The U.S. Department of Education’s website features a student portal with information for all types of college preparation, financial aid and general education resources. Students interested in researching online education opportunities may want to start here, to find out what kinds of tuition assistance will apply to their distance education, get advice on selecting career colleges and technical schools vs. traditional programs, and picking out an online school that best meets your needs and your plans for after graduation.

Even though students who choose to get an education from an online school do not have to worry about moving to a new city, finding housing, setting up meal plans or uprooting their entire schedule for school, selecting an online school is still incredibly important and requires thorough research. The U.S. Department of Education cautions prospective students against picking a school too hastily and not considering important factors like accreditation, transfer credits, student services and career placement assistance may get you into trouble after it’s too late.

Perhaps the most important thing to find out during your initial search for an online school is accreditation. If the school you’re researching is not accredited, it may be very difficult, if not impossible, for you to find a job after graduation. Other schools and employers look for accreditation status as a way to verify a school’s quality. To become accredited, an institution needs to meet the standards set forth by an approved accrediting agency. For help understanding which accrediting agencies have been approved by the U.S. Department of Education, visit this page on ED.gov, which explains how and where the Secretary of Education lists these groups. The top six accrediting agencies to look for are the regional accrediting agencies. If your school has been determined to meet the standards of a regional accrediting agency, the school’s website will state that it has been accredited by one of the following groups: the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Not all online schools are accredited by one of these agencies, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t qualified to award degrees. Other accrediting agencies you may come across include the Distance Education and Training Council and the Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools.

Besides ensuring an institution’s quality, accreditation protects students against diploma mills. The U.S. Department of Education recommends that students educate themselves on diploma mills so that they know how to spot them and avoid being scammed by the fraudulent organizations. Diploma mills pose as fake colleges, universities and technical skills. After taking students’ tuition money, they may send out fake assignments and class work, tricking the student into thinking he or she is working towards a degree. Diploma mills, however, are not qualified to award any type of degree or certificate, and the diploma that the student receives is totally worthless. To find a list of diploma mills and unrecognized accrediting agencies, ED.gov lists several resources connecting students to sites that uncover these illegal or unqualified organizations.

The U.S. Department of Education also aims to help online students pick a school by providing resources about researching the benefits of career or technical schools. Many online schools fall into this category, and it is important for prospective students to understand the type of education they will get by attending a vocational school rather than a liberal arts or more traditional type of college. To learn what kinds of questions you may want to ask yourself during this search, turn to this page on ED.gov. Examples include “What preparation do you need for a particular job?” and “Will employers accept the training as preparation for employment?”

Before enrolling in an online program, students should also consider their particular learning habits and capabilities. Since online programs are mostly self-driven, students who are prone to laziness or procrastination may find it hard to succeed in this type of environment. They may also want to consider the extra costs they will accrue, including extra software programs and computer equipment.

Getting an education online can mean incredible flexibility and accessibility for a variety of students, from working professionals looking for ways to advance their careers or get extra training to full-time students pursuing their first degree to individuals just looking for an opportunity to increase their knowledge about a subject in a not-for-credit program. Before you enroll in an online program, however, it is extremely important to understand what kind of education you’re looking for. Do you want a program that satisfies your employer’s standards for job-related training? Do you want to get an advanced degree so that you can move up in your field? Are you looking to take classes from a fully online university or from a widely recognized school that offers traditional on-campus programs as well as online courses? Or, are you interested in using the Internet as a way to connect you to high quality academic resources for your own personal fulfillment?

Once you start researching online schools and academic programs, you will find that there are two types of online education. The first kind of online education offers for-credit courses and charges tuition, evaluates your work and eventually grants you a diploma or certificate. If you graduate from this type of program from an accredited school, the workforce will welcome your degree and your training, deeming you knowledgeable and a capable professional or scholar in your field. The second kind of online education is referred to as open courseware and does not grant diplomas or even credits. Individuals wanting to brush up on certain skills, learn about a new subject for their own personal fulfillment, use online resources to supplement traditional class work, or prepare for a typical course in a subject of which they lack a general understanding, will benefit from open courseware classes. These classes do not hold any practical merit in the outside world or the workforce, as they do not grant credit or even evaluate your work. Once you have determined your basic educational goals and needs, you can then start to research how you will perform in the different learning environments.

The environment for open courseware study is much different than that of traditional online schools that grant degrees. Anyone can access an open courseware class, curriculum, course materials and course information for free, giving the public a chance to complete a course from a well-known or even Ivy League university free of charge and without having the stress of passing or failing. Popular schools that have opened up classes for free include MIT, Tufts University, UC Berkeley and others. Students can click on the course to access the syllabus for the class, and many times, that syllabus will be the exact same one the professor used for his or her traditional class on campus. Open courseware classes also open up many more learning possibilities for students, as there is no specific degree program to follow, and students can choose to take classes whenever they want and in whatever subject they want. MIT’s open courseware list, for example, features subjects like civil and environmental engineering, health sciences and technology, computer science, anthropology, chemistry, economics, business, women’s studies, history, physics, literature, urban planning, nuclear science and more. There is no academic advisor or administrator who will limit the number and type of classes you take in this format.

Online education programs that are offered through an online university or online portal from a traditional, campus-based university do not offer as much freedom as open courseware, but they do offer students more focus. Self study can be difficult for students who are predisposed to procrastination, laziness, distractions and the inability to decide on classes or even meet deadlines. Depending on what kind of personality and work ethic you have, you may be more likely to finish a program if your degree depends on it and if you’ve invested tuition in the program. Online universities also offer students the ability to interact with professors and other students through live lectures, online chats, live podcasts and of course, e-mail. Many open courseware classes are broadcast over video streams or podcasts through iTunesU, but they offer no mutual interaction between professor and the student who is learning from home. Depending on your educational goals and your particular work ethic, you may find that only one of these methods of online self study works for you.