Would a University accept a high school diploma earned through an regionally and nationally accredited on-line distance learning program such as Education Direct?

Answer 1

If you're a hiring manager or human resources professional, chances are you review applications and resumes from people who want to work for your organization or who want to be promoted. Some applicants may list credentials - like a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree, or a professional certification - that sound credible, but in fact, were not earned through a legitimate course of study at an accredited institution.

Federal officials caution that some people are buying phony credentials from "diploma mills" - companies that sell "degrees" or certificates on the Internet without requiring the buyer to do anything more than pay a fee. Most diploma mills charge a flat fee, require little course work, if any, and award a degree based solely on "work or life experience."

According to officials from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Education, and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) bogus credentials can compromise your credibility - and your organization's. You could place an unqualified person in a position of responsibility, leaving your organization liable if the employee's actions harm someone. You could hire a person who is dishonest in other ways, exposing your organization and colleagues to potential damage. And if the bogus degrees are brought to light, you risk embarrassment.

The agencies have teamed up, putting new tools in place to help you weed out bogus academic credentials and insure the integrity of your hiring process. Although it's not always easy to tell if academic credentials are from an accredited institution, the federal officials say there are clues to help you spot questionable credentials on a resume or application. Look for: * Out of Sequence Degrees. When you review education claims, you expect to see degrees earned in a traditional progression - high school, followed by bachelor's, master's, and doctoral or other advanced degrees. If an applicant claims a master's or doctoral degree, but no bachelor's degree - or if the applicant claims a college degree, but no high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) diploma, consider it a red flag, and a likely sign of a diploma mill. * Quickie Degrees. It generally takes time to earn a college or advanced degree - three to four years for an undergraduate degree, one or two years for a master's degree, and even longer to earn a doctorate. A degree earned in a very short time, or several degrees listed for the same year, are warning signs for the hiring official or the person doing the preliminary screening. * Degrees From Schools in Locations Different From the Applicant's Job or Home. If the applicant worked full-time while attending school, check the locations of the job and the educational institution. If the applicant didn't live where he went to school, check to see if the degree is from an accredited distance learning institution, using the steps described under 'Checking Out Academic Credentials.' If the degree is not from a legitimate, accredited distance learning institution, it may be from a diploma mill. * Sound-Alike Names. Some diploma mills use names that sound or look like those of well-known colleges or universities. If the institution has a name similar to a well-known school, but is located in a different state, check on it. Should you come across a degree from an institution with a prestigious-sounding foreign name, that calls for some homework, too. Researching the legitimacy of foreign schools can be a challenge, but consider it a warning sign if an applicant claims a degree from a country where she never lived.

Federal officials recommend that you always check academic credentials, even when the school they're from is well-known. Some applicants may falsify information about their academic backgrounds rather than about their work history, possibly because employers are less likely to check with schools for verification or to require academic transcripts.

Here's how to verify academic credentials:

# Contact the school. Most college registrars will confirm dates of attendance and graduation, as well as degrees awarded and majors, upon request. If the applicant gives permission, they may provide a certified academic transcript. If you aren't familiar with the school, don't stop your research just because someone answers your questions on the phone or responds with a letter. Some diploma mills offer a "verification service" that will send a phony transcript to a prospective employer who calls.

# Research the school on the internet. Check to see if the school is accredited by a recognized agency. Colleges and universities accredited by legitimate agencies generally undergo a rigorous review of the quality of their educational programs. If a school has been accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency, it's probably legitimate. Many diploma mills claim to be "accredited," but the accreditation is from a bogus, but official-sounding, agency they invented.

You can use the Internet to check if a school is accredited by a legitimate organization at a new database of accredited academic institutions, posted by the U.S. Department of Education at www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation. (There are a few legitimate institutions that have not pursued accreditation.)

To find out if an accrediting agency is legitimate, check the list of recognized national and regional accrediting agencies maintained by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation at www.chea.org.

