Free Article : A word about Online Universities,
Accreditation and Credit Transfer
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.
Regional Accreditation
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.
The most commonly accepted type of 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.
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.
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 "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 strictly limit the number of
credits they allow you transfer. Usually the limit is equivalent to about one
semester (approx 15 Hrs),
However, once again it is up to the college to make up
its own policy.
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 organizations as
accrediting agencies: MSA, NASC, NCA, NEASC, SACS, WASC. These six agencies
cover the major geographic regions within the United States.
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.
CONCLUSION
If the issues of Accreditation and Credit Transfer are
important to you, you should fully discuss these issues with each college you are
considering. You should have the understanding or agreement put in writing and
signed by the proper school authorities. Discuss the issue with your employer if
you feel it may be important.
In conclusion if these matters are important to you the
prudent course of action is to not enroll or otherwise financially obligate yourself
to any degree program until you fully understand the underlying issues of
Accreditation and Credit Transfer.
By requesting information from the online colleges found
on this site, you will be put in contact with educational experts who can give
you the precise information you need regarding their universities policies and
procedures on the issues of Accreditation and Credit Transfer.
Find more Online
Universities on our main page here.
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]
South Korea
It is illegal to falsely claim a degree in
South Korea if it does not meet accredited approval. For
example, in March of 2006 prosecutors in Seoul "broken up a
crime ring selling bogus music diplomas from Russia, which
helped many land university jobs and seats in orchestras."[6]
People who falsely used these degrees were criminally charged.
United Kingdom
In the UK it is illegal to offer a
qualification that is or might seem to be UK degree unless the
body offering it is on a statutory list maintained by the
Department for Education and Skills. Prosecutions under the
Education Reform Act are rare, as many of the bodies on the
internet are based outside UK jurisdiction.
Prosecutions under other legislation do
occur. In 2004 Thames Valley College in London was prosecuted
under the Trade Descriptions Act for offering degrees from the
'University of North America', a limited liability company set
up by themselves in the US with no academic staff and no
premises other than a mail forwarding service.
Accreditation of certification bodies
Organizations which certify third parties
against many official standards are themselves formally
accredited by the standards bodies, hence they are sometimes
known as "accredited certification bodies". The accreditation
process ensures that their certification practices are
acceptable i.e. they are competent to test and certify third
parties, behave ethically, employ suitable quality assurance and
other measures etc.
Examples include accredited test
laboratories and certification specialists that are permited to
issue official certificates of compliance with physical,
chemical, forensic, quality, security or other standards.
Without accreditation, anyone would be
able to issue certificates and bad practices or incompetence
might discredit the certification process as a whole. The flip
side, of course, is that accreditation and formal processes
incur additional costs.
See also
External links
References
-
^ Hawkins, D. (2002, January
21). The unsuspecting, the uninformed and the unaccredited.
Community College Week, 14, no. 12. p. 4-5.
-
^ Butler, D. (n.d.)
Ivory Tower Rip Offs - How Online Degree Mills Work.
(Originally printed on about.com).
-
^
Associated Press. (2004, December 3).
Texas Supreme Court to review seminary case.
-
^ Stephen Phillips
A stress-free PhD? A snip at $250
The Higher Education Supplement 25 November 2005
Content Information Articles
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