Accreditation... what does it all mean?

[Kimble]

I get asked this question a lot on another forum (911jobs), so I felt it fair to share it here as well. For those who are not currently enrolled in a CJ program, you may have questions about how to determine if a degree is accredited, and if so, what sort of accreditation it has.

First and most, it is important that a degree that is "accredited" be accredited by a council/agency that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (USDoEd). If the degree is from a foreign institution, or accredited by any other means (i.e. an agency that is not recognized by the USDoEd), it will likely be at the discretion of the employer as to whether they will accept it or not.

There are two types of accreditations recognized by the U.S., regional accreditation and national accreditation. It may seem because of the title that a national accreditation is higher than a regional accreditation, but the opposite is actually true. Your major state universities, as well as many other smaller universities/colleges and online colleges are regionally accredited by one of six agencies:

*Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Higher Education (MSA/CHE) http://www.msche.org/

*New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (NEASC-CIHE) http://www.neasc.org/cihe/cihe.htm

*North Central Association of Colleges and Schools The Higher Learning Commission http://www.ncacihe.org/

*Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Colleges and Universities http://www.nwccu.org/

*Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges http://www.sacscoc.org

*Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) The Senior College Commission http://www.wascweb.org/

If a degree is regionally accredited, you can count on it being accepted anywhere for employment purposes. If a degree is nationally accredited, it is accredited by an agency recognized by the USDoEd, but NOT by one of the six regional accrediting agencies listed above. So, what does this mean? Some employers (though they are in the minority) will only accept degrees from regionally accredited schools… no if’s, and’s or but’s about it. Also, many regionally accredited schools will not accept transfer credits from nationally accredited schools (although this is not always the case, it is safe to say that this is the rule rather than the exception). On the contrary, credits from a regionally accredited school will always be transferable to a nationally accredited school.

So, at this point you may be saying to yourself, “I’m going to get a regionally accredited degree since it’s accepted everywhere.” Sounds good, but the difference is often times (although not always) the price. The price of tuition may be more, or less, at either one or the other, but typically speaking, it is probably safe to make a general rule that a nationally accredited school is more likely to be less expensive (per credit hour) than the major state universities (which are regionally accredited). Also, nationally accredited schools will often times admit students under less stringent requirements than regionally accredited schools (these include "career colleges"). That’s certainly not to say that they let anyone and everyone enroll, but many nationally accredited schools are seen as “second chance” colleges for those who aren’t able to matriculate into a regionally accredited school. Additionally, some private institutions may have national accreditation due to the institution being religious in nature. Both types of institutions (those that are regionally accredited and nationally accredited) serve a particular type of student need, and thus in that way, are equally important in educating students.

If anyone has any additional questions or comments in regard to this matter and would like to discuss them with me, shoot me a PM.

Additional Information: Click Here (this is a website for foreign students wanting to seek degrees in the U.S., but the info provided is accurate).

[MP_Steve]

ROS, Why are you not a Moderator? This entire Criminal Justice Program section has been supported by your posts, and you seem to be more knowledgeable on the subject matter. It only makes sence that you should be a MOD.


I THINK ROS SHOULD BE A MOD

[Apollo8138]

Another excellent and informative post. This should be "stickied" (I hope I got that right). :p

[tomahawk134]

I agree Great Post ROS

[Drew27k9]

This should be "stickied" (I hope I got that right). :p

Done..

[troysig]

Thanks for the clarification on the regionally accredited vs. nationally accredited. didn't know the difference.

[FeudalBaron]

Excellent information and resources. Thanks, ROS.

[Kimble]

Since the topic of "diploma mills" often comes up when discussing accreditation, particularly when talking about degrees received "online", here are some important questions one should ask about the degree program(s) they are researching that seem questionable:

If the answers to any of the following questions are “yes,” the degree provider under consideration may be a “mill”:

1. Can degrees be purchased (ex: "Earn a bachelor's degree for only $600!")?

2. Is there a claim of accreditation when there is no evidence of this status?

3. Is there a claim of accreditation from a questionable accrediting organization (i.e. not accredited by a regional or national accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education)?

4. Does the operation lack state or federal licensure or authority to operate?

5. Is little if any attendance required of students, either online or in class?

6. Are few assignments required for students to earn credits?

7. Is a very short period of time required to earn a degree?

8. Are degrees available based solely on experience or resume review (i.e. "Life Experience Degrees")?

9. Are there few requirements for graduation?

10. Does the operation fail to provide any information about a campus or
business location or address and rely only on a post office box or email address?

11. Does the operation fail to provide a list of its faculty and their
qualifications?

12. Does the operation have a name similar to other well-known colleges and universities?

13. Does the operation make claims in its publications for which there is no evidence?

**As an example of what a website for a diploma mill will look like, take a look at this website: http://www.belforduniversity.org. Pay close attention to what they have listed on their accreditation page (no mention of national or regional accreditation and recognition by the U.S. Dept of Education).**

[Apollo8138]

Only 7 days to obtain a Master's??? If it were only that easy... I'm just curious as to why these types of businesses aren't made illegal.

[Valor55]

This is a great post ROS. I'm going to close the thread to prevent it being taken off topic or ruined later by stupid posts. Any further questions should be in new specific threads.

[Kimble]

EDIT: Thought this was already included in this thread, but here's a quick-check database for the US Dept of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education: U.S. Department of Education Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs

This database will tell you whether a college/school is accredited and recognized by the US Dept of Education (i.e. regional or national accreditation), as well as which accrediting council they fall under. If the college you're looking at is NOT in this database, it would probably be a very poor idea to enroll there.