Accreditation is a crucial part of the online university and college world because, to put it bluntly, there is no point in spending a bunch of time and that might include a project, and that could include a web education, if you were to find out afterwards that it is pointless. Sadly , there are some fake online faculties out there that may put you through the effort of working but finally only wants to take you cash and run.

I am sure that you’ve heard of the sites that you can actually buy a degree at, well universities that are not accredited are a little like that but sadly don’t have any morals. They can ask you to submit work, complete tests and such like and so will give you a good dose of heartache at the same time.

It is vital to check out a university’s accredited status before you begin to consider applying, not to mention essentially apply, because you will have to send a fee or deposit with the application. Commissioned status should be put on the varsity homepage and the “about us” page that any university that operates online should have. It should be simply recognisable as a seal of accreditation.

If it is not then you could have to search a bit more on the web site. However, rule number one is that if there is no accreditation at all on the net university internet site then walk away. If none are displayed than the likelihood is they don’t have commissioned standing to begin with.

However, any seal of accreditation can be simply researched to ensure that it is genuine. An easy Google search should exhibit as to if or not the company that have given a web varsity accreditation actually exists and indeed its own credentials. It is important that you trace it back to who has basically set it up, when it was established and whether it is associated with another educational body or not.

For example, the School of Phoenix, displays its accreditation for everyone to see. If you then analyzed the source, you would find that it is really part of the Texas schooling system and the Texas academic system as well. This should give you peace of mind to understand that efforts will not vain if you do select to attend this school rather than another one further down the line.

Accreditation should mean a lot to the average individual that does decide to take an internet course as it could mean the difference between a bright future and a sour one as you did not take some to check it in the 1st place and also the fact that a lot of you hard earned money has vanished, leaving you with completely zilch to show for it.

The golden rule is to never select a faculty which has a fake accreditation because employers could dig up that information and it might hinder you from getting the job that you have always wanted. This is by no fashion fair on you but unfortunately is the savage truth. Accreditation is everything in the planet of online education. Without it, all that you are left with is a bit of paper.

Ivy League courses are evolving. Keep checking around and looking at blogs and the school’s web site for more information. They may go full swing into the distance learning mode in the near future.

For instance, Yale has announced that beginning in the 2007-08 academic year, they will offer digital video of taped lectures for free online. Again, these are not meant to be used towards a full degree, but you can get the benefit of the class experience.

In keeping with that trend, Harvard has made the same videotaped lectures available online for graduate and undergraduate credit. Not a full degree but a real nice experience nevertheless if you really WANT to try an Ivy League school.

The presidents of both schools have made statements about marrying information technology with education in a distance learning environment.

The long and short of it is that the application requirements will be the same as if you were applying in person, you really will need to have a great portion of your tuition on hand to attend the courses that are there online. Even then, I must emphasize, you will not have the option of taking a full degree online at an Ivy League institution: just the experience of hearing the material.

Yale was the first one to venture into the distance learning arena a couple of years ago. Harvard has followed suit progressively. But there is a twist you need to understand before trying to apply for these courses.

Ivy League colleges have taken the step towards online education, howbeit carefully. You are able to get the benefit of a partial education. However, as of this date, there are NO completely online courses available at these institutions.

What you can get from Harvard or Yale or any Ivy League institution is access to videotaped lectures and even class materials. The catch is that what you learn is not transferable to a degree program. Some schools have added online coursework for undergraduate and graduate credits. This is not a full degree program and probably won’t be for some time, so taking a Harvard online course or a Yale online course is not completely what it sounds like.

You can apply as you normally would for any higher education school. If you are serious about taking an Ivy League online course, tuition will be the biggest block. Some schools have payment programs and accept Pell grants and other financial aids. But there is always a portion that you pay out of pocket. For the most part, if you don’t have the FULL payment out front, you will not be granted access to Ivy League courses.

My personal background, so that you know, is that I am graduate of a B.A. and an M.A. from a Christian College.  I also taught for six years at a Chrisitan university in the Dallas, Texas area.  So, here are a couple more things you will want to consider when looking at your application to apply to take a course at a Christian college. 

When you start to fill out your application here are some tips that will help you stand out from other applicants.

• Letters of Reference – You may want to consider including with your application letters of reference. Some of the most effective letters come from pastors, church elders or deacons, or perhaps the choir director (if the case warrants it). Having others that confirm and testify to your Christian beliefs can go a long way to help you get accepted.

• Statement of Faith – One item that you will find that many Christian online colleges will require that their secular counterparts will not ask for is a statement of faith. You should have a brief (usually one typed page is adequate) summary of your testimony and what your faith means to you. Keep it simple and genuine as over indulgent testimony just sound corny and insincere.

