Online Education and the Importance of Accreditation

Online Education today is one of the fastest growing industry especially in the time of recession when and more and more students - those seeking to enhance their career prospects or looking for an ideal job are all coming back to school, pursuing higher studies for the sake of building heir resume’ and improving their chances of career growth.

Even though there are a number of accredited and recognized online universities, online colleges, online high schools and other online institutions offering online degrees, online diplomas and online certificates to students ranging from veterans, military personals, handicapped, home-school students and working adults the primary concerns of them all remain the institute’s accreditation status. It is important to understand how and by what agency the online school you're considering is accredited or else you may risk earning a falsely accredited online degree that renders your education worthless to your career.

Online universities, online colleges, online high schools and other online institutions seeking accreditation, are required to apply at a registered, international accrediting body. On having conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the institute’s quality of education, delivery and authenticity by the accrediting body’s team of evaluators, the institute is assigned an accreditation status - that of applicable or inapplicable as per its specific accreditation criteria. The process of finally being awarded accreditation is indeed time-consuming as some accrediting bodies continue to monitor the online school's operation for a number of years prior to awarding final accreditation.
Online students today are well aware of the importance their prospective employers lay on their respective qualifications and thus would barely want to settle down for an online institute not accredited. Therefore, online universities, colleges and high schools are accredited by registered, international accrediting bodies are enjoying a wider student force.
However, the evaluation criterion to assess the online educational institutes cannot possibly be the same as that of the traditional educational institutes simply because the nature of delivering education through the two mediums greatly varies. As online education is flourishing, so is their need to be accredited in order to hold credibility and proof of the high standards of education they may (or may not) be offering online.
Also, working adults’ and online learners’ educational needs and requirements are different from traditional student needs. Typically they require a more flexible, self-paced, advanced education to be pursued along with their jobs. In this case traditional standards seem obsolete where for instance there are no predefined timelines for class attendance in an online study program.  
The IAO being the first ever international accrediting authority and the only one of its kind at present for the purpose of especially catering to the needs of working adults’ education worldwide have developed its accreditation criterion for online educators in particular after extensive research on the finest practices for educational institutions offering programs especially for the benefit of working adults.

To learn more about IAO’s Patented Evaluation Process, please click here.