Which is the best online high school?

Right up front, I should tell you that which is the best online high school is unanswerable. What is best for me may not be what is best for you. There are too many factors that come into play to make a decision based on quality that could then be applied to everyone.

That being said, there certainly are a group of schools that you could say are among the best.

This is actually the easy part. Or so it would seem. It can be broken down into five key factors:

• Look at the curriculum. Any school that won't let you look at the program probably should be avoided.
• What about the technology? Is most of the work still done off-line at this online school? While a ix is certainly good, the lessons shouldn't be a list of things to do off-line.
• Cost is important. Some are free and some are quite expensive. Cost alone should not determine which one you should choose, but it certainly plays a factor.
• Does location play a role? It can. For example, if you choose an online charter school, you likely need to live within a certain geographic or political region.
• Longevity is key. How long has the school been in operation? While this one is hard to quantify because you need to know other things (like whether they are creating their own curriculum or purchasing it from a large player in the business like K12.com).

Even though I have clearly said above that it is almost impossible to judge between schools, there are many folks that still want that to happen. Certainly that is understandable.

What I cannot do is tell you which are the best online high schools for you. What I can tell you is that the schools on this list meet many of the criteria set above. They include:

• Blueprint Education
• Liberty University Online Academy
• Advantages Online Private School
• University of Miami Global Academy
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Independent Study High School
• MU High School

And there are so many more. I could easily toss in GLBTQ Online High School, The American Academy, James Madison High School, Laurel Springs School, and more.