In a few days or so (as soon as I can get a good list together) I am going to post several Christian colleges and univerisities you may want to check out that have online course offerings, or entire degree programs.  It certainly won’t be an exhaustive list, so right now I am looking at a way to narrow the focus in building the list.

• Part 1 – Before you apply
• Part 2 – Your application
• Part 3 – Some specific Christian colleges

If you are a Christian and you have already determined that the best way for you to get a college education is by attending college online then you may be looking for some tips for getting started. Christian online colleges offer the same types of education those other colleges online may offer the biggest difference will be that they actually have the same belief system that you have and incorporate God and Jesus into their curriculum.

There are several factors that you should consider as you begin to narrow down your choose of schools to attend. The application process for any school can be long and tedious when you are filling them out so have all the necessities together before you get started. Here are a few tips to help you with choosing an online college that will meet all your needs.

• Accreditation -The first thing that you need to do is check to make sure that the college you are looking at is fully accredited. It is unfortunately but oftentimes you can run into schools that are not properly accredited and then when you are ready to either transfer to another school or present your diploma you find out that the credits you have earned are non-transferable or not recognized as legitimate credits.

One of the things about some Christian colleges is they are not accredited by one of the nationally recognized, regional acrediting bodies.  Make sure it is.  You don’t want to waste any time or money on a course that won’t transfer or count for work credit.

• Requiring Help -Another very important thing that you will need to check is if you have problems understand the curriculum or need to reach the professor for any other reason how do you do it. With an online course your professor could have hundreds of students and may be hard to reach so you need to find out what the college’s procedures are with regards to needing help.

• Financial Aid – If you are worried about the cost of getting an online degree you may be pleasantly surprised to find out that many online colleges offer financial aid. Check with them first and weigh out all your financial options, they may also be able to send you toward some Christian based scholarships that you may have been unaware of.

Part 2 is coming soon.  We are going to discuss what to do after you apply and some of the things you need to know that might be different on a college application from a Christian collge.

1. The next thing that you will want to look into when selecting an online college is the type of prerequisites that institution has in place for students. If you are interested in joining a particular online college, it is important to know and understand what expectations they have in place for new students. Knowing whether or not you qualify for acceptance is a key component in ensuring that you have made the right educational choice.

2. When selecting an online college, it is important to ensure that all of the coursework that is issued to students is done in a virtual classroom. Many online colleges offer courses in the virtual classroom, as well as the traditional brick and mortar classroom. It is important to know what is expected in this area prior to committing to the university.

3. Last, but not least, you should take into consideration what others think of the online college, as well as any relevant experiences that they have had with the online college. this will give you a good idea of what to expect when you are a student yourself.

As you can see, there are many important considerations to be made when it comes to online colleges. The tips listed here will help you to determine if a particular college is right for you.

1. The most important tip for choosing an online college is to ensure that the educational institution is accredited. Accreditation means that the online school meets and/or exceeds the educational standards for a particular subject, degree, and/or coursework. This can be extremely beneficial to you in many different ways. First, it means that if you ever decide to switch colleges, you will be able to transfer any credits that you received. Furthermore, when it comes to entering your chosen career path, it is essential to have an education that meets certain standards. If you lack this, you may find it difficult to use the skills and talents that you have acquired in the future, and you may find that you literally wasted your money on an education that just does not count.

2. The next tip for considering and selecting an online college is to ensure that the school offers plenty of resources to assist you in your educational career. Examples of resources include an online school library, peer counseling services, tutoring sessions, and technical support specialists.

3. The third tip for choosing an online college is to research the financial aid options that you have. Many schools will offer payment plans, accept Federal Pell Grants, and similar forms of financial aid. If you do not have the money to pay full tuition at an online university, this may be an important consideration.

I will have more tips for you in a few days.

Here is a link where you can go and check out information on several of these schools:

Online Ivy League Schools

How would that look on your resume? Add Cornell University or Boston College as one of the schools on your resume and that could turn a few heads. Is it worth the cost? Probably. I’d check it out. And, if nothing else, it could be one of those conversation pieces among friends trying to one-up the other, win a date, or more importantly, get a promotion over some dweeb who just got his degree from the local community college.

Why Do Online Degree Programs Have to Be Accredited?

While you may be tempted to pay less for schooling at one of the institutions that do not claim to be accredited, do not be fooled. In order for you to have a bachelor’s degree that counts, that people will care about, you have to go through an accredited online degree program. They are offered in many web based universities and for many programs, but they do cost more than the average unlicensed program would. You do get what you pay for in this case; paying hardly anything will school will get you a rather cheap, unusable bachelor’s degree. Who wants to pay to waste their own time?

