Some people mistakenly believe that a school is legitimate just because it has a ".edu" web domain. Don't be fooled. While regulations on .edu domains have become stricter, a school's legitimacy should not be determined by its domain. Some diploma mills were able to acquire these domains in years past and, just recently, a .edu website began selling blogging space on its domain.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports:

"The college, the Pickering Institute, calls its service the "first public EDU blog community," and it touts the marketing value of having an Internet address that appears to be part of a college. "Our blogs allow you to reach an education-minded audience that is difficult to reach with mass-market blogs such as Blogger or Blogspot," says an announcement on the institute's Web site. So far, the blogs with the new .edu addresses include such noneducational offerings as "Handbags in Our Life," "Jewelry in Our Life," and "Get the Scoop." The institute is working with an Internet company called LinkAdage to offer the service.

Renting blog space on an .edu address may not violate the rules of the educational Internet domain, which is overseen by Educause, the higher-education technology group, under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce. Nevertheless, Educause officials say they are investigating the practice after receiving a complaint from a member on Tuesday."

When choosing an online school, rely on accreditation information to determine its trustworthiness - not on its web address.