Look at the school's website. Although it is prudent to check out the school on the Internet, it's not always easy to pick out a diploma mill based on a quick scan of its site. Some diploma mills have slick websites, and a "dot-edu" Web address doesn't guarantee legitimacy. Nevertheless, the website can be a source of information. Indeed, federal officials say it's probably a diploma mill if:

#* tuition is charged on a per-degree basis, rather than per credit, course, or semester

#* there are few or unspecified degree requirements, or none at all

#* the emphasis is on degrees for work or life experience, and

#* the school is relatively new, or has recently changed its name.

Check other resources. There is no comprehensive list of diploma mills on the Web because new phony credentialing sources arise all the time.However, the Oregon Student Assistance Commission's Office of Degree Authorization maintains a list of organizations it has identified as diploma mills at www.osac.state.or.us/oda.Another way to check up on a school is to call the registrar of a local college or university and ask if it would accept transfer credits from the school you are researching.

# Ask the applicant for proof of the degree and the school's accreditation. If you don't get satisfactory answers from the school itself and the accreditation sites on the Web, ask the applicant for proof of the degree, including a certified transcipt, and the school's accreditation. Ultimately, it's up to the applicant to show that he earned his credentials from a legitimate institution.

OPM oversees the federal work force and provides the American public with up-to-date employment information. OPM also supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance. The U S. Department of Education establishes federal policy and administers and coordinates most federal assistance to education. It assists the president in executing his education policies for the nation and in implementing laws enacted by Congress. The Department's mission is to serve America's students-to ensure that all have equal access to education and to promote excellence in our nation's schools. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair practices in the marketplace and to provide information to businesses to help them comply with the law. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Answer 2

Answer 1: Absolutely! Moreover, if you get it from a "regionally" accredited online high school, it will be every bit as good and acceptable, for all things for which a high school diploma is required, as the high school diploma that any local, traditional, in-classroom-type high school in your community offers.

Online high school diplomas, as long as they're from a "regionally" accredited high school -- regardless whether of the in-classroom or online type -- are exactly the same as any other regionally-accredited high school's diploma.

Moreover, the better of them are very conscious of how any indication, on the diploma, that it's from an "online" school may not look good to at least somepeople out there... people, sadly, who don't really understand online versus in-classroom educational issues. Additionally, in part because of that, they tend to name themselves traditionally (Ashworth College's "James MadisonHigh School," for example, just to name one, comes to mind), and they don't indicate on the diploma that they're online. Of course, since online is every bit as good as in-classroom, it's technically a moot point; but the schools tend to be, nevertheless, sensitive to it.

Pretty much all local, in-classroom-type high schools, run by city and/or county school districts (and even most private ones, such as, for example, those run by the Roman Catholic Church) in the US are "regionally" accredited by one of the six big "regional" accreditors approved by the US Department of Education (USDE). Pretty much all local, community elementary schools (yes, even including the private, Catholic ones) are also "regionally" accredited. And most colleges, universities, trade/tech/career post-secondary schools, seminaries, etc., be the state/publicly owned, or privately owned, are also "regionally" accredited.

There is, however, something called "national" accreditation, which is also approved by USDE, as well as by the USDE-sanctioned Council for Higher Education Accrediation (CHEA) at the post-secondary (college) level. And at the post-secondary level, national accreditation isn't necessarily a bad thing; though, that said, anyone considering a nationally-accredited college/university degree should do some research as to how well accepted it will be by employers, by government, and by regionally-accredited (and even other nationally-accredited, come to think of it) schools as requisite for entry into higher-level degree programs. According to CHEA's "Higher Education Transfer Alliance" (HETA) program

(see the link to HETA in the "sources and related links" section, below), all schools, whether regionally or nationally accredited are supposed to honor one another's both transfer credits, and finished degrees as requisite for entry into higher-level degree programs. Sadly, though, it doesn't always work as smoothly as that; and so any person considering a nationally-accredited post-secondary educational program should first make sure that it will really and truly be acceptable to employers, or government, or whomever is requiring said education.

