Traditionally, obtaining a college education in America was a prestigious and
intellectual endeavor. Obtaining a Bachelors degree required 4 years of rigorous
story, while obtaining an associates degree required two years of attendance.
Students attended school, learned from professors, and interacted with peers. A
college diploma meant that the student had learned something, had worked hard,
and had proven him or herself in an academically rigorous
environment.
Today, this is no longer the case. While there are many fine
brick-and-mortar college institutions still in existence, there is also a wide
variety of online colleges. Students who attend an online college do not
attend a physical university. They take courses from their own homes that are
offered over the internet, and obtain diplomas after completing a certain
number of credit hours.
While some reputable universities offer online diplomas there are
many online universities that function as nothing more than diploma mills,
offering a fake degree to any student
that pays the money. Some of these disreputable online institutions do not
require students to have a high school
diploma. Many of them do not require students to attend any classes at all-
upon receipt of a check, a diploma is sent out to the "new college graduate."
These less reputable institutions are nothing more than expensive printing
businesses- they offer very expensive fake
college diplomas in order to make a large profit.
Of course, there is
also a selection of online university that falls into neither camp. There are
many online schools that are neither digital branches of highly reputable
universities or a diploma mills. Some of these schools are accredited, and other schools are unaccredited. Some of these schools require
credentialed professors, others will accept any professor with a college diploma
without verifying that professors credentials or experience. It is important to
do careful research and determine the level of rigor of the online academic
program, because many of these disreputable online schools appear legitimate at
first glance.
It is unfortunate that students who are perhaps
considering college for the first time are being swindled by these online
diploma mills, and deprived of the education that they deserve. While the
national accrediting boards have attempted to ensure that only
legitimate online colleges are accredited, it is impossible to oversee all of
the many online colleges that appear on a regular basis. It is not difficult to
break into the online college business, as anyone with a
website can theoretically advertise themselves as an institution granting
diplomas, regardless of their actual qualifications. Of course, these
online diploma mills are illegal within the United States and many other
countries, but people routinely violate these laws or find ways around
them.
Even for those attending a reputable online university, the
level of education is not up to the same standards as a brick-and-mortar
university. Interaction with professors and peer discussion were traditionally the cornerstones of the
American college experience, and these vital components of an education are
all-but-lost when students remain at home, isolated, with only a virtual
classroom. Peer review, community groups, and intellectual
collaboration have no ability to grow without face to face interaction, and
a generation of students choosing online colleges for cost and convenience, will
be the worse for it.