Accreditation of Postsecondary Education in the United States
Prospective graduate students should have a basic understanding of accreditation and how it works
You may be wondering why it is important to know about
accreditation—simply put, not every institution is what it appears to
be. In order for you to become a smart consumer, you need to have a
basic understanding of accreditation in the United States and how it
works, the difference between accredited and unaccredited institutions,
and the pitfalls of enrolling in an unaccredited institution or
program.
Accreditation in the United States is a voluntary, nongovernmental
process, in which an institution and its programs are evaluated against
standards for measuring quality. The goal of accreditation is to ensure
that the education provided by institutions of higher education meets
acceptable levels of quality.
The Secretary of Education, through the U.S. Department of Education,
recognizes select accrediting agencies. Accreditation by a recognized
accrediting agency is one of the requirements for institutions to
participate in federal student aid programs. The Secretary and the
Department of Education are not responsible for accrediting individual
institutions. It is the responsibility of the accrediting agencies to
accredit colleges, universities, and programs.
An accrediting agency that meets the Department’s criteria for
recognition is determined to be a reliable authority in measuring the
quality of education or training provided by the institutions it
accredits in the United States and its territories. Agencies that meet
these criteria are placed on the Department’s List of Nationally
Recognized Accrediting Agencies.
Types of Accreditation
There are two basic types of educational accreditation. One is
identified as “institutional” and the other is referred to as
“specialized” or “programmatic.”
Institutional accreditation normally applies to an entire institution,
indicating that each of an institution’s parts is contributing to the
achievement of the institution’s objectives, although not necessarily
all at the same level of quality. The various commissions of the
regional accrediting associations, for example, perform institutional
accreditation, as do many national accrediting agencies.
Specialized or programmatic accreditation normally applies to programs,
departments, or schools that are parts of an institution. The
accredited unit may be as large as a college or school within a
university or as small as a curriculum within a discipline. Most of the
specialized or programmatic accrediting agencies review units within an
institution of higher education that is accredited by one of the
regional accrediting commissions. However, certain accrediting agencies
also accredit professional schools and other specialized or vocational
institutions of higher education that are free-standing in their
operations. In addition, a number of specialized accrediting agencies
accredit educational programs within non-educational settings, such as
hospitals.
Accredited Institutions
Accredited institutions have agreed to have their institution and its
programs reviewed to determine the quality of education and training
being provided. If an institution is accredited by a recognized agency,
its teachers, coursework, facilities, equipment, and supplies are
reviewed on a routine basis to ensure students receive a quality
education and get what they pay for. Attending an accredited institution
is often a requirement for employment and can be helpful later on if
you want to transfer academic credits to another institution.
Unaccredited Institutions
Unaccredited institutions are not reviewed against a set of standards
to determine the quality of their education and training. This does not
necessarily mean that an unaccredited institution is of poor quality,
but earning a degree from an unaccredited institution may create
problems for students. Some employers, institutions, and licensing
boards only recognize degrees earned from institutions accredited by an
accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. With
this in mind, it is recommended that students check with other
institutions regarding the transfer of credit policy to determine if
that institution would accept the degree and/or credits earned from any
institution they plan to enroll in.
A word of caution—in some states, it can be illegal to use a degree
from an institution that is not accredited by a nationally recognized
accrediting agency, unless approved by the state licensing agency.
The Positive List
The U.S. Department of Education has published the “positive list” of
schools that are accredited by accrediting agencies recognized by the
Secretary of Education. The list can be found at http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation.
This is a list of postsecondary institutions and programs that have
chosen to be accredited by accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S.
Secretary of Education. The database does not include postsecondary
educational institutions and programs that elect not to seek
accreditation but nevertheless may provide a quality postsecondary
education. The positive list is simply one source of information; you
may need to consult other sources if an institution does not appear on
the positive list.
Listed below are the major regional and national institutional accrediting agencies:
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
(DE, DC, MD, NJ, NY, PA, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands)
(267) 284-5000
E-mail: info@msche.org
New England Association of Colleges and Schools
(CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
(781) 271-0022
E-mail: bbrittingham@neasc.org
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
(AZ, AK, CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, NM, ND, OH, OK, SD, WV and WY)
(312) 263-0456
E-mail: info@hlcommission.org
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Schools
(AK, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT and WA)
(425) 558-4224
E-mail: selman@nwccu.org
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
(AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX and VA)
(404) 679-4512
E-mail: bwheelan@sacscoc.org
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
(CA, HI and Guam.)
(510) 748-9001
E-mail: wascsr@wascsenior.org
The Distance Education and Training Council
(Accredits postsecondary institutions in the United States that offer
degree programs primarily by the distance education method up to and
including the professional doctoral degree.)
202-234-5100
E-mail: Detc@detc.org
0 comments :
Post a Comment