Complete Guide to Accredited Online Degree Programs

Resource for Accredited Online Degrees

Welcome to the complete guide to Accredited online degree programs - a comprehensive information resource on online learning and career guide.

The approach of the site is to provide as much information about accredited online degrees and colleges and at the same time provide information on careers and career choice.

For a quick search of information or degree programs, you may need to review the following information.

Top Popular Online Schools

Kaplan UniversityKaplan University

At Kaplan, you have various options to pursue your degree program from associate, bachelors, masters and continuing education. Kaplan offers accredited online degrees in Technology, legal studies, Nursing, Health Sciences, Criminal Justice, Sciences, Business and Education and Arts among others. The University is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

Schools Online degrees, Accreditation and Financial Aid



Liberty UniversityLiberty University

Over 50,000 students are enrolled in Liberty University online degree programs making it the largest non-profit online education institution in the United States of America and the world's largest Christian University. There are over 45 online degree programs which are delivered in a flexible learning format.

School's Online degrees, Accreditation and Financial Aid



University of PhoenixUniversity of Phoenix

The largest private university in Unites States of America, the University of Phoenix operates several campuses across the US offering both online and brick and mortar on campus classes. You can earn an associate, bachelor, masters, PhD or Doctorate at the University with options in Business, Nursing, Information Systems and Technology, Education, Criminal Justice, Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and many more.

School's accredited Online college degree programs, Accreditation and Financial Aid



Capella UniversityCapella University

Founded in 1991, and offering both online degree programs and on-campus programs, Capella University has several affiliations and alliances with more than 100 corporation and about 25% of all Community Colleges in United States of America - all this for the benefit of their students.

School's Accredited online college degrees, Accreditation and Financial Aid



Walden UniversityWalden University

Walden is regionally accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association. The schools offers an option to accelerate into master's degree option where students at the undergraduate level can take up some masters degree courses ,meaning that students can complete their masters degree program in a shorter time.

Walden College University Online Degree Programs



There are many prospective students searching for accredited online degrees that will meet their needs and yet others and looking for information to help them decide if online classes is the way to go.

Accredited Online degree programs: Questions to ask a prospective College before enrollment

It is Important that you get the following information from any College before you enroll in any Online College degree program.

1. Accreditation. - First and most important is that you must know the Institutional accreditation of the University. This will help you steer clear of bogus Colleges.

Enrolling in an accredited College will ensure that your degree will be recognized by employers and other accredited Colleges. You must ensure that the College is accredited by Accreditation agencies recognized by the Commission of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and US Department of education.

For some Programs that require Licensure, Students must confirm that the programs or the Schools in the University offering the program has specialized accreditation. The good news is that a good number of colleges offering accredited online degree programs have regional accreditation while others are Nationally accredited.

Both forms of accreditation are recognized by the Commission of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and US Department of education. For more information on accreditation, Visit College accreditation page.

2. Specific details about the Program of your Choice and. - There are many questions you can ask about the program of your choice at the University. You should know from the College, the average length of time it will take you to complete your degree course. Some courses can be completed 100% online while for others, students will be required to either attend some campus classes or some practical lessons or a requirement to meet with their professor. You should get this information from the University.

3. Earning and transfer of credit. - It is very important that you get information about credit transfer policies at the University and specifically that which relates to your degree of interest. Universities use different criteria for awarding credits. Even when credits are awarded, the maximum number of credit transfers allowed may vary from one University to another and even from one course to another within the same School. It is worthwhile to note that most online degree programs will help you earn credits from other reputable accredited colleges. However the discretion to award credit remain with the Universities. Some of the most common Credit earning areas are,

  • Recognition of coursework from schools accredited by agencies recognized by the Commission of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and US Department of education. Some colleges may only accept credits from regionally accredited schools, others will accept credits from regionally accredited and a select nationally accredited schools while others will accept credit transfers from both regionally accredited and nationally accredited Universities.
  • Military experience. /
  • National Testing Programs e.g DANTES, CLEP, ACE and Berlitz courses
  • Prior Learning Assessment for professional development and training courses.
  • Credits for corporate training approved by the American Council on Education /
  • Credits for International credentials evaluated by any NACES approved provider.
  • Credits earned through specific national exams such as CLEP, DSST, and ACE/PEP.
  • Advanced Placement (AP) courses or exams, and SATII language exams.
  • Documented other past experience sometimes referred to as life experience.

