Accreditation: What is it?

When you're searching for the right online college, you may come across the terms "accredited" or "accreditation." But what exactly do theses terms mean? Accreditation means that the school has met a certain set of guidelines and criteria according to a particular higher education accrediting bodies. Once the school has met the specified criteria, it is granted accreditation. Agencies who grant accreditation to schools typically are private organizations, but must be approved by the National Education Association. This way, there is a control factor implemented to be sure that everything is done with honesty and legitimacy

• Regional Accreditation: Regionally accredited colleges are academically oriented institutions, and those that typically offer bachelor's level degrees. Regional accreditation is awarded to colleges that meet criteria set by the accrediting agencies. There are six regional accrediting bodies.
• National Accreditation: This is designated typically to vocational schools, religious schools, and often times online colleges. While nationally accredited institutions can accept credit from regionally or nationally accredited institutions, regionally accredited schools often do not accept credit from nationally accredited institutions.
• Programmatic Accreditation: This type of accreditation is granted to specific programs (majors) within a college or university.

Find out more information on our accreditation pages.

Is it important?

You may wonder why accreditation is so important. First and foremost, major employers often check to see if college graduates receive a diploma from an accredited university and not just a run-of-the-mill school. Employers want to be sure they are hiring candidates who came from certified schools with high academic standards. Additionally, if a student chooses to go forward into higher learning such as graduate school, some colleges will turn down their admission due to lack of proper credit if they did not attend an accredited school. This can cause major headaches, as you may end up finding yourself being forced to take and pay for classes you've already taken before in undergraduate school.

So how do you know if you're attending an accredited school? Since accreditation is very important, most schools, if not all who are really accredited will be sure to list and state this on most of their documentation. If you aren't sure if your school is actually accredited, ask a college representative, as they will have a better indication of what type of accreditation the school holds, if any. You can also verify accreditation through the U.S. Department of Education.

In addition to employability, accreditted schools must uphold high standards of academic integrity and have a good transfer policy.