Scams exist in any industry that generates a good profit. Educational industry is one of the highly profitable fields due to the high market demands. And online education is one of the rapid growth areas that attract many scams who try to cut into the market shares with their diploma mills. In order to control the diploma mills, the US department of education has accredited the online universities and colleges that provide "real" online degree programs.

It is important that you get a degree from an accredited online university in order to ensure that your degree is recognized by your future employer when you start your career path after graduation.

Why is Accreditation Important?

Accreditation is a formal recognition on an entire school or college or one of its programs meets certain standards and provides quality education as by the accreditation agencies appointed by the US department of education.

Although graduating from an accredited program does not guarantee you a successful career, it is a key starter when you step your foot into the job market. A degree from accredited online university reflects the quality of the education programs conducted by the university. It provides a sense of public trust and professional quality.

If the online college or university is not accredited, you will have problems if you try to transfer your credits to a traditional college or university later. Many universities do not recognize credit earn from unaccredited online universities. Hence, your credits can not be transferred and you need to start over again.

Nowadays, employers know how to differential between a legitimate and "fake" degree. The first thing employer look at your degree when you applying a job is your degree, whether your degree is from an accredited university and which accreditation agency that accrediting the universities. If you are applying a job with degree from unaccredited university, you need to provide proof to the hiring company that your degree is legitimate. Else it is very high chances that you will not get the job.

Type of Accreditations

The most recognized and accepted type of accreditation in the United States is regional accreditation. There are six geographic regions of the United States regional accreditation agencies:

* The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
* The New England Association of Schools & Colleges.
* The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
* The Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges.
* The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
* The Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Generally, college credits or degrees received at a regionally accredited institution are accepted by other regionally accredited colleges or universities. Beside the six regional accreditation agencies, there are 52 recognized national accrediting bodies that normally evaluate and accrediting private online universities.

In Summary

Scams use unethical ways to get the profit by offering diploma mills, a valueless degree that will not help your career after your graduation. Hence, it is important for you to ensure that your degree that you earn through online education is worth the value and will help you to secure a good job in your area of interest.