From Wired News, 2 February 2005 ... see the accreditation post below for more details about checking up on the colleges you're interested in and getting a more detailed analysis.

In an effort to combat diploma mills, the U.S. Department of Education has launched an online database that lists legitimate U.S. colleges and universities, as defined by accreditation from an organization recognized by the federal government. Officials from the department pointed to growing confusion among consumers about the validity of online-degree programs, and to revelations about suspect degrees held by high-level government officials, as motivation for creating the database. Many consumers are deceived into believing a particular online degree comes from an accredited institution, and further
confusion surrounds legal repercussions of using a bogus degree for employment. Vicky Phillips, the CEO of GetEducated.com, which works to expose diploma mills, said the new database could prove useful but by itself is inadequate. She described the database as a "superficial approach that is in some ways more dangerous since it leaves consumers with a false sense that if they are getting a degree from some place in the database, it's OK."