Online Education Overview

One of the better promises of the Internet is online education, which allows schools to give online education courses to students overseas. However, the progress of the online education system has been slowed down by the proliferation of online education scams, wherein supposed accredited schools charge expensive tuition fees and send out fake and invalid diplomas. Here are some ways you can avoid online education scams:

1. As with any service provider on the Internet, particularly those that charge you for services, the Better Business Bureau should be your first destination. The Better Business Bureau has information on verified and suspected scams and complaints against companies. If it is flagged in the BBB, stay away and find another online school.

2. Try to do some research on your own and see if the online school is accredited by the agency that is itself accredited by the council for higher education or the equivalent department for its originating country. You should ask for proof of this before signing up if it isn't readily available. If the online school does not claim to be accredited by any agency, stay away immediately.

3. As a general rule of thumb, any online endeavor that asks for signup fees upfront should be watched carefully or treated as an outright scam. This is especially true for online schools that charge for admission first, since they should at least require basic information such as test scores and a GPA score.

4. The country of origin should also be looked into. A simple WHOIS on the website will provide this information and can be useful. For example, an online school is suspect if it caters mostly to US students despite being based in Nigeria.