At the high school (secondary) level, though, there is no question that only a "regionally" accredited high school diploma is of any real value. I'm sorry, you nationally-accredited high schools out there reading this, but I've been doing educational consulting for a long time; and, trust me, only a regionally-accredited (and not a nationally-accredited) high school diploma, of the type that pretty much all local, traditional, in-clasroom high-schools offer) will be universally acceptable to pretty much anyone and everyone that requires a high school diploma for employment or other purposes.

So, online high school diploma seekers, be warned: Make sure that any online high school diploma program you consider is not only accredited by an agency approved by USDE; but, also, that the type of USDE-approved accreditation is "regional," and not "national."

See the "sources and related links" section, below, for links to the six big "regional" USDE-approved high school accreditors; and then be sure, to check their websites to learn if the online high school diploma program you're considering is, indeed, accredited by at least one of them. Each USDE-approved regional accreditor covers a certain geographic portion of the US. So first figure out in which US state the online high school program is physically located, and then go to the website of the regional accreditor which covers that state and look-up the online high school to make sure that it's really and truly regionally accredited (doing things like matching its address and phone number and website URL to what's on the regional accreditor's website... take nothing for granted!).

Remember that good-for-nothing high school diploma mills will lie on their websites, and will claim that they're accredited (when they're not); and some of them will even say they're "regionally" accredited because they know that verifying it is challenging and time-consuming, and they're hoping that they can fool lazy high school diploma seekers.

Do not be fooled!

Always look it up!

And always make sure that it is only a "regionally" (and not a "nationally") accredited online high school that you choose. Again, at the college level, "national" accreditation can be okay, but not at the high school level. At the high school level, only "regional" accreditation will do!

Below, in the "sources and related links," I have also added a link to a list of "Free or Cheap" online high schools. Remember that your state may very well have an online public high school so that those who drop-out of regular, in-classroom high school may have an opportunity to circle back and graduate anyway... all without going to class anymore, and having the other students see that you're behind and stuff. Most such state-sponsored, completely regionally-accredited programs are either free, or dirt cheap. Do check your state's public school system or department of education website to see if there is one. The list, linked-to, below, may lead you to that.

I've also added links, below, to both Tom Nixon's book, and also his website, about online learning from K-12. I know Tom, and I can tell you that he is the hands-down most expert person there is on online high school and the various programs that are out there. I see, from his website, that he's now expanded to elementary and middle school learning, too. And that's great; but he started-out becoming expert in online learning at the high-school level; and so that's the thing in which he's most expert. Just remember, though: Stick only with "regionally" accredited high schools, no matter what even Tom Nixon says (and I'm sure he'd agree; but I'm just sayin'); and never take anyone's word for it that any school is accredited. Always look it up, and verify it, on the regional accreditors' websites.

Tom Nixon's "Best Online High Schools" website (see the link to it in the "sources and related links" section, below)lists the best online high schools in the United States... and he provides them for free, and doesn't make a dime from it. It's sort of the website version of his book. It's probably the only resource you'll need; but, again, only seriously consider online high schools that re "regionally" accredited. Some of what Tom lists are credible and legitimate online high schools (or online high school curriculum, and/or home-schooling sources), but some of them are not accredited. Most are, though; and so you simply must look it up, and verify that it's regionally accredited before signing-up.

NOTE: In this article, above, I gave, purely as an example, Ashworth College's regionally-accredited James Madison High School (an online high school), and then, because I referenced that, I added a link to it in the "sources and related links" section, below. I did that not to endorse James Madison (although, as it turns out, it's a pretty good school, but I still wasn't endorsing it); I was just giving it as an example... nothing more.

Upon visiting James Madison's website site, just now, I noticed that in addition to its being "regionally" accredited, it has also become accredited in the same manner as its parent Ashworth College, which is "nationally" accredited.

