While there is multitude of benefits attached to earning degrees online, there is also a serious drawback to consider. Recently, a number of cases have been recorded where individuals were found falling prey to unaccredited online institutes that give out hoax degrees.

Technological wave has acutely revolutionized our lives today. Not only it has changed our perception of things around us but also the way we did them. In this respect, one of the major roles is played by internet, which has virtually transformed our world into global village, disseminating knowledge and information. Ingrained into all walks of life, internet has become social levelers. At present, online education has flourished as one of the most popular industries on the web and like online commerce, music and communication industry, it has become mainstream too.

Interestingly, the concept of distance learning is not a new one. Even in its offline appearance, distance learning studies attracted a good score of working professionals who wanted to get extra qualification to earn professional success. However, almost all institutes that offered such programs were either fake or had no affiliation with any internationally recognized body which would cause huge setback to individuals making all their efforts in vain.

Conversely, with the advent of high-speed internet, a brighter side of education came to the fore. It became accessible practically to everyone as cost-effective, functionally versatile interactive resource-based learning tool available to individuals especially professionals. Moreover, online institutes offered many more degree programs than most traditional local campus-based institutes did with variety of choices in degrees ranging from associate's, to bachelor's, to master's and the PhD.

Consequently, virtual colleges and universities started mushrooming on the World Wide Web offering pragmatically all types of online degree programs including distance learning programs, extension programs, life experience degree programs and many more. Today, majority of these online institutes feature some form of recognized accreditation to eliminate all credibility and authenticity issues that previously loomed large on individuals' minds.

Recently, one program that has picked up momentum is Life Experience Degree program. It allows working individuals and professionals to earn their desired degrees based on their expertise and work experience and get ahead in their careers. Surprisingly, statistics show that 90-95 percent individuals get smooth sail in career advancement or job placements in the areas of their expertise after earning Life Experience Degrees. Only 5-10 percent people experience problems because of issues such as life experience credit or a non-traditional transcript.

However, the picture is not rosy as it may seem. There is a sham associated with the program offered by some online institutes. Lately a large number of cases have been reported online in which individuals after earning their desired life experience degree found out that their degrees were not accredited.

To tame the beast, it is critical on the part of individual to ascertain degree providing institute's affiliation with a recognized educational ruling body, and also check accreditation of life experience degree before deciding to go for it. Degrees offered by www.themodfathers.com, www.suffielduniversity.com, www.almedacollege.org and some other institutes are not accredited.

To develop guidelines and perform evaluations, there are a few agencies that work on national and regional level and are termed as Accrediting Organizations. It is imperative to understand that accreditation confirms that the degree providing institute meets a set of national standards that ensures the quality of the program. For instance, www.uopxonline.com ( Phoenix University ), www.ashwooduniv.org ( Ashwood University ) and www.aiuniv.edu ( American Intercontinental University Online) are the recognized governing body who owns legal authority over all online colleges and universities. Some of the online universities and their affiliated colleges that are associated with these ruling accrediting committees and provide authentic, accredited degrees are www.aiuonline.edu , www.speedydegrees.com , www.instant-degrees.net , www.capella.edu .

Life Experience Degrees is a form of online education that provides opportunity to career acceleration that would otherwise be impossible for thousands of competent working individuals. Not having accredited or recognized degree by any accrediting organizations may cause one to lose one's money, effort and time. To avoid this situation, it is important to confirm online colleges/university's accredited status upfront by checking it listed in their program information, or contacting one of the aforementioned accrediting organizations.