Internet Fraud

I know that a lot of online-schools are scams and "degree-mills". Which ones are not? I'm in California if that makes a difference.... I would like to find a school where I make monthly payments if possible-- I once did a course through PCDI, and I thought it was a complete scam... I don't want to be scammed!!! Thank you so much for your help!

You should take your online degree courses from a major university that offers both on-site and off-site degrees. That way you won't be scammed. Some of the online degree sites are scams but there are others that are not really scams but are not as readily accepted by employers as a degree from a major university. Athens State University and Oregon State University are two examples. Any college you select should be accredited by one of the regional accrediting associations. Do not be misled by sites that tell you that their institution is "accredited" - be sure you know by whom it is accredited. They must tell you this in their catalogs. If a college doesn't have this information online you should be suspicious that it is a scam. This is a good site to learn about regional accreditation associations and their names: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_accreditation You didn't mention what you want to major in. If it is a profession such as business or education, be sure the degree is also accredited by its professional accrediting organization - AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) for business and NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education) for education. First, look for colleges that offer the major you want. Then, make sure they are regionally accredited. Only then should you compare costs, which you can do by looking at the catalogs of each college you are interested in and making comparisons. You have to be highly motivated and self-disciplined to complete a degree online. s

When looking for online degree programs, make certain the school is accredited. You can check on the accreditation of a school by going to the CHEA website at http://www.chea.org/search/search.asp... Second, please, please, please don't pay more than $250 per credit hour for a degree. There are so many options other than over-priced for-profit universities that it makes no sense to pay more than that. Some of the options are: Fort Hays State University - http://www.fhsu.edu/virtualcollege/... Peru State University - http://www.peru.edu/offuttafb/degreeprog... American Public University - http://www.apu.apus.edu/index.htm... All of the above are regionally accredited and their credits will transfer to other schools. Now for the cost: Fort Hays - $137 per semester credit hour Peru State - $130 per semester credit hour APU - $250 per semester credit hour (includes books) Once you add in books to Fort Hays and Peru State, they are about the same cost as APU. In general, it takes 60 credit hours to complete an Associates degree so the total cost starting from scratch would be close to $8,220 plus books. By the way, the schools I've mentioned above don't differentiate between in-state and out-of-state students when you are enrolled as an online student. Tuition is the same, no matter where you live in the U.S. Now, considering all of that, it is possible to reduce the costs by a considerable margin. Look into CLEP and DSST tests. Schools will grant credit for various CLEP and DSST tests if you can pass them. Some of the tests can be worth 6 semester hours and they only cost $70 to take. Using CLEPS and DSSTs and a couple of online classes, you could complete an Associates of Arts degree in Liberal Arts in about a year or less. Also, it will probably only cost you about $2,000. Then you can continue on to get a Bachelors degree in whatever field you choose in probably another year or two. Good luck, Edit: I almost forgot to add, you are lucky you are in California because, the California Education Board has lowered tuition at state community colleges to $20 per credit hour. That is probably one of the lowest tuition costs in the country. Search online for the community colleges in California. Glendale and Fullerton are two that I remember. They both have online courses. I don't believe they have online degrees, but you could complete a large portion of a degree by distance and transfer those credits to one of the other 4-year institutions mentioned above. You can transfer as many as 90 credit hours into a Bachelors program provided the classes match up to the degree requirements. Good luck,

I'm attending school online, too. When I first started looking into it, I was afraid of being scam. But what I learn is that you have to look for school that offer both online and campus degree. What you can do is look into the colleges around your area and see if they offer online program for your degree. That's the best way to know for sure that they are real school, not scams. I'm not quite sure if this site is good because I don't live in CA. But it's something that you might want to look into. http://online.collegedirectorynetwork.com/ This site is the one that was recommmend to me by my teacher. IT only have school in MN http://www.minnesotaonline.org/

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