How to find an online University?
Unfortunately finding an online university is like holding a double-edged sword. There are plenty of universities from which to choose so finding just a couple will be easy, but the other side is where you have to be careful. Because the online education field is rife with scams and internet spam, you really have to spend your time weeding out the garbage. Since this can become time consuming, unproductive and hugely frustrating, we have decided to compile a "DOs and DON'Ts LIST" to finding an online university.
Positive actions that can help you choose an online university:
- Do go directly to official websites for universities of your choice whether you know they offer distance learning or not. So many more universities and colleges now provide their students with the option to study on-campus or online. Once you are on the school's website, read through the material and find the answers to your questions. If they are not readily available, use the contact form or email addresses provided.
- Do investigate online universities for which you are not familiar with the names. If the university in question is accredited and appears legitimate, do a search looking for reviews of the school. Make sure the reviews are actual people talking on forums and other complaint boards. "University review sites" made solely for the purpose of making money will not help you.
- Do your search with specific keywords. Broad searches will result in too many websites that waste your time. Type in exactly what you seek. For example, "online law degree from Harvard".
- Do become a member of online communities where you can ask questions and find relatively truthful responses. Also, by having an idea beforehand of the program you want to study, and some of the parameters that are important to you, it will be easier to find the university that fits your situation.
- Do read through each prospective university course outline to determine which school is right for you.
Actions you should avoid when trying to find an online university:
- Don't respond to any emails you receive regarding online degrees unless the communications are emails you requested from a particular university. Do not click on any links from unsolicited emails. Just discard the emails. They are spam and have only one purpose - to make the sender money.
- Don't request information from sites that list a few universities with a button to more information. When you search for online universities, you will notice that there are thousands of websites with the exact same information on them. This is because the owners earn a finder's fee or commission for you to request the information. Most likely the information is not what you seek anyway, so just avoid these types of sites and go directly to the universities' websites and acquire the information you need from their FAQs.
- Don't use review sites to form an opinion. You need to engage in actual conversation with others who have taken the courses.
- Don't use sites that request money up front. Don't send any kind of money for anything. Legitimate online universities only charge when you submit your application. Basically, if a university requires payment for on-campus students, it generally does the same for online. Be diligent and proactive when money is involved. For example, the university may ask you to provide a self-addressed postage-paid envelope. This would be a realistic expense.