Accredited status validity

Hi all,

I am thinking of pursuing Ph.D in BA at Northcentral University. I have 3 questions.

1. There is a slight possibility that I might be moving back to India after couple of years. Are RA degrees readily accepted in the Indian academic arena.

2. What will happen if NCU loses its accredited status ( or close down ) in the future. Will the degree I earned before losing its accreditation be at risk. How can we get the transcripts etc.

3. What will happen if the above (item # 2) happens half way through my course ?

Thanks,

 

It is uncommon for RA universities to go under but it does happen. The way it has worked in the past is that the records are sent to a near by RA university that agrees to handle degree validation requests for alumni.

If a institution loses accreditation then if you earned your degree while it was accredited then officially your degree remains accredited. If it lost it's accreditation while your program was in progress then officially it would be an unaccredited degree.

RA is considered the gold standard for higher education within the USA. It should be accepted as such in other countries.

 

Thanks, Bill.

How long is the RA valid. Should the university renew it once in every 3 or 5 years. Because NCU got its RA last year only, I just want to make sure ...

Thanks,

 

Bill has answered your question. NCU is not a prestigious university but degrees issued by NCU will be accepted in India because NCU is properly accredited. It is regionally accredited or RA.

 

Regional accreditors award accreditation for a specific period of time, after which the university must go through the process to be re-accredited. I believe that the maximum accreditation period is ten years for well-estblished schools. Since NCU is a new school, its accreditation would likely have been for a shorter period (I do not know how long).

Tony Pina
Faculty, Cal State U. San Bernardino

 

Schools that close tend to deposit their records with another school, the accrediting agency, a state agency, etc.

When the degree was earned vis-a-vis the school's accreditation status is the key. As noted above, earned while accredited, accredited. This is regardless of the schools future status.

Whether or not the event of a school going under is rare is a matter of opinion. It happens to a couple of dozen each year. Of DL schools that have been accredited (or accepted as candidates) since the late 1970's, only a few have closed. (Prometheus C., Beacon C., International Graduate School, LaSalle Extension, and US Open U. come to mind).