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What does it mean for an online college to be accredited?
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What does it mean for an online college to be accredited?
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I'm try to decide about online college and I keep finding all sorts of information about a college must be accredited. What does this mean? how does it help me?
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Forums » Topic Forums » HR Career Forum » What does it mean for an online college to be accredited?
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What does it mean for an online college to be accredited?
posted at 11/24/2008 5:10 PM EST
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Posts: 1103
First: 3/16/2007 Last: 8/19/2011 |
Without entering into the debate about the value of an on-line college program...
Accreditation means that the college is certified, by a national body, attesting to the credibility of its educational programs. In short it means that the college meets specifics of quality as determined by the US Department of Education. It means that you are receiving an education from a recognized program. Without this accreditation you would not be eligible for federal aid, could be unable to transfer credits to other institutions or programs, may be ineligible for employer tuition assistance, etc. Accreditation does not in and of itself mean that the college or university is any good. It simply means it meets certain standards that non-accredited colleges and university's have not met. You can find an 'approved list" of accrediting agencies on the US Department of Education website. Be very leery of on-line education that does not have the ability to give you live real time interaction with fellow students and faculty. Further, an on-line program that does not have an on-campus residency program should be more closely scrutinized for value and quality of education. There are some good on-line programs out there. There are many that are simply a disguise for a diploma mill. If you simply seek a degree or diploma none of this matters. If you want an education then investigate your options fully. |
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What does it mean for an online college to be accredited?
posted at 11/25/2008 3:42 AM EST
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Posts: 237
First: 7/10/2007 Last: 8/31/2011 |
Just to add a thought to the very relevant remarks of my esteemed colleague OlPro; there are a number of accrediting organizations out there. Some I hear require no more than a fee and a completed questionnaire to earn accreditation. What I usually do is to check and see what other institutions are accredited by the same organization. If the same body accredits well known brick & mortar institutions then Id probably conclude that they are legit. |
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What does it mean for an online college to be accredited?
posted at 11/25/2008 5:48 AM EST
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Posts: 3870
First: 2/12/2002 Last: 11/2/2009 |
As intimated above, there are a tremendous number of "university" scams on the Internet. Diploma mill is the polite term for them, and they can usually be identified by granting credit for "life experience", degrees in months, and proudly claiming to be accredited by the "Universal Online Ethical College Accrediting Association" or some such hooey. None of these degrees are worth anything, and in some states its illegal to represent yourself has having a degree if it comes from one of these scam schools.
If you're going for an undergraduate degree, get it from a school which is accredited by one of the 7 regional accrediting associations. (note: the Distance Education Training Council is NOT one of them). If you are going to go on and get a master's degree at some point (and as noted above by HRPro), accreditation is essential - you won't get into a traditional program without it. If you're going for a master's degree, the accreditation is a little different - there are other organizations out there which provide accreditation at the graduate level (again, DETC is NOT one of them). AACBS is the top accrediting council for MBA's, for example. Generally speaking,though, you should be OK if the undergraduate programs are accredited by one of the regional associations. Speaking as a recruiter, the name of the school you get your degree from is important. If you get an online degree from a traditional school, you're fine. However, once you start going with non-traditional unaccredited universities, you may encounter skepticism if not outright rejection. If I get a resume with a university name that I don't know, I look it up before I refer that resume on to a hiring manager. If its not an accredited university, that resume doesn't leave my desk. |
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What does it mean for an online college to be accredited?
posted at 11/25/2008 5:11 PM EST
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Posts: 2
First: 11/25/2008 Last: 12/14/2008 |
It means that the college is recognized by the accrediting agencies that also accredit traditional colleges, in the sense that it offers quality education that is at par with regular college. It also helps incase you want to transfer credits from one college to another, you can't do this if the college is not accredited. Also incase you'd want to apply for financial aid or other grants, this is only possible through an accredited college. Most employers also don't recognize degrees acquired from colleges that don't have legitimate accreditation.
You can get more information about why college accreditation is important to your education from: [url=http://www.distance-learning-college-guide.com/]http://www.distance-learning-college-guide.com/[/url] |
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What does it mean for an online college to be accredited?
posted at 11/26/2008 1:21 PM EST
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Posts: 3870
First: 2/12/2002 Last: 11/2/2009 |
Be careful about using the information in the website noted above. Some of the universities have regional accreditation, some are only accredited by DETC. Not the best site to use IMO. |
Forums » Topic Forums » HR Career Forum » What does it mean for an online college to be accredited?
