To See if a School Is Accredited:
Just search for them in CHEA's database — that's the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
They're a pretty big deal. :)
I've got accreditation on the brain today from reading this story about a high school diploma mill called Belford High School that was recently exposed because it's being sued by someone in Michigan. (By the way, here's a list of K-12 online schools in the United States with legitimate accreditation.) Basically Belford has been accused of charging customers (I'm sorry — their "students") $250 for high school diplomas with no authority to do so.
These stories irk me to death because of the inherent dishonesty of buying a diploma outright, or worse, being ripped off by these con artists. Also, each time a diploma mill is outed publicly, I think it reinforces people's suspicions of and prejudices against online learning, or more specifically, the notion that if you got it online, it can't be genuine. We obviously know that to be false, but it just sets us a couple steps back in our crusade to convince people that e-learning is a reputable, reliable, effective way to complete one's education goals.
If you want to brush up on your ability to tell a diploma mill from a legitimate school, read this page on eLearners, then check out the Belford High School web site to see how apparent it would be to you that this site is a scam. Check out those made up accreditation agencies! All done with "high school?" Don't worry — Belford University is right next door! Ack!