Another consideration is the reputation and experience a school has within your specific career field of study. In addition to overall academic accreditation for the school, you should make sure that the department and degree programs have specialized accreditation by reputable professional associations, such as the American Bar Association and the American Dental Association. You can also search for the regional, national, and programmatic accrediting agencies in the Department of Education's database or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation's list.

Accreditation affects a student's ability to transfer credits to another institution. If a student attends a nationally accredited school and wants to transfer to a regionally accredited school, it may be difficult to transfer credits, says Scott Traylor, the director of admissions for online education at Bryant and Stratton College, which offers online courses and has 17 campuses across four states.

Access to a physical campus is another factor to consider when choosing an online program. Some universities, such as Walden University and Capella University, offer online instruction only, with no physical campuses, while other schools offer "blended" instruction that includes both online courses and classes at campus locations across the country, such as the University of Phoenix and DeVry University.

"Some people are more comfortable taking online courses when there is an on-site location, knowing there is a physical location they can go to," says Steve Riehs, the president of online services at DeVry University, which also has more than 100 campuses nationwide. In fact, the Department of Education released a study in June 2009 that found that blended instruction was more effective at improving student achievement across a variety of subject matters than purely online or face-to-face instruction.

The quality of the faculty is also a key consideration in selecting a program, says Kenneth Hartman, the academic director for Drexel University Online. He recommends that prospective students research the background of the school's faculty, the number of full-time and adjunct professors, their accessibility, and their experience teaching in specific subject areas. He says you also want to have an instructor who has received training in how to teach online. "The quality of the faculty is ultimately what you're paying for," Hartman says. "You're paying for a knowledgeable person who's able to take the available technology and help you learn."

Online students are likely to face the same tuition and fees as students on campus, according to Babson Survey Research Group, which found the expenses the same at 55 percent of 1,700 institutions surveyed in 2008. However, students can save money by going to school online because they do not have to pay for the expenses of commuting to and from campus. Furthermore, many companies offer tuition reimbursement for employees who enroll in an education program that is relevant to their field of work, provided that they maintain a certain grade-point average, which could save money for those who take programs online.