In education, accreditation plays a very important role. But do you really understand its importance? Before you choose your school, you must know who accredits your choice of school and how this relates to your future. After all, graduates from accredited institutions have a better and more competitive edge in the employment market than those who don’t.
The Benefits of Attending an Accredited College
So, what is an accredited school? An accredited college or university is an institution thoroughly evaluated through a transparent peer review process. An accreditation proves that the school has met and maintained a high level of educational standard set by an accrediting agency.
This process guarantees that the institution of higher learning has the integrity and quality of its academic programs verified by national and regional agencies charged with setting the standards for higher education.
Accreditation is also crucial because it qualifies schools for financial aid programs as stipulated by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
However, accreditation is a very broad idea and tends to get confusing to many. What are the different accreditation agencies? How were these agencies chosen? And how are schools accredited?
The Main Goal of Accreditation
The primary objective of the accreditation process is to ensure that academic institutions meet acceptable levels of quality. In the United States, accreditation involves state and federal government agencies (formally called The Triad), as well as non-governmental entities (accrediting organizations).
The quality assurance function of accreditation is one of the three major elements that govern the Higher Education Act’s federal student aid programs. For students to qualify for federal student aid from the US Department of Education for higher education, the school they’re enrolled in must be accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency.
Accreditation also seeks to evaluate and improve a school’s educational quality, promote institutional improvement and self-evaluation, ensure that institutional operations are consistent, and provide accountability within a peer-review framework.
Because of these, schools consider accreditation as highly essential. To date, only a handful of colleges, universities, and schools operate without keeping and maintaining their accreditation from any of the accrediting agencies in the US recognized by the Department of Education.
Why Accreditation Important
Accreditation is critical because it:
- Helps college students identify possible schools for enrollment
- Helps identify if the school exceeds or meets the minimum standards of quality education.
- Assists schools in identifying the acceptability of transfer credits.
- Helps potential employers know the validity of a program and whether a graduate is qualified.
- Employers normally require proof that applicants earned their degree from an accredited program and school.
- Helps employers identify if the employee is eligible for tuition reimbursement programs.
- Allows students to sit for certification exams.
- Involves students, graduates, faculty, staff, and advisory boards in institutional planning and evaluation.
- Creates future goals for self-improvement in institutions.
- Provides a foundation for identifying if a student is qualified for federal student assistance.
- Provides a self-regulatory option for state oversight functions.
How Institutions are Accredited
Accreditation agencies check different qualities depending on the type of school. For example, a vocational culinary school has different accreditation standards as against medical school residency programs because of its very different fields. However, all schools have overarching principles in the accreditation that span fields and form the foundation for the process.
For instance, all accrediting agencies hold that every school should have a clearly defined mission that aims to serve better and educate students. Additionally, each school should be able to demonstrate that they have the resources to reach its mission while showing proof that the mission is attained.
The Differences Between National and Regional Accreditation
In checking a school’s accreditation status, it’s very important to check the accreditation type a school holds: national or regional. Regional accreditation is said to be the “gold standard” of accreditation, with nearly 85% of schools across the US holding such recognition. Regional accreditation is the most common form and prestigious form of accreditation as it imposes stricter academic standards.
National accreditation, on the other hand, accounts for 15% of accredited schools in the nation. Vocational, trade, and for-profit schools constitute nationally accredited schools. National accreditation agencies set criteria for accreditation by comparing other schools with the same accreditation status. These agencies, however, do not cover schools based on the institution’s geographic location.
The credits students earn at a nationally accredited institution are only transferrable to other schools with national accreditation. These institutions normally have more lenient admission standards and cost less compared to regionally accredited schools. Because these schools have no federal funding, they make money through their tuition costs. Most of the time, they also have corporate shareholders.
Things to Consider
What is a Programmatic Accreditation?
Also called specialized accreditation, programmatic accreditation is a specialized accreditation given to specific specialized or professional programs and schools within an institution.
Since this type of accreditation solely focuses on a particular program and not on an institution as a whole, many people think that this is the superior type of accreditation. But this is generally not true. For a program to earn a programmatic accreditation, the program must be housed in an already accredited school.
What Are the Accrediting Agencies by Region?
Both public and private post-secondary colleges and universities can receive accreditation through any of the six regional agencies as overseen by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation:
- WASC Senior College & University Commission
- New England Association of Schools & Colleges
- SACSCOC – Southern Association of Colleges & Schools Commission on Colleges
- Middle States Commission on Higher Education
- Accrediting Commission for Community & Junior Colleges Western Association of Schools and Colleges
- Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges & Schools
What Are the National Accreditation Agencies?
- Distance Education Accrediting Commission
- Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges
- Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools
- Transnational Association of Christian Colleges & Schools, Accreditation Commission
How Do You Check If a School is Accredited?
While looking for accredited institutions, students may wonder how they can ensure that the school they find is accredited. There are numerous resources online to check if a program and school is accredited or not.
The fastest way to check a school’s accreditation status is to visit its website. You can also verify the school’s accreditation status through the database of the US Department of Education.
While accrediting bodies work as private organizations, the US Department of Education recognizes and approves these agencies as accreditors to check the eligibility of accredited schools to receive federal funds.
