The Basics on "College Accreditation"

 

See the Top Ten Career Salaries in the USA.

Top Careers Education is key to attaining a position in one of the top careers

Highest Paying Career Choices for Top Salary Jobs You can be part of the Highest Paying Top Careers

 

The Basics on "College Accreditation"

Please independently confirm all information before paying or agreeing to pay for any products or services.

 

Recently, issues of College Accreditation have been in the news. Specifically with regard to the State of Pennsylvania.

To that end we have published this brief Article on College Accreditation in an attempt to de-mystify this often misunderstood academic standard.

The first question you should consider is: just how important is the issue of Accreditation to you and/or your employer?

To that end, you should know a bit about what Accreditation is all about.

 

Regional Accreditation

The most commonly accepted type of college accreditation in the USA is geographically categorized Regional Accreditation.

Generally speaking, University credits or College degrees received through a Regionally Accredited College or university  are accepted by other regionally accredited colleges or universities. Regional Accreditation may be thought of as the Gold Standard.

However, there is no guarantee; the decision whether to accept transfer of credits remains with each educational  institution under its right to establish its own policies based on its own requirements as to whether the  credits transferred meet educational standards equivalent to their own degree programs.

 

There are six geographic regions of the United States with an Accrediting Agency that judges higher education programs. Usually, the well-known private universities (i.e., Columbia, Yale, NYU) and State Universities and Colleges are regionally accredited by one of these six below.

 

The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
Accreditation of colleges in the middle states region (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico).

The New England Association of Schools & Colleges.
Accreditation of colleges in the New England region (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont).

The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Accreditation of colleges in the north central region (Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming).

The Northwest Association Of Schools And Colleges.
Accreditation of colleges in the north west region (Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.)

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Accreditation of colleges in the southern region (Alabama , Florida , Georgia , Kentucky , Louisiana , Mississippi , North Carolina , South Carolina , Tennessee , Texas , Virginia)

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
Accreditation of colleges in the western region.

 

Other Types of Accreditation

 

National Accreditation

Smaller, private colleges may be nationally accredited. Programs of study that are regulated by national or state licensing agencies may require specialized or professional accreditation (i.e., Teacher Education and Licensure and the American Bar Association).

The Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) maintain directories of nationally recognized and specialized accrediting agencies. 

Typically these are institutions that were known as "Professional Schools" or "Trade Schools" or "Technical Schools"

 

 

Transferring Credits

Nationally Accredited degrees and credits MAY not transfer to a Regionally Accredited college.

However, some Regionally Accredited Colleges Do Accept the credits or partial credits from some Nationally Accredited Colleges.

 

Furthermore, almost ALL colleges and universities, regardless of their accreditation status, will often limit the number of credits they allow you transfer. Usually the limit is equivalent to about one semester (approx 15 Hrs)  but it can be much more, sometimes without limit!

However, once again it is up to each individual the college to decide on its own policy.

So you can see that each College or University you are interested in, you will need to explore its unique policies on Credit Transfer, especially if you are transferring from a Nationally Accredited to a Regionally Accredited College

 

The U.S. Department of Education does not accredit educational institutions and/or programs.

However, the Secretary of Education is required by law to publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies that the Secretary determines to be reliable authorities as to the quality of education or training provided by the institutions of higher education and the higher education programs they accredit.

The United States Department of Education, recognizes six regional organizations as accrediting agencies: MSA, NASC, NCA, NEASC, SACS, WASC. These six agencies cover the major geographic regions within the United States and are referenced above.

The national Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) is an agency that accredits distance education programs and institutions. Each agency has its own set of evaluation criteria for accrediting a program or institution.
 

 

Legal Issues - United States of America

In the United States, unaccredited degrees may not be acceptable for state or federal civil service or other employment; in certain cases and circumstances; criminal penalties may even apply should such a degree be presented in lieu of a degree from an accredited institution. However, such degrees in and of themselves are illegal only in Oregon, New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, North Dakota, Nevada, and Washington where they are considered as misdemeanors mostly punishable by relatively small fines [2].

The state of Washington passed a bill in March 2006 "prohibiting false or misleading college degrees." [3] (The text is here.) The law was "unanimously amended and approved a bill that would make issuing or using a fake or otherwise unaccredited degree a class C felony, a crime of fraud that could warrant five years in prison and a $10,000 fine."[4]

Large illegal operations of unaccredited schools or diploma mills are shut down. Such as in November 2005 a group of operators in Seattle were caught running several unaccredited schools. These people were indicted after a Secret Service investigation.^[4] As for other schools in 1998, Tyndale Theological Seminary was fined $173,000 for issuing degrees as a seminary without a license.[5]

[edit]

 

 

CONCLUSION

If the issues of Accreditation and Credit Transfer are important to you, you should fully discuss these issues with an enrollment expert at each college you have under consideration.

If Accreditation Credentials are important to you, then do not enroll or otherwise financially obligate yourself to any degree program until you fully understand the underlying issues of Accreditation and Credit Transfer at the colleges in question. Verify the colleges policies in writing. Make sure special waivers or grants of credit are signed by the necessary school administrators.

 

 

If you found this Article helpful, please share this page with anyone you think might benefit.

 

Thanks,

David Clark

CareerUniversities.com