In this article, I explained that any online high school must be "regionally" and not "nationally" accredited, else its diploma may not be universally acceptable. And that's still true, but it doesn't mean that James Madison (or any other online high school) should be rejected because it's not only "regionally" accredited, but is also "nationally" accredited. When I wrote that the online high school absolutely must be "regionally" accredited, I simply meant that it should be "at least" that. In other words, as long as the school is at least "regionally" accredited, then it doesn't matter if it's also "nationally" accredited (which, in James Madison High School's case, since it's already "regionally" accredited, is kinda' redundant in the first place).

So, then, since I've linked to James Madison, down in the "sources and related links" section, below, I've now also linked, down there, to Ashworth's James Madison's most direct competitor: the also-regionally-accredited Penn Foster College's High School.

There are many other regionally accredited online high schools. See the "sources and related links" section, below.

Answer 3

Answer 1: Yes, if you have received a legitimate high school diploma or GED, universities will accept it as part of your application. Of course, you will have to meet any other eligibility requirements of that particular university.

Answer 2: The first answer's okay, but let me see if I can refine it, because the first answerer doesn't define "legitimate." Here's what that means...

All US colleges and universities will accept an online high school diploma as long as said diploma was awarded by a high school that is "regionally" accredited by one of the US's six big "regional" accreditors approved by the US Department of Education (USDE).

Period. That's what makes it legitimate. It matters not whether the high school's coursework was delivered by the "online" or "in-classroom" modality. All that matters is that the high school -- be it online, or otherwise -- is "regionally" accredited.

There's nothing more to know; no other qualifiers or "gotchas."

More details...

All local public K-12 schools in the US are "regionally" accredited. And so, all US colleges and universities, as well as all US employers that require only a high school diploma, as well as any governmental requirements for a high school diploma, will positively, without a doubt, be satisfied by any high school diploma that's from a "regionally" accredited US high school. And I mean all of them. No exceptions.

The rules for online high schools are exactly the same. As long as they're "regionally" accredited, as I've herein defined that term, then the diplomas that they issue will be acceptable to absolutely any US college or university.

The regional accreditation of the high school, then, and not whether said high school is of the online or in-classroom type, is what matters. Period.

Yes, of course, as the first answerer wrote, otherfactors may also matter to the college or university. But as long as your high school diploma is from a "regionally" accredited school, regardless whether it's in-classroom or online, the college/university will accept it.

Most colleges/universities will also accept a GED, in lieu of a high school diploma, as the first answerer also suggested.

Answer 4

Answer 1: There are many fake/bogus online high schools and colleges out there, and the fake/bogus ones often claim that they're accredited; and that their accreditor is legitimate. Some of them even make-up their own fake/bogus accreditor -- and even build a website for it -- and then will claim that said fake/bogus accreditor accredited their fake/bogus school. So you must be very careful not to be tricked by these good-for-nothing online high schools.

Just because a school is "online" does not mean it's fake/bogus. Some people think that "online" is automatically disreputable. But nothing could be further from the truth. Even Harvard and Yale now offer entire degrees entirely online. It's an "all thumbs are fingers, but all finger aren't thumbs" sort of thing: All diploma/degree mills are online, but not all online schools are degree/diploma mills.

The trick is to ensure that the online school is accredited...

...but you must also ensure that the accreditor is legitimate. Only accreditors that are approved by the US Department of Education (USDE), and/or the USDE-sanctioned Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) are legitimate.

Trust me: The "Accreditation Commission for Online Schools" is not USDE- and/or CHEA-approved. It is, in fact, one of the better-known (among those of us who are anti-degree/diploma-mill activists) fake/bogus accreditors. Stay away from it!

Find an online high school whose accreditor is USDE- and/or CHEA-approved. Better yet, find one that's accredited by one of the United States's six big "regional" USDE- and/or CHEA-approved agencies... or what are called "regional accreditors." Other USDE- and/or CHEA-approved "national" accreditors are good, too... especially at the college/university level. But at the high school level, most employers and colleges/universities tend to want the high school to have been "regionally" accredited.

So, then, don't hesitate to enroll in an online high school; but just make sure that it's "regionally" accredited. And if it's not "regionally" accredited, then at least make sure that its accreditor is USDE- and/or CHEA-approved.