Reply #36: You're making a leap there ... [View All]

[SomeGuyInEagan]

Doctorate in a year? Probably bogus. But your beef should be with the institution and its accrediting body, not the fact that the degree is offered online.

There are some very rigorous, accredited graduate and doctorate programs out there which may be completed partially or entirely online.

There are also some fly-by-night schools looking to print up diplomas for anyone who pays them. That has always been the case in higher education - diploma mills existed long before the World Wide Web. But having been through the accrediting process for programs myself (Higher Learning Commission), I can tell you that accreditation is a long process in which the college must show evidence of rigor in curriculum and assessment, evidence of student support and - for online/hybrid programs and courses - evidence of strong and reliable technical infrastructure for students to access. It's not a perfect process, but it takes years and several college visits by P.I.s for the accrediting body (if a legit accrediting body).

And if the program has national professional accreditation as well (common in health and science professions, for example), there is another standard to be met for the program to get the required professional accreditation required for graduates to work in the field. In addition to the program itself meeting several of the organizations standards (dealing with curriculum, faculty, etc.), many times graduates must also pass a national board exam after completing study at college. If too many students score poorly on these board exams, that will be addressed when the program is up for accreditation again, both with the professional organization and the college's accrediting body.

You are right about online flourishing, especially at two-year community and vocational colleges. The 2006 Sloan Consortium report on distance education indicates that nearly twenty percent of all U.S. higher education students were taking at least one online course in the fall of 2006 (http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/survey07.asp).