5 things to look for before selecting an online university
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5 Things to Look Before Selecting An Online University

Manisa Das Dec 30, 2025 11.4K Reads

UGC Notice

The importance of Online education is growing day by day because of its advantages. Choosing the right online university is an important decision that can shape your education, career, and future opportunities. With so many institutions offering online programs today, it is essential to evaluate key factors before enrolling. Understanding what to look for helps ensure that the degree you choose is credible, flexible, and aligned with your academic and career goals. By considering these five important aspects before selecting an online university, students can make an informed decision and invest their time and money wisely. So without further ado, let's dive in. 

Mentioned below are 5 things to look at before selecting an online university

1) Approvals

Approval is the first and foremost thing one should look at before selecting any online university. Look at it this way: you pursue your desired course from an online university that doesn't have the right approvals; you don't know it, so you invest your money and time into it. After the completion of your course, you get your degree. You take your degree and apply for jobs, but you don't get any because your university didn't have the right approvals; hence, the value of your degree is nullified. So why not take some time before applying and look for the right approvals and make the smart move? Now you must be wondering what approvals actually are and what approvals the university should have. 

To put it in simple words, a university having the right approvals means that the university is eligible and approved by the government to give students education via online mode, and after the completion of their course, the degree provided by the university will hold the same value as any other degree and hence will be accepted all around. Now that you know what approval really is, let's look at the approvals that your online university must have.

Any online university should be UGC approved and must have NAAC accreditation or an NIRF ranking. One can look at the university approvals on the official website/portal of the university. 

Approvals

2) Courses Offered, and their syllabus

You know what you want to be; let's say you want to become a writer. There are many courses offered that will make you eligible to become a writer; for example, you can pursue a Bachelor of Journalism and Mass Communication, a BA Eng Hons, or just any normal diploma course in writing. It will all help you to accomplish your dream. So why is it important which of these 3 you select? Let me tell you why: each of these 3 courses has different subjects that will give you in-depth knowledge of different things.

In BJMC, you will not only get to learn about writing but also about advertising, reporting, crisp writing, and so on, but on the other hand, in a writing diploma, all the focus will be on writing: creative, content, and crisp. So it depends on what type of writer you want to be, and on that choice only you can decide what course to go for and if the university offers that course or not. If not, then you can always look for another university. It is important that students go through the courses offered and their syllabus and subjects before selecting an online university to see whether the course they opt for really offers the skills and education they require. 

Courses offered PSD

3) Students' Rating

Now you have a university selected with your desired course and all the approvals needed, so what's next? 

When we shop for anything, we go and look at its reviews. Why? To see the quality of the product and whether the product delivers what it promises or not. The same goes for any online university as well. Students' ratings are a shortcut way to know if the university is really as good as it advertises or not and whether it provides quality education or not. One must always go through students' ratings before selecting the university, because no one wishes to invest so much just to find out in the end it wasn't worth it. 

Student Rating

4) LMS 

Now, what is LMS? LMS means Learning Management System. The mode of education you are selecting is online, so it is important to make sure that the LMS, i.e the digital learning environment, is adequate or not. A good online university has an LMS which provides students with recorded lectures, an online library, alumni connect, workshops, webinars, sample papers, external links, and so much more. 

So before you make a decision, make sure to check its LMS. 

LMS

5) Fees

Now that you have gone through pretty much everything, the last thing left is fees. If we are spending money on anything, be it entertainment or education, we want to make sure that it's worth it. If you look at the above points and the university clears it all, then the fee is justified, but it is still important to check and compare the fees and see whether you can get the same benefits and value from any other top university at a lesser price. 

One thing is for sure: now you know what you should look for before selecting an online university. But there is still a little problem. As more people are realising the benefits of online education, more people are going for it, which creates "demand and supply", meaning more and more universities are now providing courses via online mode. 

Fee

 

You do know what to look for in an online university, but there are so many universities; can you or will you have the time to go through all of them? Maybe not, that's why to give students a one-stop solution, College Vidya has come up with a unique feature, 'Compare.' With College Vidya, Compare students can go through all the aspects and features of top universities and compare them according to their fees, courses, ratings, LMS and much more, so that students can make more informed and aware decisions. 

Let's say that you do not want to compare top universities, you just want to know the most suited one for you without comparing, then what? College Vidya has covered that too, with their ‘suggest me a university’ feature, where students can get to know the best and most suited online university for them by answering a few simple questions. So now that you have answers to your questions and perfect solutions too, what are you waiting for? 

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

The first and the most important thing to check is the approvals and accreditations of the college. This is important because nowadays many colleges offer fake degrees as they do not have government approvals.

Apart from the approvals and ranking of the college, there are some very important things to consider like the LMS of the college. This is important because the learning is going to be online. Other things of consideration can be the total program fee, the ROI, the placement services, alumni network, and industry exposure.

The college you wish to take admission to must be recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC). And since it is online education we’re talking about, the college should also be approved by Distance Education Board (DEB).

Most of the universities are accredited and recognised by the UGC. On earning an Online degree from an accredited university, you can pursue higher education or apply for jobs.

The accredited degrees are valid for jobs and higher education. 
 

The faculty members of the universities providing the Online program are well-experienced and have domain knowledge. 
 

Yes, employers do accept an Online degree from an accredited university. 
 

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By Manisa Das

3 Years of experience/ academic writer/ freelance writer

Academic writing expert and freelancer with 3 years of experience, specializing in law, business, and social sciences. I deliver clear, well-researched, and high-quality content with a strong foundation in social science and business studies.

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