Avoid these online learning scams

• Be wary of schools that use high-pressure techniques to get you to file for financial aid.
• Get the names and credentials of the instructors who will be teaching the courses you are taking. If a school puts you off, or is slow to respond, that should raise a red flag that this is one of the online learning scams.
  
  
• If you know you are turning in substandard work and you’re getting A’s anyway, beware. Chances are, any credible employer will know the names of schools that are diploma mills. If you haven’t got the know-how you aren’t going to get a promotion, new career or viable degree, so you will come out the loser, and you will have paid for the privilege.
  
  
• Find out ahead of time whether textbooks, CDs, DVDs or videos are included in the cost of tuition. Make sure you understand whether they will be sent to you or if it is your responsibility to obtain them online.
  
  
• Make certain you get in writing, from any scholarship source, grant giver, loan institution and/or school, their individual policies about early withdrawal, financial penalties, interest rates, default definitions and other relevant information. This is one of the more serious online learning scams, because you can be a victim of identity theft if your information gets in the wrong hands.
  
  
• State Approved Universities are not the same as accredited institutions. Especially popular in California, “state approved" schools offer degrees via online learning. Many states regulate private training and trade schools by putting them through a state approval process. This process is not the same as accreditation. Sometimes it simply means that a license to do business has been granted. Degrees earned at "state approved" colleges may not be accepted for transfer and admission at regionally accredited colleges. This is one of the more common online learning scams.