Reply #27: Admissions officer here. Accreditation matters. Period.

[fishwax]

You may not get credit for life experience, but there is a decent chance that you CAN get credit for job training or military experience. Accredited programs give credit for those all the time, as long as they are evaluated for credit by the American Council of Education (ACE). Certain schools (Excelsior College and Park University come to mind) might be more liberal in awarding credit for life experience. These are both accredited schools, but they also have a reputation as quasi-diploma mills (both schools potentially award degrees to students who never even take a single class "on campus.")

But if you get an online degree, get one that is Regionally Accredited. Make sure it is REGIONALLY ACCREDITED. Online accreditation doesn't mean shit for school later, if you should attempt it. My advice would be to make sure that a school is Regionally Accredited by one of the major accrediting agencies (Western Association, Southern Association, etc.) before you bother applying or spending money. Some schools claim national accreditation, but it really doesn't mean anything. Feel free to PM me if you have questions about specific programs. I can't guarantee I'll know them, but I can try ...