentials that are acceptable to many companies. In addition, some online college distance learning programs are simply bogus. They can look good on the website, but the materials they provide may be outdated or unrelated to the real skills needed to fulfill a degree or a certification.
The first thing to check when considering college distance learning is whether the college or university offering an online program has been accredited. While there are many online programs available these days, the degrees awarded by them may not be acceptable to many companies without accreditation.
The process of accreditation is intended to assure that an institution of higher learning provides a quality education in a systematic way. To achieve accreditation a college or university must meet certain standards set by an external body of some sort. For instance, the Distance Education and Training Council is one of five national accrediting bodies listed by the U. S. Department of Education. College distance learning may or may not be accredited by DETC, but a prospective student should make sure that the program in which he or she is interested has some reputable accreditation.
Professors and higher education administrators examine the operations and programs of colleges and universities that seek accreditation from an association or agency. They review the quality and quantity of instructional material for each course, compare that to similar curriculum available at other accredited institutions, and verify the teaching credentials of instructors. These accreditation examiners make sure that the college distance learning programs being offered are not “dumbed down” versions of courses taught in traditional classrooms.
Accreditation examiners review the content of courses to make sure that students in college distance learning programs are held to same rigorous academic standards as on-campus students. Whether the knowledge is being transmitted via audio, video or text files over the Internet, it is crucial that the information and online interaction match that of on-campus classes.
Accredited college distance learning programs offer a range of degrees and certificates that can be earned online. These include graduate certification in a chosen field, associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees.
The best way to choose a college distance learning program is to get information or catalogs from several different accredited universities that offer the degree you’re seeking.
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