Are you still a bit confused about accreditation? Don't get bogged down by this chapter. The take home concept is this: for degree programs, make sure the college you're attending is legitimate, properly (regionally) accredited, will fulfill YOUR educational and/or professional goals.

Also, this chapter was NOT to scare you away from distance learning or institutions that issue degrees via distance learning programs. Just like any other academic or financial program, company, or plan, utilize "non-common" sense, use due diligence, and do your homework to make sure what you're getting into is legitimate.

Use DANTES' Degree Catalog to help find legitimate distance learning programs.

Some of this info was taken from the About.com's Accreditation: Avoid College Degree Scams article.

I guess that was a little longer than a quick blurb, but now let's move on to the stuff we've all been waiting for....
Accreditation on a college level in the United States consists of regional accreditation by one of the 6 accreditors recognized by the US Department of Education, US DoEd. These 6 are:
  1. Middle State Association of Colleges and Schools
  2. New England Association of Schools and Colleges
  3. North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
  4. Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges
  5. Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
  6. Western Association of Schools and Colleges
These 6 are all under the supervision of the Council on Higher Education Accreditation, CHEA. The Council provides an online searchable database of ALL regionally accredited schools in the United States and it is updated regularly.

Another lesser accepted accreditor is Distance Education and Training Council, DETC. By 'lesser accepted' I mean that the other 6 regional accreditors will not readily accept their credits in transfer. But ironically, the DETC will accept in transfer the 6 regional accreditors.
The American Council on Education, ACE is NOT an accreditor, but is worth mentioning because they are the leading evaluator and recommender of college credits for corporate and military training, apprentiship programs, examinations, licenses. Read more about the ACE recommendation service here.

- What exactly is accreditation? Remember in the introduction when I discussed standards? That's all an accreditation is: official recognition by the proper authority, which for degree-granting institutions are:

US DoEd > CHEA > regional accreditors (and state DoEd, in some cases).

The colleges and universities evaluated have agreed to uphold certain academic standards when developing degree plans issuing diplomas.

Does that mean that there aren't other legitimate accreditation agencies? Sure there are! There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of them throughout the country. But for degree programs, the safest bet is the regional accreditation as mentioned above.
- What about schools outside the US? The ones listed above typically refer to accreditation of colleges and univerisities within the United States. Here is some additional info for international schools:There may be other ways to check appropriate accreditation of bona fide international schools, but that is outside the scope of this text. 9.5 times out of 10, if you are visiting this website, you will be attending a US school and therefore only need to be concerned with regional accreditation.
Checklist to help you verify if a US school is bona fide and accredited:
  • their website will usually have a .edu address .
  • They have telephone #s, e-mail, and a physical location where you can make contact with faculty and staff.
  • They are recognized by the US DoEd and CHEA.
  • They emphasize academic coursework, professional growth, etc.
  • Credits are readily transferrable to other regionally accredited colleges (this alone doesn't necessarily mean it's slim-shoody; every school sets their own transfer policies).
  • When you fill out your FAFSA, they will be listed in the database of who to mail the SAR to (unless they are not a Title IV school....Excelsior College is one example).
  • They won't hide their academic program structure or degree-granting process.
  • They have telephone #s, e-mail, and a physical location where you can make contact with real academic faculty and staff.
  • They are recognized by the US DoEd and CHEA.
Legitimate colleges prominently and proudly display their accrediting agency on their pamphlets, degree catalogs, and other academic publications that describe their degree programs. Bona fide institutions have telephone contact information and a physical address in which you can communicate with school officials.
You may have noticed that I've stressed the importance of regional accreditation. Why emphasize the 6 main accreditors above? Technically, anybody can start an accreditation agency and say that they are accredited! In fact, this is what diploma mills often do. This is referred to as "accreditation mills." You may see other slim-shoody schools proclaim that they are "nationally" or "internationally accreditated." While this may sound better than a regional accreditation, if it isn't recognized by the CHEA or the DoEd as providing bonafide Associate, Bachelors, Masters, etc. degrees, FORGET ABOUT IT. There are probably thousands of people who unknowingly (but usually knowingly) buy their degrees from these diploma mills, only to have wasted $$$$thousands$$$$ of dollars on something that isn't real. Not to mention risking being embarrased by your co-workers or even possibly arrested for fraud!

As of this writing, only colleges/universities recognized by the US DoEd, the CHEA, and one of the 6 regionally accredited organizations listed above will most likely be accepted from other genuine colleges for transfer credit or graduate studies and employers for career purposes. I simply cannot stress this enough!

Note: This is only referring to college degree (AA, BA, MA, etc.) programs. There may be certificate, licensing, technical, vocational, and other non-degree programs that are not regionally accredited and not in the CHEA database, yet perfectly legitimate.
Note 2: Have a physical campus is NOT a prerequisite for regional or any accreditation. Always check to ensure their degree program is properly accredited.

Note 3: Accreditation alone does not guarantee quality of the educational or career programs that the school provides. You must evaluate and choose a college and major/concentration that is that is right for you and your educational/career objectives.

Note 4: In addition to the regional accreditation, certain specialized degree programs, such as engineering, nursing, etc. may need additional certification with Dept of Ed-recognized institutions. An example of this is engineering degrees: Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology, ABET.

- What about High School? Accreditation/recognition is usually handled at the state education dept. level, so none of the regional accreditation stuff in this chapter really applies to high school diplomas.
Diploma mills are companies that sell fake degrees. With a professional-looking website and the increased capability of printers nowadays, it's not that hard at all to print up an official-looking diploma at all. Rarely do they use the name of an existing college or university, to avoid a lawsuit or direct attack from law officials. Rather, they make up their own official looking degree names such as Chicago Technical College. Sounds official, huh? Some diploma mills go all the way offering official-looking transcripts and employment verification services.

Some diploma mills will claim that they've found a "legal loophole" or some other way in which you can obtain a degree without doing any type of academic coursework whatsoever. "Get a Bachelor's degree in 1 week. Pay an extra $200 and get a Master's." There are even "legitimate" schools that do offer real coursework, but they are not regionally accredited. They may even claim "national" or "international" accreditation. But why would you want to get a piece of paper that wouldn't be accepted in the professional or academic world? Regional accreditation is the way to go.
Study for the exams:
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