Five Steps to Figuring Out Accreditation

by Robyn Tellefsen

You've made the decision to earn your degree online. You know what you want to study, how you'll fit school into your busy work and family life, and you have some inkling of how you'll afford it. Here comes the hard part: How do you choose the right school? Ask anyone - it all boils down to accreditation.

1. Learn the terminology.

   1. Accreditation is a status granted to an education institution or program that meets or exceeds predetermined criteria of education quality. Basically, it's an academic stamp of approval. As of April 2006, there were 6,814 accredited institutions and 18,152 accredited programs nationwide. Schools that aren't accredited can exist legally by meeting their particular state requirements, and are known as "state-licensed" or "state-approved." Costs for such programs are comparatively low, and courses tend to be vocationally-biased toward adult degree completion.

2. Choose to go accredited.

• 1. Here's why: Accreditation ensures the quality of an institution or program and assists in its improvement. Plus, if you ever want to transfer credits to an accredited school, you'll have a hard time getting non-accredited coursework recognized. Other benefits of pursuing accredited education include eligibility for federal and state student financial aid; tuition assistance and/or credential recognition by employers; and eligibility to sit for state licensure examinations in professional fields.

3. Consult the experts.

1. Knowing a school should be accredited isn't enough, though. You need to find out who is conferring the accreditation, and if that particular accreditation is recognized. The recognizers? Washington, D.C.-based Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), a private nonprofit national organization, and the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). They each review the quality and effectiveness of accrediting organizations, recognizing many of the same ones, but not all. USDE recognition is required for institutions that seek eligibility for federal student financial aid, and CHEA recognition confers academic legitimacy. Verify your program's accreditation status.

   1. Don't let the name mislead you ; regional accreditation is the highest level of accreditation an online or brick-and-mortar institution can obtain, and is recognized throughout the country. Regional associations accredit mainly nonprofit, degree-granting institutions in specific geographic areas (Middle States, New England, North Central, Northwest, Southern, or Western).

      1. National accreditors consist of faith-based, private career, and specialized and professional associations.

      2. Faith-based accreditors review religiously affiliated or doctrinally based degree-granting and nonprofit institutions. CHEA and USDE recognize four faith-based accrediting associations.

      3. Private career organizations accredit mainly for-profit, non-degree granting, single-purpose institutions (e.g., education in business or information technology). Of the seven associations recognized by the USDE, CHEA recognizes two: Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools; and Distance Education and Training Council Accrediting Commission.

      4. Specialized and professional associations accredit particular programs within a college or university, rather than an entire institution, with the exception of some single-purpose institutions. A school may be regionally accredited and also have specialized accreditations for its professional programs. As of February 2006, the most current data available, there were 46 accrediting bodies recognized by CHEA, and 41 by USDE (with some overlap), including the American Psychological Association Committee on Accreditation; Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education; and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council Accreditation Committee.

2. Stay tuned for updates.

• 1. Think you've got it down? Not quite. As it turns out, the process of accreditation is a work in progress.

     1. In September 2006, after a year of deliberation, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' Commission on the Future of Higher Education submitted its final report on the role and performance of higher education in the U.S.

     2. Now, the U.S. Department of Education is challenged to carry out the commission's work, and addressing accreditation tops the to-do list.

     3. According to the commission, the accreditation system is falling short of its purpose - ensuring quality education. To make sure accreditation measures up, the commission has highlighted goals of determining, in comparable ways, how well students are learning; ensuring that these student learning outcomes are more central in accreditors' assessments of college performance; and making these learning outcomes and accreditation decisions public knowledge.

     4. "The growing public demand for increased accountability, quality and transparency coupled with the changing structure and globalization of higher education requires a transformation of accreditation," the panel said in its report.

     5. The ultimate goal? For colleges to better measure and report their successes and failures in educating students.