Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Valerie Loiseleux

If you haven't read the OEDb's Online College Rankings for 2008, take a look. They're the first organization to systematically rank online colleges based on accreditation, acceptance, retention, graduation, and other factors.

They explain:

"Online higher education is growing, but a lack of transparency is preventing it from reaching its full potential. Even though online colleges are now receiving increased respect from top employers, diploma mills and the like limit the prestige of a legitimate online degree. We think more transparency is a good thing; a set of objective, quantitative rankings - however imperfect - should help shed some light on the relative attractiveness of the most popular accredited online colleges."

Check it out before choosing an online program. The list is updated annually.