About Board of Education Accredited Online Schools

The U.S. Department of Education maintains an accreditation database of all the colleges and universities in the U.S. that hold recognized accreditation. Many of these colleges are online or are traditional schools with online degree programs. Finding U.S. Department of Education approved colleges for continuing education takes the guesswork out of finding a quality online degree program.

The U.S. Department of Education does not offer accreditation for colleges and universities.  However, it maintains a database of all U.S. regionally accredited colleges and universities.  To keep current with technology and the increasing demand for distance education programs, nationally recognized schools are offering more and more degree programs online or in a hybrid platform. Online degree programs offer students an opportunity to pursue that coveted degree that was not possible to many potential students only a few years ago.

Though the U.S. Department of Education recognizes U.S. educational programs, including trade schools, vocational education, and nursing programs, if that school has enterprise outside the U.S. only those activities within the U.S. are included in the database. 

The purpose of accreditation is to offer public assurance that the educational program meets a certain standard of excellence. Though the database is a government publication, the accrediting agencies are private agencies. Their scope varies from regional to national, however they evaluate a strict criteria of educational standards in order to approve the college, vocational program or university. Schools may contact their regional accrediting agency for an evaluation.

Even though the database is updated regularly, the reported information is not audited. The information in the database is obtained from publicly available information and by submission from nationally recognized accreditation agencies.