When considering our education it is very important to earn, not buy, our degree from an accredited school. There are no shortcuts. This article explains how to sort through information to discard offers from non-accredited schools.
Introduction
The internet is a wonderful tool. Unfortunately, it is littered with scams and fraud that arrive before our eyes because we typed a misspelled address into our browser, a fraudulent website is listed alongside legitimate websites in a search engine, or we give attention to spam emails.
When considering our education it is very important to earn, not buy, our degree from an accredited school. There are no shortcuts. Students must meet the accepted standard based on previous coursework and activities before applying to the program and meet the step-by-step standards of the program that include regular attendance and standard exams. This may seem obvious but scam offers can be deceiving, convincing and tempting.
Avoid Schools with These Features
Be aware of any school or program offering degrees based on a flat fee cost, on life experience, without completion of a curriculum, without examinations or attendance, with same-sounding names as legitimate institutions, admission requirements including only an up-front or signing fee, or advertisements using spam.
Legitimate schools charge a per-credit unit fee not a flat fee for the entire program. Individual courses are given a value of so-many credits. Legitimate schools don’t issue degrees based solely and entirely on life experiences or career achievements. They do require substantial course work, regular attendance, and examinations to test the student’s comprehension of material. Legitimate accredited schools also require previous grades, descriptions of previous course material completed, and lists of extraordinary awards and extracurricular activities. Legitimate accredited schools don’t advertise through spam.
Accreditation
School accreditation is simply a stamp of approval for schools that says the school has either met or exceeded the quality standards in their specialized area of education. In the USA, there are six regional accrediting associations. This is the highest level of accreditation a non-profiting undergraduate school can have. Also in the USA, there are national accrediting associations that oversee the quality standards of non-degree granting single-purpose schools such as trade schools, information technology schools, faith-based schools or independent schools.
Before signing any forms, agreeing to any program or paying any money, be sure the school is accredited. Watch out for the advertised school that has the same-sounding or close-spelling as a well-known school. Check with the Better Business Bureau to be sure the address and contact information are the same. The BBB can also tell you if there are any registered complaints.
If you receive an education scam in your email, you can forward it to the FTC. If you are the victim of an education scam, you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission in the USA or with the RCMP in Canada. Remember, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” For a review about scams in general, read this article.