The Benefits of an Accredited Online Degree Programs

There are so many benefits to having an accredited online degree under your belt. First of all, unless your potential employer does some serious research they can easily think that you got your bachelor’s degree from a traditional four-year university. The degree offered by these online degree programs is the exact same thing; that is what it means to be accredited. It has been evaluated and approved to be equitable with traditional programs.

The only difference is this: you work at your own pace from your own home. You don’t have to worry about who is going to watch the baby while you are at school, or how to get there if you don’t have a car. None of that matters with this type of degree program and depending on how fast you work, you may be able to get your degree in less than the normal four years.

Is an accredited online degree program right for you? Only time will tell. If you have problems with being a self starter and getting things done unsupervised, a normal college setting may be more beneficial. On the other hand, if you are motivated to get this degree and get your life on track you can certainly benefit from what accredited online degrees have to offer.

The College Network (TCN) is not like any other place that lists different colleges and degrees because they actually have a partnership with those schools to help you earn their degree.  They are based out of Indianapolis, and have been around for a dozen years or so.  Their specialty is in nursing degrees (ASN, BSN, MSN), but they have added several different health care degrees and business degrees.

Think of this way – it’s like insurance.  You can go to a company like State Farm or AllState, or you can find a reputable insurance broker (like Al Banker in Texas), who represents many different insurance companies, thereby matching you up with the best carrier at the best price.  So, TCN would be like an “accredited college degree broker.”

Here are what I see as the pros and cons:

Pros:

• Many different choices of degrees
• Full university support
• Accredited Degree choices
• Course work guarantees
• Most degree programs are 100% distance learning
• Most degree programs are 100% self paced
• Cost (less money than taking all your courses at a 4-year college)
• Financing is available
• Fully accredited degrees

Cons

• If you speak to the wrong degree advisor, you’d think you were speaking to a used car salesman
• Cost (more money than a 2-year community college)

There’s not a lot of cons.  Many of the pros could also be said for going straight to the university.  But, the biggest asset you have with TCN is choice.  If you can get past “being sold” a degree, I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better place to explore degree options.

Check out any prerequisites.

Many online nursing degree programs have some sort of prerequisite requirements.  Make sure you check these out since they differ from school to school.  You may be able to find a school that fits the experience you already have without having to take any additional classes.

Ask about financial aid.

If the online nursing degree program is accredited, most federal grants and loans will be applicable.  If the online nursing degree program you are interested in is offered by a traditional college, they will usually  have their own financial aid office that may be able to assist you with financial aid.

Is the program self paced?

Ask whether the online nursing degree program is self paced, meaning you can complete it in your own time, or whether it has a time limit.  Many online nursing degree programs follow a traditional time period and need to be completed as such. 

 These are just a few of the things that you should consider when choosing a nursing degree online.  Talk to a counselor before you enroll and ask for some references of students who you may talk to and be able to ask about their experiences.  Make sure you have asked all of the questions that you need to in order to feel comfortable before you commit to an online nursing degree program.

Nursing is a profession that badly needs more qualified workers.  In today’s fast paced world many people do not have the time to devote to a traditional classroom based degree program.  That’s where online nursing degree programs come into the picture.  These programs allow people to earn their nursing degree online when it is convenient for them.  Here are a few things to look for when choosing an online nursing degree program.

Choose an accredited online nursing degree program. 

Using a course that is accredited will allow you the flexibility of furthering your education at a later date if you choose to do so.  Non accredited programs will not transfer to other schools and all of your hard work will be for nothing. 

Find out if there is a lab requirement.

Before you sign up for an online nursing degree program ask questions about whether there is a requirement for in person lab time.  Many online nursing degree programs need for you to do labs which you would need to schedule.  There are programs that allow you to do the entire nursing degree online.  If this is better suited to your lifestyle, make sure you choose one of these programs.  But, keep in mind that any clinicals will have to be done in person. 

Third, if your budget is tight, it pays to check out the tuition each school charges. Usually, they will break down the tuition per credit, so you can see how much each credit costs, and therefore how much each class costs.

Finally, what do you need to do to apply? Every university will have specific admission requirements. You may need a high school diploma or an SAT score. Check with each university you are considering to make sure you aren’t accepted because you forgot to include some pertinent piece of information to Admissions.

As you can see, you need to start doing your homework before you even enroll in school! If you use these criteria to help you choose the right online bachelor’s degree for you, it will help you find the education you are looking for.

