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Online degrees: Students beware
Reputable options exist, but do your homework
The Shreveport Times
July 31, 2006

In the era of the Internet, the veneer of a slick Web page makes it difficult to draw the line between legitimate and dubious. The usual signals of "fly-by-night" have become harder to suss out.

With more than 1.2 million Americans enrolled in online college courses, this blurring has become especially pronounced in the realm of education: Though "virtual learning" might be a viable option for busy adults who can't schedule classes at traditional campuses, the trend has birthed online programs at well-respected traditional colleges as well as given the charlatans and hucksters new high-tech methods for juicing suckers.

Is it possible to tell the difference?

Take for example the University of Phoenix -- by far the largest private university in the country, with over a quarter of a million students enrolled in its various online degree programs. The school achieved this number through an aggressive online marketing push; it's almost impossible to miss their banner ads when surfing the Net. Despite the program's huge numbers, education pundits have questioned its methods: "University of Phoenix" implies that the school might be somewhere in Arizona, yet its webpage boasts "more than 140 campuses nationwide."

Though the school is both regionally and nationally accredited, not all of its degree programs are. Most telling of all, though, is the huge fine that the Apollo Group, the publicly traded company that owns the school, paid to the U.S. Education Department to close an investigation into its aggressive recruiting practices. By all accounts, the admissions office more closely resembled a telemarketing sales floor.

While the University of Phoenix case raises some serious questions, there's another rung of online education that's unambiguously shady -- diploma mills. In exchange for a hefty fee, individuals can earn advanced degrees without all the bother of studying, taking tests, or doing anything much at all. These degrees usually carry names that sound like real universities (Louisiana shut down "Columbia State University" in 1999, for example) and come in handy when padding a resume.

Despite the existence of dubious online degree programs, perfectly aboveboard -- innovative, even -- alternatives exist. No less than the solid, reputable Northwestern State University awarded its first online degree to an Indiana woman who never set foot on the Natchitoches campus enroute to a diploma in psychology that she earned in only three years.

For those seeking a legitimate online education, the director of the Louisiana Board of Regents Larry Tremblay has this advice: "Typically, if you can't find out where an institution is located, you need to beware. Research the quality and history of an institution."