Accreditation means that your school, program and degree have been evaluated and passed a standards and quality test that ensure you’re getting the level of education you’re investing in. For some students, it can be difficult or even impossible to pay a visit to an online school. If a student lives too far away or has limited transportation, validating a school’s offices and the fact that it even exists at all is a challenge. Because there are a number of bogus online schools and organizations that run diploma mills — printing presses that “award” meaningless diplomas to unsuspecting students — students researching fully online schools need to be extra careful before signing up for the semester and sending in a check. One of the easiest ways to find out if an online school is legitimate is to research its accreditation. If an online school has been accredited, especially if it has been accredited by one of the six approved regional accrediting councils, then a student can feel more comfortable enrolling in of the school’s programs.