If you’ve ever thought about going back to school for a degree, you may want to think about getting a bachelor’s degree online. More and more accredited schools are offering this to potential students, and there are a lot of benefits to getting your degree online, like making it fit your work schedule, no travel costs and benefiting from academic minds the world over. The most important four criteria for choosing the source of your online degree should help you choose the best degree and university for you.

First, when choosing to get an online bachelor’s degree, the first thing you want to consider is what do you want to study? Most online degrees focus on accounting, business, management and related fields of study. If any of these appeal to you or can help you move up at work, you may want to consider which one you want to tackle.

Second, check out the online schools. Are they accredited? Wasting money on a school that no one will recognize won’t help you. Accredited schools meet certain criteria with the Department of Education and the Higher Commission for Learning. Alternatively, you may choose a school that is accredited with the Distance Education Training Council (DETC). While many employers recognize DETC schools, the credits may not transfer to a traditional university if you choose to pursue more education later.

It would also be worth your time to go down to human resources and see what their policy is on tuition reimbursement for your courses. Many employers find it beneficial to help their employees further their educations and they are willing to help pay the costs of tuition. Good employees are hard to find and ones that have advanced degrees are precious.  This little used benefit could be worth several thousand dollars for you.

If it is time to break through that glass ceiling, and move ahead in your career, then take the time and search for an online Masters degree.

The time you save in commuting, finding a parking place on campus, and walking to class is a real benefit for anyone. That can save you several hours each week that you thought you didn’t have to complete your degree. The distance learning Master degree programs are specifically designed to save the students time, making it possible to earn their degrees in record time.

A typical graduate program will run between 18 months and 3 years depending on your field of interest. Most MBA programs are about 2 years.  You can earn your distance learning master degree while you maintain full time employment. One very important consideration is to make sure the university where you are earning your degree is regionaly accredited.  If it is not, other schools will not allow you transfer credits, and some employers will not recognize the degree you have earned and paid for.

Quite a few business professionals find themselves in dead-end careers or as far as they can go based upon their training.  You might love what you do, but you know that you are not going to move up in your company without expanding your education. That is why distance learning Master degrees have become so popular for adults.  Major universities are making their Master’s Degrees available 100% online.

Today’s workplace has many demands on its employees.  With all of the demands, many feel that they don’t have the time or the energy to to work on an online Masters Degree. However, most online Masters degree can be earned in the spare time you have throughout the week. These courses are designed to work around your schedule.

For me, I enjoyed the challenge of earning my associate degree online. Many people need help, or guidance, when they learn, but others can make it on their own.  While you are not abandoned by your professors online, you simply don’t have the face-to-face interaction.  Without the distractions of having to get to class, park my truck, and deal with schedules, I could just get down to business. You will have more reading assignments, will watch some sort of  prerecorded lectures, and get to work. Of course, once I was done with my associate degree online, I wanted something more from the rest of my education. I am in the process right now of earning my bachelors degree from a Bible College, having used my online associates degree as my foundation.  I wanted to actually be able to talk to my professors, to get to know my classmates, and to be able to enjoy a real college environment. Still, it was nice to have all of those prerequisites out of the way.  Perhaps earning an associates degree from an online Christian College is right for you too.

Many of the classes you take in your first two years of college are your foundational courses. This is true whether you are pursuing an online Christian degree or a degree from a community college. These foundational courses, such as English 101, History 101, etc. carry the same weight no matter where you earn them. If your goal is a master’s degree, you will want to spend some time in a traditional classroom, but you can begin online.  For basics, however, an associate degree online can be a really good idea. An online degree is not for everyone, and you will need to have a few things certain qualities to be successful. You need to be a self-starter, an independent learner, and someone with the intellectual resources to figure things out without a lot of help. In other words, an associate degree online isn’t the right choice for everyone. You should be honest with yourself and figure out if it is right for you. Otherwise, you are just simply wasting time and money.

Part 3 will be out in a few days.

Getting a distance learning degree from a Christian College can be a mixed blessing in many cases. If you are considering a graduate degree or higher, you will want to strongly consider enrolling in a more traditional, oncampus college setting. Getting your associate degree online, however, is something you should strongly consider. This can be especially true when seeking to earn a degree from a Chrisitian college.  After all, one of the objectives of an associates degree is to get many of your basic courses out of the way. Getting an online associate degree does that, while giving you needed flexibility. If you are a working professional, pursuing your associates degree online maybe the best way for you to get started with your education. Not only will it save you money, but it will allow you to fit class into your otherwise busy schedule.

Look for the next part in a few day.