I’m a big fan of nationally-accredited degrees, especially
those from DETC-accredited institutions. After all, I’m attending a
DETC-accredited school. It has served me
well, so far. I have learned a lot, and
it has helped me get ahead in the workplace.
The reasons I like nationally-accredited programs are
many:
- cost
- delivery methods, and
- ease
of enrollment.
The
nationally-accredited programs also tend to focus mainly on courses which
directly relate to the job for which you are training.
For most people, nationally-accredited degrees are just
fine. Many schools will accept credits
and degrees in transfer from nationally-accredited schools. Many will not. A student has to decide for themselves if a
nationally-accredited degree will meet their current and future needs.
With that being said, there are some serious limitations to
nationally-accredited degrees from schools such as Penn Foster
College and other
DETC-accredited schools.
When should a student NOT enroll to get a
nationally-accredited degree? There are
a few instances when this is not a good idea:
- Licensing
requirements for a job require a regionally-accredited degree. If you plan to be a nurse, lawyer, real
estate agent, police officer or be in any other profession which requires
a license of some kind in order to do the job, be sure to check with your
state’s licensing authority to see if a nationally-accredited degree will
meet their requirements. While the
federal government may say nationally-accredited degrees are OK for most
federal jobs, many states have a different opinion.
- You
plan to change careers. Do you have
your eye on changing to an entirely new career? How do employers in your newly-chosen
profession view nationally-accredited degrees? To be honest, most private employers don’t
know the difference between nationally and regionally accredited
institutions, but some will specify they prefer candidates with a
regionally accredited degree.
- You
plan to use tuition reimbursement at your job. Does your employer offer tuition
reimbursement? Make sure they will
provide benefits for a nationally-accredited program before
enrolling. Some employers specify
they will only provide tuition reimbursement for regionally-accredited
programs.
In many cases, a nationally-accredited degree will serve you
just fine, but there are times when it makes sense to spend the extra money and
take the extra time to enroll in a regionally accredited degree program. Everybody’s situation is different, so make
sure that the degree program you plan to enroll in will suit YOUR needs before
you make a commitment.