What is College Accreditation and why is it important?

College Accreditation is a formal recognition,

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or guarantee of some sorts that an entire school or college or one of its programs meets certain standards and provides quality education like these top accredited Online Colleges and Universities.

Why is College accreditation important?

• It gives the assurance that, as a distance learner, you will be able to attain the same educational outcomes as you would in traditional classroom-based programs.



• It entitles you to the same rights to admissions, orientation, registration, counseling, tutoring, placement, financial aid and other student services that are available to all other students regardless of the delivery method of your classes.



• Without accreditation by a nationally recognized accredited organization, a school is not eligible to participate in government student assistance programs. This means as a student, you will not be eligible for federal grant or loan money.



• Most employers who offer tuition assistance will not reimburse your tuition if you attend a school that is not accredited.



• If you intend to transfer credits from one school to another, you will only be able to do so if you attended an accredited school.

Now note that not all college accreditation associations are legitimate. Some colleges and diploma mills create their own accrediting authority and then grant themselves “accreditation”! Be careful and stay on the lookout for such institutions before you waste your time and money.

How do you know if a college is accredited by a legitimate authority?

It’s very easy. There are two large organizations in the US that recognize accrediting agencies giving them validation:

• U.S Department of Education
  http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/index.html



• Council for higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
  http://www.chea.org

In Canada, college accreditation is provided by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. See http://www/cmec.ca/ for more information on Canadian accreditation.

There are six regional accrediting agencies that are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and CHEA. These agencies accredit entire institutions. All are equally authoritative and recognize each other as such. This means credits or degrees earned from a school accredited by one agency will be recognized by a school accredited by another agency.

Following is the list of the six agencies. Each list has a searcheable database of the schools that it accredits on its website.

• Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools – accredits schools in Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands – http://www.msache.org



• New England Association of Schools and Colleges – accredits schools in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont – http://www.neasc.org



• North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
– accredits schools in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, and Washington – http://www.ncacihe.org


• Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges – accredits schools and colleges in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington – http://www.cocnasc.org (under construction)



• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – accredits schools in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia – http://www.sacscoc.org



• Western Association of Schools and Colleges – accredits schools in California, Hawaii, and Guam – http://www.wascweb.org

There are also some other college accreditation organizations that U.S. Department of Education and CHEA recognizes such as Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), which is very popular in distance learning programs.

For a full list of the accrediting agencies that the U.S Department of Education and CHEA recognize, visit http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/index.html and/or http://www.chea.org/

So if you are considering taking courses online or offline and you’re not sure whether the school you are considering is accredited legitimately or otherwise, we recommend that you look it up first. Remember it is your education, time and money and no institution should have the right to take advantage of you. If you are in doubt, look it up!

We recommend these top accredited online colleges and universities for your online education.

You may also search for traditional colleges that require class attendance.

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