Why an Accredited College Degree?

liberty-distance-learning-good-one.gifI had a good friend who spent four years of his life earning a college degree. Turns out it was from an unaccredited institution. Unfortunately, he was never able to get a job in his chosen field, which was teaching.  An unaccredited degree is a time bomb in anyone’s resume. If you have any plans of going on after a earning a Bachelor’s degree, you must have an accredited degree in order to do that.

As a result, of increased acceptance of online degree programs there has been a significant increase in unaccredited online institutions.  Some have been referred to as diploma mills. The diploma mills try to look like accredited universities. They purposely make their programs even more convenient and affordable than a standard accredited college.

It’s your time and money - make sure when you look at a school you look for their accreditation. Some of these colleges state that they are accredited, but they are accredited by phony or shaky accrediting agencies. It is crucial that you make sure that any college you look at seriously is accredited by one of the six agencies that are listed in this article and make sure you look at their website, which lists all the colleges and universities that they have accredited.

Accreditation - what is it?

Accreditation is a voluntary, independent examination of college and university programs to verify that the education provided is consistent and the highest quality. If a college or university is awarded accreditation, it guarantees that they have been examined and that they meet the standards of excellence that has been determined by the accrediting organization. A college or university’s accreditation is sustained by continuous adherence to a specific set criteria.

What does it take to be an accredited university?

In the business world there is ISO 9000, which has certain high standards that a corporation must meet in order to say that they are ISO 9000 certified. Certification to an ISO 9000 standard certifies that consistent business processes are being applied.

The same applies to the college or university that has been accredited by one of the six regional accrediting agencies. The goal of accreditation is to make sure that colleges and universities achieve certain levels of education. Every 10 years the accrediting agency audits a college or university to make sure that the education is at a level that must meet Federal and State standards.

The US Department of Education does not accredit colleges and universities or their programs. But they do publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies that they have determined are reliable sources to approve schools that they audit.

Accrediting agencies are private educational associations and are either regional or national. They develop certain criteria and then examine whether colleges and universities meet those criteria.

What Are the Regional Accreditation Agencies?

The most recognized and accepted type of accreditation in the United States is regional accreditation. There are six geographic regions of the United States with an agency in each region that accredits college and university higher education programs:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools - http://www.msche.org/
Accreditation of colleges in Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico.

New England Association of Schools & Colleges - http://www.neasc.org/
Accreditation of colleges in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools - http://www.ncacasi.org/
Accreditation of colleges in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Northwest Association Of Schools And Colleges - http://www.nwccu.org/
Accreditation of colleges in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools - http://www.sacs.org/
Accreditation of colleges in Alabama, Florida , Georgia , Kentucky , Louisiana , Mississippi , North Carolina , South Carolina , Tennessee , Texas , and Virginia.

Western Association of Schools and Colleges - http://www.wascweb.org/
Accreditation of colleges in California, Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana’s Islands, the Pacific Basin, East Asia, the Pacific and East Asia where American/International schools are.

You might not easily find a school’s accreditation by visiting their website or checking their catalog. But you can easily find out if a college or university that you are interested in is accredited. Simply visit the specific regional accrediting boards website depending on where the institution is located.

January 21, 2008 · Filed Under Distance Learning, Misc

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