(openPR) - Marginal online accredited university growth is booming.

According to the latest updates in the 2010 edition of THE BEST WORST ONLINE DEGREE PROGRAMS over 80 accredited online college providers are marginal at best, providing little academic rigor and virtually no chance of transfer to a top tier university for an advanced degree.

Dr. Fred DiUlus, the author, CEO, and Founder of Global Academy Online, Inc., the first online university builders in America, states the list has no particular order except that they all have one thing is common -- They are all rated a “1” on his ratings scale. Top rated schools can achieve the highest rating of “5”. Almost a third of the over 300 schools Dr. DiUlus rates are found in this marginal “1” category.

The list of marginal providers is expanding rapidly. Dr. DiUlus, considered the father of online ratings, has been rating virtual universities annually since 2002 when the industry was literally in its infancy. His worst list, he points out has grown exponentially as more and more traditional schools have climbed on the bandwagon over the years. Marginal schools, he notes, attract many non-traditional students returning to school and in a hurry for a degree. He says, they throw caution to the wind and will opt to take what they think is the easy road to achieve satisfaction so long as the word “accredited” accompanies the university’s name.

Most of the marginal schools are really academically poor, DiUlus notes. In addition to their rating, they have one other thing in common, marginal faculty. DiUlus feels online faculty should be every bit as good as traditional faculty and carry equal or better credentials. It appears, he says as though the current group of marginal colleges is just throwing together online faculty and degree programs left and right to keep up and get in on the cash bonanza bandwagon they perceive is ahead.

DiUlus says we already know the big players in the “peanuts, popcorn, accredited degrees” game. He adds that these universities really stand out and students dedicated to getting a real education know who they are and how to avoid them. One of the sad commentaries about the marginal schools he notes is that many people are in a hurry for a degree and throwing caution to the wind, will opt to take what they think is the easy road to achieve it.

It is the many marginal unknown schools, DiUlus cautions, which are lying in wait and laying the trap for unsuspecting students that cannot see whether the target institution is or is not a quality online provider. Often, by the time an unsuspecting learner looking for the quick and easy figures out the school is an accredited virtual-world diploma factory, it’s too late.

The eBook, a free download from several online sources, weighs heavily the quality and experience of each university’s faculty. The BEST WORST ONLINE DEGREE PROGRAMS has been continuously published since 2002 and is updated annually.

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Global Academy Online, Inc., (the Academy), is an international online education university builder. The Academy is a premier provider of private label online education curriculum and instruction to colleges, universities, eLearning, and distance online education institutions on four continents. The Academy is the oldest continuous ratings publisher of the best and worst online education opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students worldwide.

Global Academy Online, Inc.
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LaFonda Oliver-Bowen
VP Communications
loliver@globalacademyonline.com
202-580-8755