“Blue Ribbon” Accreditation

Posted on May 9, 2007 by Jennifer Brady

Here’s a caution flag appearing in The Arizona Republic for all who would consider the online college course option from any institution and program not held in high-esteem and to high educational standards. If the degree, credits, or certificate you want to earn and your online choice of schools isn’t deemed top notch in the eye of potential or current employers, you risk wasting your time and money.

Intel is one recent, very visible example of an employer creating stricter standards for tuition reimbursement. As the article linked above notes: The giant chipmaker now will pay for classes only at business and engineering schools with blue-ribbon accreditation.

I recommend you read the comments left by students at the end of the The Arizona Republic story. Why? Because in addition to teaching standards, enrollment standards matter, too. An online university with low benchmarks for student acceptance means you will be attending online classes and working in teams with people that may not contribute as much as you hoped to your collective learning experience.