Does it Matter if the School is Accredited?
Yes, accreditation matters a lot. Here are some of the different facets of your education and job prospects that may be affected by college accreditation:
Federal Aid
Frequently, paying for college is one of the biggest hurdles for students who wish to enroll in college. When you choose schools, always remember that you will only be qualified to receive federal student aid if you enroll in a school duly accredited by a US Department of Education-recognized agency.
Transfer Credits
If you earned college credits at one institution and intend to transfer to another, you can transfer the previous credits you earned to your new school, but the school’s accreditation will play a huge factor in the process.
According to the Department of Education, accepting past credits will always be the prerogative of the receiving school. Accreditation doesn’t provide automatic acceptance by a school of the credits a student earned from another school.
For instance, SACSCOC-accredited schools are encouraged to use further criteria on top of the accreditation status when assessing possible transfer credits. In the end, it will be the receiving school’s choice to accept transfer credits.
Earning Potential and Job Prospects
Many employers still care about where you earned your program. When you apply for a job, you have a better edge if you come from an accredited school, as this will signal hiring officials that your college degree has met stringent educational standards.
Additionally, when deciding on compensation, most employers will use your educational background to determine how much your take-home pay should be.
Some firms provide more lucrative offers to those who completed their degree from schools that are accredited. Employers in the government or education also offer specific salary tiers corresponding to the candidate’s education levels and the accredited institutions they come from.
Is Accreditation Mandatory?
In the US, accreditation is not mandatory, which is why it is very important. Colleges and universities can still operate without an accreditation or with one from an unrecognized agency. The burden, then, now falls on the students to choose whether a school meets their standards.
Are Online Schools Accredited?
Many online schools are accredited. In fact, online schools still undergo the same accreditation process as conventional colleges and universities. Accredited online colleges can also work with any of the regional accreditors. They can also obtain accreditation from a national accreditor, like the DEAC, which happens to specialize in providing accreditations in online schools.
How Can a School Become Accredited?
Accredited schools gain accreditation through processes laid out by a specific agency. Schools submit to this process voluntarily through accrediting agencies. In general, schools apply for accreditation after they go over the agency’s standards and prepare for an audit.
The accreditation agency then evaluates the school’s program and curriculum and checks whether these meet their standards. Once those standards are met, the accreditation is finally rewarded.
For example, the New England Commission on Higher Education, as a regional accreditor, considers an institution’s purpose and mission, institutional resources, and academic programs when it performs an accreditation review.
As a whole, accrediting bodies provide the standards of education and allow the schools to perform self-evaluations of their overall performance. These accreditors later perform a formal, on-site evaluation of the school and draw a decision about the school’s accreditation status.
Accreditors will continue to monitor regionally accredited campus institutions and universities in a set period of accreditation. Once this period ends, the school is re-evaluated to have its accreditation renewed. This regular process will ensure that schools will continue to strictly adhere to high academic standards after they initially earn their accreditation.
What Colleges Are Accredited?
Most degree-granting US institutions hold institutional accreditation, including all public community colleges and public four-year universities. Because these schools operate with the use of government funds, public schools need accreditation to function.
Private schools, on the other hand, call for more investigation. The majority of private nonprofit schools in the US hold proper accreditation, but many for-profit colleges do not—or if they do, chances are, they are accredited by an unrecognized agency.
Back in August 2022, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools was no longer recognized as an institutional accreditor, according to the US Department of Education. This equates to more than two dozen for-profit institutions with no federally recognized accreditation and access to federal financial aid.
What if a College is Not Accredited?
An unaccredited institution doesn’t guarantee quality education. Non-accredited schools award degrees that are not valid and recognized by employers and other institutions. Unaccredited schools, usually called diploma mills, require very minimal work on the student’s part. If you enroll in an unaccredited school, you cannot apply for any federal financial aid.
Plus, the credits you earned from these schools cannot be transferred to other schools, you cannot qualify for professional or state licensure, and worse, you cannot become eligible for the jobs you wish to have.
To this day, there are still a handful of schools that remain unaccredited. By shying away from accreditation, these diploma mills can easily sidestep regulations, thus giving them more freedom in what they offer to students.
Can a School Lose Its Accreditation?
If a school cannot live up to the standards of the accreditation body, they can lose their accreditation. Schools may fail an accreditation evaluation either because of law passing rates in licensure exams, low graduation rates, or low post-graduation employment rates.
When this happens, the school loses access to federal financial aid. This means students will be left with degrees that employers may not possibly accept, and the credits they earn may end up useless since these can no longer be transferred to another school.
Sometimes, losing accreditation will also compromise the school, as this can end up in lawsuits and refunds. For example, when the Higher Learning Commission withdrew its accreditation of Mountain State University back in 2012, the school ended up facing a class-action lawsuit. Students filed more than 55 individual lawsuits.
If this continues and challenges will continue to pile up, permanent school closure might be possible. Just recently, the MSCHE announced that ASA College would lose its accreditation. This, plus a combination of class-action lawsuits and civil penalties, ultimately ended up with the school’s closure in February 2023.
Additional Information:
- What is the Purpose of Accreditation?
- Top Foreign Colleges with US Accreditation
- Cheapest Accredited Online Colleges
