How do you differentiate between a fake degree online and a valid one?

The latest trend in education is distance education where you can attain an undergraduate and graduate, certification or professional degree with the help of advanced technology of Internet.

It is gaining popularity owing to the fact that it can be obtained without leaving your job and can be done at your own pace. Owing to this sudden popularity in distance education, more and more universities are introducing online degree education.

With the wave of intensive growth in distance education comes another problem which is that of fraudulent online degrees.  

Universities need to make a profit in order to sustain in the growing competition. The statistics behind online universities indicate that online universities are growing by 33% annually [International Data Corporation Online].

The benefit that the universities offering online courses are that they need not worry about infrastructural expenditure and they can reach out to people across the globe.

The difference between a fake degree online and a valid one is that fraudulent online degree universities are called 'degree mills’ as their main focus is in fast production and distribution of fake diplomas. They just offer credit for life experience and if you pay your fees you get your diploma. You don’t have to worry about practical experience. If you pay a little extra, you can even graduate with honors!

The problem arises when this life experience is not accepted by state and federal laws and you face  the problem of looking for a suitable job.

A legitimate online college can be recognized against a fake one by checking out the actual web address which is usually offered by The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the international organization that dispenses domain names (web addresses).

Accredited schools will receive the .edu designation. For example, Stanford University's web address is Stanford.edu which authenticates that they are genuine online universities. Next you can also check from the list of accredited schools provided by US Department of Education.