It depends upon the school. An online-only school or a school that is mostly online will probably not be as accepted as a traditional school. However, there are plenty of options to get a degree online that will be respected. Most of these programs will be associated with traditional schools. For example, Penn State has about 50 degree and certificate programs online. You can complete a degree from Harvard almost entirely online. University of Florida and Florida State both have several online degree programs. A benefit of these types of programs are the degree conferred is no different than the degree conferred to an on-campus student.

BTW, if an online course is setup right, it can be just as effective as a classroom. Assignments, interaction with the professor and other students, etc. all can be done online. How a particular class is taught online depends upon how the school sets it up. There are many options. Independent study courses are typically designed so the student gets all lesson assignments when they enroll. The student buys the books required for the course and performs the assignments at their own pace. Once each assignment is completed, it is usually emailed to the professor. However, there is usually a time limit for completing the course. There will usually be two or more exams that will have to be proctored by someone approved by the school. Usually, your local community college will have a testing center and will proctor exams for you. Other online courses require the student to log on to a course website. The student may have to interact with other students in a forum and homework will be turned in online. There may be online quizzes or tests and some tests will be proctored. There are other methods of teaching at a distance, but these are probably two of the most common.

Some online schools are scams. You have to check accreditation of the school first. When you choose a school, make sure it is at least regionally accredited. You can check accreditation at http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/search.asp You can learn more about accreditation at http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html

Here are a few schools to get you started on your search. These are all accredited schools that are respected.

http://www.fhsu.edu/virtualcollege/
http://www.peru.edu/offuttafb/degreeprograms/onlinelearning.htm
http://outreach.uwyo.edu/ocp/
http://www.distance.msstate.edu/
http://www.distancelearning.ufl.edu/degrees.aspx
http://www.apu.apus.edu/index.htm
http://www.online.uillinois.edu/
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/distancelearning/
http://worldcampus.psu.edu

I recommend that you stay away from for-profit online schools like University of Phoenix and Kaplan. While these schools have their supporters and detractors, I don’t recommend them for one simple reason, cost. Why go to University of Phoenix at more than $400 per credit hour when you can attend a small, state university for $150 per credit hour?

When comparing tuition costs, you have to check if the school is on semester or quarter credit hours. To convert from quarter hours to semester hours, divide the tuition by 0.67. For example, if tuition is $180 per quarter credit hour, that is equal to $268.66 per semester credit hour.

There are a couple of forums online with members who have obtained their degrees online. Some have gone pretty far with their online degrees. The forums are free to join but you can read the forum without joining. You just won’t be able to post. http://forums.degreeinfo.com and http://www.instantcertonline.com/forums

Finally, just because a few people don’t think of online education as valid, doesn’t mean it isn’t. Will you get hired by a Fortune 500 company in a senior management position with an online degree? Unlikely. Will you get hired at a medium sized company in a decently paid position that you definitely wouldn’t have gotten if you didn’t have the degree? All else being equal, probably. An online degree has its limits, but they are not useless. Here are a few articles about online education for you.

http://owli.org/home/node/793
http://owli.org/home/node/509
http://owli.org/home/node/10
http://owli.org/home/node/783
http://owli.org/home/node/647
http://owli.org/home/node/1498
http://owli.org/home/node/1230
http://owli.org/home/node/249