Regionally accredited vs. "accredited"

In a quarter century of reviewing applications for federal employment, I did
not encounter a single instance of a degree mill's being identified as the source of a degree. I did encounter an untold number of legitimate schools
that had other than regional accreditation and that were used as academic
qualifications for federal employment. In most cases, they were disqualified.
I spoke to one angry applicant who then contacted the president of Columbia Southern College who gave me an angry call enquiring why I had told a graduate that Columbia Southern was not accredited. I explained regional accreditation to him and he was astonished that we were so strict. Just for the record, I seem to recall that Columbia Southern now has full regional accreditation.

When Senator Collins of Maine was grandstanding about "degree mills," I sent her several emails explaining that she had the wrong culprit; however, all of her addresses bounced.

When I got my doctorates in theology and in linguistics, I did not seek a degree mill. I was primarily interested in getting the non-traditional degrees for non-teaching purposes and to increase my knowledge in the fields. Although I listed my doctorate on my job applications, the degree was not only irrelevant to my field but also, if relevant, would have qualified me only at the level below that for which I was already qualified.

 

Hi Scott - Wow! Two doctorates. Can you tell us something more about your educational background?

 

Hi Scott,

Welcome aboard. Are you saying the federal government has a policy of RA only? I am curious because I work for State Government and they require a "recognized" degree. That of course meaning recognized by CHEA and DOE. For the record, Columbia Southern is nationally accredited by DETC. Not being defensive, I would just like to pick your brain. Also, if it is the case that the Federal government does not accept national accreditation, what is the reason?

Thanks!

Abner

 

They don't anymore, or I should say that didn't as of last year, which is the last time I checked. Any legitimate accreditation was acceptable.

 

This is the list currently used:

School List Link


Click on the "Click here to begin your search"

The federal government overall does not have an RA only policy. However, in some instances they require ABET, ABA, etc... specialized accreditation. Which can lead to RA only for those positions due to the sepecialized accreditors standards.

Keep in mind that each agency can set their own standard of acceptance above the minimum.

 

I find that very surprising. In the 2+ years since our organization updated its background checking procedure, we've encountered well over 20 instances so far. Including at least one from all the usual suspects, Rochville, Almeda, Belford, Kenney Western, Breyer State, Canyon College, Rushmore.

I assume you are speaking as an individual manager reviewing a limited number of apps. My experience is from an organizational level.

 

My personal experience is that it seems more common for applicants to claim degrees from accredited schools that they actually didn't earn rather than claiming degrees from diploma mills (examples listed above). Although perhaps that view is skewed by our human resources department throwing away the diploma mill degree claimed resumes earlier in the process?

 

Homeland Security had a partnership with Columbia Southern University in the past, although I don't see it on their website anymore.

I work for the fed and I have yet to see a job announcement that specifically required regional accreditation.

 

Could you expand please?
Who is the wrong culprit?
Are you referring to the GAO report?
Thanks.

 

Dear Dr. Catledge

Elsewhere, you write, "My dissertation for my PhD in Comparative Linguistics from Southeastern University (1982) was Differential subcategorization of nouns in Spanish & English..."

Just of curiosity . . . the Higher Education Directory says that neither of the two accredited schools called Southeastern University (one in D.C. , one in Florida) offer doctoral degrees.

Surely it couldn't be the Southeastern University in South Carolina that was the first phony closed in the early 1980s by the FBI's "DipScam' diploma mill task force. The only other one in my database is another unaccredited one that was closed down in Louisiana in the early 1980s.

I'd also be interested to learn more about the Saint Columba School of Theology, apparently the source of your other doctorate. A Google search finds nothing whatsoever on this school other than several of your postings on various forums.

Thanks for explaining/clarifying.

John Bear
Co-author, Bears Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning,
Degree Mills, and many other books

 

Tick...tick...tick...

 

Sooooo...what are the odds of the thread op making a second post?

 

All I know is that he never answered my question.

 

Who knows? As of now, he's still a one-post wonder.

 

Kind of like Kajagoogoo

 

So NA or RA as long as the school had recognized accreditation.