Online Degrees
How to Check Whether an Online Program Is Accredited
Accreditation is the single most important thing to verify before enrolling in an online degree or program — and it is something you can check yourself, for free, in official databases. Here is how it works and where to look. First, a key clarification: in the United States, the U.S. Department of Education does not accredit institutions. Instead, accreditation is performed by private accrediting agencies, and the Department's role is oversight — it reviews and recognizes accrediting agencies that it determines to be reliable authorities on educational quality. So when a school says it is "accredited," the meaningful question is: accredited by whom, and is that accreditor recognized? There are two authoritative places to check. The first is the Department of Education's Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), hosted at ope.ed.gov/dapip. DAPIP contains information reported to the Department directly by recognized accrediting agencies and state approval agencies, and you can search it by institution to see its accreditation. The Department is explicit that this reported information is not audited, so treat it as the accreditors' record rather than an independent guarantee. The second is the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) at chea.org, a national association that also recognizes accrediting organizations and lets you search accredited institutions and the accreditors it recognizes. Cross-checking both is a good habit. A few practical cautions. "Accreditation" claims can be misleading if the accreditor itself is not recognized by the Department of Education or CHEA — so-called accreditation mills exist. Confirm the accreditor's name, then confirm that accreditor appears on the Department's or CHEA's recognized list. Also check what exactly is accredited: sometimes an institution is accredited but a specific program is not, or vice versa. And if you plan to transfer credits or pursue licensure, verify separately that the receiving institution or licensing board accepts that accreditation, because acceptance is their decision, not the school's. The practical takeaway: get the accreditor's exact name from the school, then verify it in DAPIP (ope.ed.gov/dapip) and CHEA (chea.org), confirm the accreditor is recognized, and check whether the accreditation covers the institution, the specific program, or both. This article is educational and cites official sources; Firsthand does not audit schools or accreditors, and this is not admissions or legal advice.