Accredited Online Colleges: Make Sure Your Online College Degree Really Is An Affordable College Degree

Not All Online Colleges Would Qualify As Accredited Online Colleges

Because of the heartbreaking stories I have heard from those I have encountered as a professional chaplain, I encourage those considering online colleges, as well as campus based colleges and universities, to make sure it is accredited by a recognized accrediting agency.

It seems that anyone can call themselves a college or university so diligent research is a must when exploring and analyzing distance learning opportunities.

Not All Accredited Online Colleges Can Be Said To Offer Affordable Online Degrees

Let's face it, graduating even from the best online college can not be called affordable if the graduate is encumbered by a huge student loan indebtedness.

Even more heart breaking to me is when the student did not graduate but still has so much college loan debt that they will be financially strapped for years, perhaps never really digging out of their college debt ever.

Consider that even if the money for college came from college loans, if the student drops out, even from a carefully chosen accredited online college, they will discover just how much their incomplete college education is when they must begin repaying their student loans in six months.

Of course, without a college degree, they may not find employment that will provide sufficient income to meet their student loan minimum payment. We are talking about loans often over $50,000, perhaps closer to $100,000, with an student loan interest rate close to 8 percent.

Recently, I tried to encourage a student who had to drop out of college in his senior year due to what he called a family emergency. He did not say what it was, but whatever the tragedy, his thoughts were now on the fact that in just a few weeks his student loan payments were about to begin.

He was working at a Christian camp for the summer and had no job possibilities when summer was over. I do not know the amount of his monthly payments but he did say his loans were well over $60,000.

When I suggested he explore distance learning, especially making sure his choices qualify as accredited online colleges, he indicated he had already tried this approach, but did not have the heart to add to his student loan debt.

I have an idea that whatever his family tradgedy was, he is still not ready to return to the classroom, whether campus based education or online college programs.

Non Accredited Online Colleges Make The Matter Worse

How could situations like the one above be worse? When students make the assumtion that all colleges offering degrees are accredited and their earned degree has value in the marketplace.

When I was serving as the Director of Spiritual Care in the healthcare field, I would often interview those searching for chaplain jobs. When asked about their educational qualifications, some would describe a course of study they had taken that was not from a recognized college or university as far as accreditation was concerned.

Accreditation is very important when searching for employment, especially when college degrees are part of the job requirements. There were several I had to inform had worthless certifications.

Accredited Online College Courses

The warnings about accreditation of colleges should also apply to taking any online classes. You need to make sure that if you are taking career enhancing courses, they are viewed by your employer as ligitimate accredited online college courses.

An expected pay raise could evaporate if any courses taken to enhance your career fail the accreditation test of legitimacy.

So I say it again concerning accredited online colleges: When pursuing an online college degree, especially in wanting to make it an affordable college degree, if your chosen school is non accredited, your online degree may not have any value in the job marketplace.