Accreditation applies to both institutions or programs.
Most of the discussion and brou-haha surrounding the issue of accreditation is
aimed at the institutional (school) level. At the institutional level, there
are two types of accreditation:
- Regional
accreditation
- National
accreditation
[Keep in mind that within an institution of higher
education, there may also be accreditation of a particular program of study.
This accreditation is called specialized accreditation.
For example, students studying towards specific
professions like medicine, dentistry, nursing, law, or engineering (to name a
few) generally need to graduate from an accredited program with specialized
accreditation from the professional association for that particular field (i.e.
American Medical Association [AMA] for medicine, American Dental Association
[ADA] for dentistry, National Nursing League [NLN] for nursing, American Bar
Association [ABA] for law, Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology
[ABET] for Engineering) in order to receive a license to practice in the field.]
Both regionally and nationally accredited colleges and universities:
- assure you that they have met or exceeded stated criteria of
educational quality and institutional integrity set forth by an
accrediting agency after undergoing a lengthy and detailed review of a
school's programs, campuses, and delivery methods. In the United
States, this process is voluntary and accreditation is ultimately
granted by a non-governmental body. These nongovernmental organizations
can only be recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and/or the United States Department of Education.
- may be eligible to to participate in the Title IV Federal student financial assistance programs, i.e. offer you federal financial
aid and/or military tuition assistance. It is UNTRUE that
only regionally accredited colleges and universities can offer federal
financial aid!
- confer degrees that are recognized by employers. In terms of
employment, in my
personal experience, as well as anecdotal evidence acquired
over the years from others, I have never heard of a potential employer
inquiring as to the type
of accreditation a school holds. (To be perfectly frank, very few are
even aware that there are two kinds of accreditation, much less prefer
one over the other). Most employers are simply try to ensure that you
have a degree from a school that is accredited (vs. a non-accredited
school.) Remember that because accreditation is a voluntary process,
some schools may legitimately choose to not under go the process (for a
variety reasons). Also remember that there are some unscrupulous,
fraudulent institutions called diploma mills who will "grant" you a degree for a set price.
Something important you should take note of is the issue of credit
transfer. Unfortunately, it is the case that coursework done at
a regionally accredited institution is more likely to be transferable
to another regionally accredited institution. In other words,
transferring credit from a regionally accredited college or university
to a nationally accredited college or university is generally not a
problem. Neither is transferring credit from a nationally accredited
college. However, there are some regionally accredited institutions
that choose to NOT
accept credit from nationally accredited schools.
Want to read more about the difference between nationally accredited schools and regionally accredited schools? Go to: http://www.elearners.com/guide-to-online-education/regional-and-national-accreditation.asp.
Interested in online education,
but unsure how an online degree it will be regarded in the workplace?
One way to combat any kind of skepticism is to ensure that the school
in which you enroll is properly accredited. Only two entities in the
U.S. are authorized to recognize accreditation agencies: the U.S.
Department of Education (DOE) and the Council for Higher Education
Accreditation (CHEA). All the degree programs in the eLearners search engine are accredited by an agency recognized by either U.S. DOE and/or CHEA. Begin your search today!