I was wondering if anyone had any information about Aspen University?

In addition, Aspen is federally accredited but not regionally accredited.

What is the difference between the two?

Thanks for your help

KPW

You are right, Aspen University is accredited by the DETC:
http://chea.org/search/actionInst.asp?CheaID=3202

eLearners also has some good info about accreditation:
http://www.elearners.com/resources/accreditation.asp

Quick note: there are some places which consider a "regional" accreditation to be more reputable than a "national" accreditation (nothing is technically "federally" accredited since the US Govt does not accredit any college or university).  Usually, the standard is if a school is listed in CHEA's [The Council for Higher Education Accreditation] database: http://chea.org/search/default.asp .  If you plan to transfer college credits to another school, you may have an easier time transferring credits from a regionally-accredited school than a nationally-accredited school.

You also have to be careful about state laws related to listing your academic accomplishments on your resume.  For instance, the State of Oregon has strict laws about only claiming degrees from schools that their Office of Degree Authorization has approved (else adding a disclaimer about schools they don't approve):
http://www.leg.state.or.us/05reg/measpdf/sb1000.dir/sb1039.intro.pdf
http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/
I don't believe that there are any states which prohibit degrees from a nationally accredited school as opposed to a regionally accredited school, but please check with your state government about that.

Hey KPW,

I can try to address some of your questions about accreditation. By the way, the term is "nationally accredited", not "federally accredited." You asked a great question -- what is the difference between regional accreditation and national accreditation?

It's a very complicated question, with several issues at play:

• For all intents and purposes, attending an accredited school (either a nationally accredited college or a regionally accredited college) vs. attending a non-accredited school means that a student is assured of a basic level of quality education and services. This is because the granting of both national and regional accreditation involve a very lengthy and detailed review process of a school's degree offerings, curriculum, financial health, organizational structure, etc.
  
  
•  Both nationally accredited and regionally accredited colleges and universities may be eligible to offer federal financial aid and/or military tuition assistance to students. It is UNTRUE that only regionally accredited colleges and universities can offer federal financial aid!
  
  
• In terms of employement, a degree earned at either a regionally or nationally accredited school, will be recognized by employers. In my personal experience, as well as anecdotal evidence that I've acquired over the years, NEVER has a potential employer inquired as to the type of accreditation a school holds. To be perfectly honest, very few are even aware that there are two kinds of accreditation, much less prefer one over the other.
  
  
• However, it is true, unfortunately, that 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.) Although, in theory, each school ultimately makes its own decisions regarding transfer credits on an individual case-by-case basis, there are regionally accredited institutions that choose to NOT accept credit from nationally accredited schools.

• To this final point, the best advice is to try to think ahead to what is your ultimate end goal with regards to education. If you know you want to eventually move on to an advanced degree, you should give some thought as to whether or not regional or national accredition is an issue. If an associate's or bachelor's degree is all you need, then perhaps the accreditation issue is less important ...

Anyway, hope this helps a little ... good luck to you!

 

Couldn't have said it better myself Helenh! Great explanation!

I would also like to add that Aspen is a good school and has a great reputation.

Abner

 

 

Larry/horsey45,

I'm a little concerned about you, because you posted the same message three times throughout our forums.

Also, why do you use so many tags?

Because the place is decent and legit and people keep asking questions whereever I go.

Okay, that's fair.

Just want folks to protect themselves - scammers and spammers are all over the Web.

I've edited the tags for clarity.

Hello:  I am in the process of enrolling at Aspen.I am interested in talking to you to learn about your experience with Aspen. Please let me know a good time to contact you with your phone number to discuss your Aspen experience. Thanks in advance for your time.

Feel free to contact me thru this ofrum leave a number where I can reach you and the best time to call

 

larry 

Guys, if you click on someone's screen name in one of their posts it will take you to a screen where you can sent them a Private Message or an Email.  That's much better than putting your phone numbers on this forum.

-=Steve=- 

Larry,Iam planning on joining in Aspen MBA program. I would like to get more information about the program. How can I get in touch with you?

Thank you

Sri 

 

Get me privately s noted above..its not necessary to post on here to contact someone on here as the moderator indicated.

I find it strange that the referee asks for student's personal information in detail, but not even willing to write back his actual name and contact phone number. Not much confidance building effort on their part!!

Hi. This is my first post on this forum. I'm a new student at Aspen Unversity and had an odd experience I wanted to run by some of the more experiences students. I submitted my first set of assignements (module 1) and received a reply that seemed generic,like every student who sent out their first module received the same response. There were no comments on my actual paper. I was happy to have received an "A" until I realized that one of my answers was nowhere near correct in comparison to the sample answers I was provided. Also, there was no mention of my incorrect answer. I found this a bit odd, so I thought I'd test things out. I sent the second module out and left one answer out entirely. Once again, I received an "A" with a generic response and no mention of my missing answer. Does this seem odd to any Aspen students out there? Thanks for your help.