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If you’re interested in pursuing an online degree or certificate, you have a wide variety of classes and programs from which to choose. Online offerings have been growing in numbers, enrollment and perception. These days, there are also scholarships, grants and other forms of financial aid available to help pay the tuition.

This money is available largely because of accreditation, a 2001 report from the American Council on Education Center for Policy Analysis and EDUCAUSE suggests. The federal government, which is considered the largest source of financial aid in the country, looks upon accreditation as a sign that colleges, universities and technical schools offer students a quality education that merits financial aid, according to the Council on Education-EDUCAUSE report. A U.S. Department of Education pilot program years ago apparently helped the government to realize the potential of online college, university and technical school programs.

There’s a delicate balance in accreditation, self-regulating colleges and universities and providing money for college programs, the Council on Education-EDUCAUSE report cited. Most important in the balance is that the government accepts programs and that accreditation confirms a quality higher education, according to the report. Agencies that are part of the nationally recognized Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions accredit online institutions based on areas such as having trained faculty, offering interactive programs and classes, providing students with access to services and ensuring that advertising is accurate, with necessary program information provided. The U.S. Department of Education in October reportedly published updated accreditation guidelines that include additional requirements such as verifying student identities and keeping track of enrollment growth.

Officials have been taking measures toward stopping “diploma” or “degree mills” that allow people to buy phony credentials. Wisconsin State Senator Fred Risser, who’s among them, says the problem with diploma and degree mills is increasing.? Risser crafted a Wisconsin law intended to prosecute these operations and prevent the use of fraudulent academic credentials, according to a news statement from his office.? Many other states, according to Risser’s office, have taken similar action.

U.S. Congressman Timothy H. Bishop of New York has proposed cracking down on diploma and accreditation mills, a January report in the Chronicle of Higher Education noted. The Federal Trade Commission in 2005 issued a guide to help businesses avoid hiring people with fake degrees. The Department of Education, which cautions students against diploma mills, maintains a list of accredited schools and recognized accreditation agencies on its web site.

Only a few years ago, students might have been hard pressed to find financial aid for online college pursuits. Federal law until 2006 disallowed grants and loans to students in instances where they participated colleges and universities that had more than half of all students and programs online, a Chronicle of Higher Education article noted. The restrictions, part of what was known as a “50 Percent Rule”, were intended to curtail the growth of fraudulent diploma mills and correspondence schools, according to a 2005 Inside Higher Education report. The problem of offerings like these made news in 2004 when Colby Nolan reportedly earned an executive MBA online for less than $400.

The problem was apparently so acute that, for the bargain price of less than $400, Colby Nolan reportedly earned an executive MBA online. Colby, a pet cat, was accepted into the online degree program after investigators filed an application claiming he had attended community college and held babysitting and fast food jobs, according to reports. The online degree that the feline earned — with a 3.5 grade point average, mind you — was reportedly worthless. An attorney general’s office is said to have filed a fraud lawsuit against the company that awarded it.

At the same time, a five-year demonstration program launched in the late 1990s eased online degree grant restrictions for participating online institutions, improved access to higher education and caused online enrollment increases, according to an Education Department report mentioned in Inside Higher Education. Five of the largest institutions reported that nearly 80 percent of their 5,000-plus students in the 2003-2004 academic year qualified for college loans, the report noted. The Department of Education recommended that your online degree be allowed to participate and that the 50 percent rule be eliminated, according to the article. Government representatives reportedly agreed.