Earning an online degree is gaining wider acceptance within the community. No longer are traditional brick and mortar institutions the only way you can experience a quality learning experience. Online degrees hold as much credibility as earning your degree on campus, and most employers understand that for some people distance education is the only option for them to earn a degree.

With that said, if you are looking into online degrees then one of the key things you need to look out for is whether or not your online institution is accredited. You don’t want to end up with a faux degree from the “diploma mill”.

In his 2008 publication, The Way We’ll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream, pollster John Zogby insists that online education will gain recognition and approval over the coming decades. He says that right now, online education is experiencing a “cultural lag” whereby employers are still unaware of its merits and educational validity. Potential students themselves are also wary of its value.

In 2007, only 23 percent of people aged between 18 and 24 considered that, “online universities and colleges provide the same quality of education” as traditional brick and mortar colleges. A separate poll also conducted in 2007 by Excelsior College, an institution that offers degrees online, found that 43 percent of CEOs and small business directors believed that online degrees were “as credible” as degrees earned on campus at university.

Furthermore, a study conducted by vault.com found that 77 percent of hiring managers believed that online degrees earned through more prestigious institutions such as Duke or Stanford carried more weight than a degree earned at an online-only college.

We are living in an age where future university students will have grown up with computer-based technology their whole lives. As such, they will be more open to studying online. Online institutions need to prove themselves though, by offering scholarships and earning accreditation. It’s also down to employers to shift their opinions of online education towards a more positive light. As Zogby puts it, “those who define the standard (i.e. employers) haven’t caught on yet”.