The accreditation process is critical to the validity of programs, certificates and degrees offered by online educational institutes. The process involves a thorough review of the school’s policies, processes, procedures and programs to ensure that specific criteria are met.
The Benefits of Accreditation
Accreditation offers students and employers a level of protection to ensure that the school is meeting specific and stringent standards. As a result, degrees, diplomas and certificates earned at schools with validated accreditation are more easily accepted by potential employers as well as other educational institutes. In addition, students who are looking to transfer credits or continue their education will find it easier to do so if the courses, credits, certificate, degree or diploma received came from an accredited educational institution.
Online education is a great way to further one’s education or career. When looking to attend an online college or university it is imperative that a potential student validates an institution’s accreditation before signing up.
Accreditation in the United States
In the United States there are two types of accreditation including national and regional.
United States National Accreditation Agencies
- Distance Education and Training Council (DETC)
- Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges & Schools (ACICS)
United State Regional Accreditation Agencies
- Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSA)
- Northwest Association of Schools and of Colleges and Universities (NASC)
- Higher Learning Commission of North Central Region (NCA)
- New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
- Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
Accreditation by a regional agency is more widely recognized and is often times preferred by employers and educational institutes over national accreditation. This is because the six U.S. regional accreditation agencies validate a variety of educational institutes including public universities, private universities and online universities and colleges.
The United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation are both excellent resources providing a wealth of information on online as well as brick and mortar accreditation requirements.
Accreditation in Canada
Accreditation in Canada is conducted by various professional and governmental organizations depending on the school’s educational focus.
- The goal of Canadian accreditation is to verify that the areas of study and various programs offered by universities and colleges are in direct alignment with the standards that guide each specific profession.
- Accreditation is conducted by various professional or governing institutes depending on the programs or areas of study being offered by the school.
- Each program being offered is accredited by a professional institute at a provincial or Canadian level.
- A designated governing medical institute or professional medical organization will analyze and conduct quality assurance assessments on universities that focus on degrees in medicine. The same applies to other fields of education including engineering, agriculture, accounting, business administration, food science and more.
The Canadian Education Standards Institute (CESI) also conducts quality assurance testing. CESI runs quality assurance testing and accreditation of independent or privately owned educational institutes.
The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada has more in depth information on accreditation processes in Canada.
The Importance of Accreditation
An online school that is not legitimately accredited may be considered a diploma mill by various professional and educational instates, and as a result can negatively impact a person’s ability to transfer credits, apply for scholarships and gain employment in his field of study.
It is extremely important to be proactive when researching an online university to ensure that an educational institute is properly accredited and meets quality assurance standards required by employers, brick and mortar universities, professional institutes and governing bodies.
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