Step 2 - A traditional brick-and-mortar institution

The degree needs to be offered online by a traditional brick-and-mortar institution, as in a university that offers regular degrees on campus for full-time students [not just for part-time students or adult learners]. The online offerings should be an extension or outreach or the distance education division of a traditional university.

This is because these online degree transcripts will have the name of the traditional university, which will improve the respect for this degree in the eyes of employers & other universities. For instance, a degree offered by UMassOnline will tend to have an edge over a degree offered by University of Phoenix as most employers/universities will know that the latter is an online only institution with campus facilities mostly for part-time &/or adult learners while a student from Umassonline will get a degree from the University of Massachusetts which is a respected brick-and-mortar institution.

In order to confirm whether a university is a traditional brick-and-mortar institution, do the following -
1) Search for the university in the Carnegie Classification Institution Lookup. If the online university has multiple campuses, select the main campus from the results.
2) In the listing check that the term 'full-time' appears in the Undergraduate Profile section.
3) Optionally, also check that the term 'residential' appears in the Size & Setting section [this is a nice to have and not mandatory].

Step 1 - Regional Accreditation

A good online university has to be regionally accredited by one of the following six regional accrediting agencies recognized by the National Board of Education -

1. New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
2. North Central Association of Schools and Colleges (NCA)
3. Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (MSA)
4. Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS)
5. Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
6. Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NWCCU)

NOTE - There is also a "national" accrediting agency called DETC, however, its accreditation though recognized by the government [http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg8.html#det] is not considered nearly as valuable by most employers and universities as regional accreditation, so this accreditation should not be considered adequate when selecting the best online degree.