Online degrees sound great … you can get your diploma in your spare time, all without leaving your seat. But the big question looms: is that online degree worth the paper on which it’s printed? Is the educational institution offering that online degree accredited by the proper agencies? The United States Department of Education has a nifty website that will help you answer those important questions …

Want to do your online degree due diligence work? Click on over to www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation to check out the US DOE’s “Postsecondary Educational Institutions and Programs Accredited by Accrediting Agencies and State Approval Agencies Recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education”

The database lists approximately 6,900 postsecondary educational institutions and programs, each of which is accredited by an accrediting agency or state approval agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a “reliable authority as to the quality of postsecondary education” within the meaning of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA).The database does not include a number of postsecondary educational institutions and programs that elect not to seek accreditation but nevertheless may provide a quality postsecondary education. The U.S. Department of Education recommends that the database be used as one source of qualitative information and that additional sources of qualitative information be consulted.

The database is compiled entirely from publicly available information obtained by the U.S. Department of Education, as of the above date, from recognized accrediting agencies and state approval agencies. The U.S. Department of Education cannot, therefore, guarantee that the information contained in the database is accurate, current, or complete.

The U.S. Department of Education will periodically update the database to reflect additional information the Department receives from recognized accrediting agencies and state approval agencies but makes no guarantee that the database will be updated immediately upon receipt of such information.

The database is provided as a public service without warranty of any kind.The database does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any of the educational institutions or programs contained therein.