This is the first in a series of posts about what you should look for in a school if you decide to earn your high school diploma online.

The question
Does the school need to be accredited?

The answer
The old answer was yes, 100%, yes. The new answer is that it depends. While accreditation is the marker for the best programs, there are programs that have been established by state departments of education or local school districts that may not yet be accredited, but are still recognized.

That being said, if a school claims to be accredited, but it is not on this list of accreditors or is on this list of schools, walk away. Yes, just as there are fake online high schools, there are also fake or unrecognized accreditors.

Fake accreditors are actually easier to deal with. Avoid at all cost. There are, however, a few unrecognized accreditors that have the best of intentions, but their accreditation means little in the world of online high schools and in college admissions.

What should you do if you are not sure whether it is a real accredited school? Ask a question about it in the forum. I am happy to discuss it with you there.