Online Masters, How Acceptable?

There are indeed legitimate online degrees and many who earn them work cats&dogs for their diplomas/plaques at accredited institutions.  I would however like to point out that an overwhelming percentage of online institutions are irreputable. Their bogus claims to help one earn a prestigious degree at an alarming pace(usually within 18 months) is preposterous and far-fetched.


"In 1999, Louisiana shut down Columbia State University, a notorious degree mill that advertised in prestigious publications such as "The Economist" that students could earn "legal, accredited" degrees in 27 days. It also had a professional looking Web site and brochure, which showed pictures of a beautiful campus and stately buildings. The "official seal" shown on Page 5 of the brochure was never an accrediting agency. Columbia State's real "administrative office" was mailbox No.231 at Mailboxes Etc. in Metairie, Louisiana."
source of the quoted material: http://www.elearners.com/resources/diploma-mills.asp
 
 
In your scenario I'D lay emphasis on your residency and future plans.

The University of Southern California (USC) offers online master's degrees in engineering. The classes, lectures, HWs, tests, and grades are replicas of the on-campus students, and you recieve a diploma when you graduate (there's no indication it was an online degree). So in that case the online degree is "worth" a try. See http://den.usc.edu

There are many strong schools with online degree programs. I recommend that students who are looking at online programs only look at those programs tied to universities with excellent off-line reputations. Some of the ones I'D recommend include:

Columbia University
Cornell University
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Univeristy of Maryland
Carnegie Mellon
Rensellaer Polytechnic
Worcester Polytechnic

To sum it all up, you conduct your research in hopes of finding an accredited public/private school that offers a few online degree options.

Below is a link to some online engineering programs.  If you feel the need, do call them for necessary information or satisfaction.
http://www.allengineeringschools.com/featured/online-engineering-degrees/

The top online Universities are the Universities which are not necessarily old, but established, and just so happen to have an online degree option for certain majors.