This information is very important as credits earned may significantly reduce the course duration and course fees of online degree programs.

4. Course Fees. - It is obvious that you should know the course fees before you enroll for a degree program. But also important is to know what is included in the total course fees. You do not want to assume that everything is included and latter realize that there are some exclusions and you have to look for more funds to cover for some other expenses. Particular areas that you want to know whether they are covered in the fees is books, library and any software that may required.

You should also ask if the college has any fee payment plans that will allow you to pay fees by installment system. If the college allows you to pay fees by installment system, it means you can start your degree by paying a fraction of the fee at the beginning of the semester and start classes. There is a possibility that the course fee will be increased before you finish the course. Get information about past fee increment and how often the fee is increased. With this information, you will have an idea how much it might cost you to finish the course. You may also get information about tuition refund policy of the colleges.

5. Financial Aid. - Most students will require a helping hand to achieve their education goals while pursuing online degree programs. If you will be looking for financial aid, you will need to know if the school participates in any federal, state, local, private or Institutional Financial Aid programs. Some Colleges may have Financial Aid programs while others may not have. There are many Financial Aid opportunities available for those pursuing online degree programs same as those who are in the traditional brick and mortar on campus classes. With good ground work, paying for college may be easier.

6. Examination and Grading - You will want to know details about examination, how they are conducted and how often you will have to sit for examination. Get information about other course work and assignment that may count towards your degree. It is also important that you get to know if the transcripts will indicate that the degree was completed online. Some Universities will indicate that the degree was completed online while other will not indicate this on the degree certificate.

7. Other services to students. - The quality of service to students will vary from one University to the other. Some Universities may have very excellent services which may help ease the load on students or make life more accommodating while studying. Some of the most important information you should gather from a College if you are planning to pursue online degree programs are:-

  • Access to library and research services.
  • What kind of information will I be able to access online?

8. Instructor's academic and Professional qualifications. - You may be interested in the academic qualifications of your instructors. A Well qualified and experienced instructor should give you the much needed confidence that you will be dealing with very competent and able lecturer, which means you will get value for your money in addition to an assurance that you will be getting a quality qualification.

Popular online degree programs

Search for Accredited online degrees

Colleges offering Accredited online degree programs

Current status of online degree programs

According to Sloan consortium, the last five years have seen tremendous growth in online education. According to results of annual research conducted by the consortium, online enrollments have continued to grow at rates far in excess of the total higher education student population, meaning that the growth is higher than that of campus based enrollment.

This website should help you with all the answers regarding online degree programs and provide you with details of colleges and universities that offer various accredited degree programs and an opportunity to request for more information from these online universities.

Your Questions, Scholarships and Financial aid and many more answers.

We answer all questions including the structure, process and benefits of distance education, scholarships and Financial aid and many more questions. It is important that you get to know what college accreditation is all about. This should be a good guide to because you really need to be sure about the reputation and recognition of the college of your choice.

All these questions are well answered on the online degree articles page

Are you wondering if this career is right for you? What are my prospects as a graduate with this degree, what are the future prospects of this degree, what is the average earning for graduates of this career? Find all the answers in each page that relates to the degree of your interest.

The growth in popularity of online education in the past few years has been tremendous. There has been documented research to show that online accredited degrees have earned the confidence of employers, students and educational institutions.

Distance Education and Training Council found that employers felt that employees who took online classes performed better on the job as a result of taking online classes. This may be explained by the fact that these graduates are already used to working without necessarily having someone to look on their backs. The have been trained to work independently.

When compared the traditional on campus classes, online degree programs were rated as equal to on campus degrees by half of the employers where more that half of academic leaders rated the learning outcome of online degrees as equal of better than on campus degrees.

Millions of students around the world continue to enroll annually to different online accredited degree programs. Your busy schedule should not stop you from achieving your goals. With all the flexibility that comes with online degrees, you can take your career to the next level.



Return toOnline Degree Programs top

Kaplan University

Liberty University