Smc

I feel that the school is not truly accredited in the US or Switzerland. Does its program accreditation make it legit? In no way do I think the school is a mill. If it was based in the US would it be allowed to operate?

 

These are over 300 Business schools that have the same recognition as SMC University in the U.S - i.e accredited by the 'Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs' - ACBSP. There are several others who only have the DETC accreditation.

CHEA Database of Programs Accredited By Recognized U.S. Accrediting Organizations

If these schools can function and thrive in the U.S without being shut down, I see no reason why somebody would shut down SMC, which is on par with them in terms of accreditation.

 

You've already been told that it's accredited by ACBSP. I haven't verified that, but assume that it's true.

People could argue about that accreditation's utility in various applications, I guess, much as we argue endlessly and often pointlessly about DETC. I'm not especially interested in doing that.

But I don't know of any reason why I should simply dismiss ACBSP accreditation and act like it doesn't exist. If I know that a program is accredited by ACBSP, then I can't truthfully say that it isn't accredited.

"Legit"?

Doesn't that answer your 'legit' question? Or do you mean something else by the word?

Sure, why not? I assume that if it qualifies for ACBSP accreditation, then California's new BPPE would approve it as well, so it could operate legally from here if it wanted to.

 

From their website: "In August of 1992, ACBSP was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a specialized accreditation agency for business education. That recognition continued through April, 1996, when the Department of Education changed its policies to recognize only those agencies that impacted the distribution of federal funding. To fill the resulting void for a national body to recognize accrediting agencies, the Council for Higher Education (CHEA) was created in 1996. The CHEA-recognized scope of accreditation is: Degree programs in business and business-related fields at the associate, baccalaureate, and graduate levels. At its meeting on January 22, 2001, the CHEA Board of Directors reviewed the recommendations of the CHEA Committee on Recognition regarding the recommendation and recognized the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs."

SMC says: "Our online MBA and online Doctorate (DBA) programs are accredited by the CHEA recognized "Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs", and by the "European Council of Business Education", an ENQA affiliate."

So your point is that the school itself isn't approved by any accrediting body that the U.S. DOE recognizes, but that the parent accrediting agency is? So I guess the question is that since CHEA is recognized and then they subsequently approve another program does that legitimize the SMC program?

 

I spoke to Fred White with the THECB and he told me it is illeagal to use them on my resume in Texas. That the issue has come up about this school and the state of Texas considers them unaacredited.

 

That’s some good info. Why have they not pursued regional accreditation then? Many schools outside the US have gone through the process successfully.

 

Ok, I reread your last post, so they can't do it because they program would need to be changed?

 

Oh do not get my started on the THECB. My goodness. They had the DETC illegal for awhile. My goodness.

 

What about all of the other states that require you to have USDE recognized accreditation to operate? There are many states that do.

 

Found it

http://www.chea.org/search/actionProg.asp?seq=59623

 

This surprises me - how many is "many"?

For example WASC only accredits one school in Guam (a USA Territory) and one school in Kenya.

 

I don't have any numbers but you come across them here and there, even Mexico has one or two.

 

SMC advertises 9 degree programs. Of these, 7 appear to be accredited by ACBSP, while the other 2 appear to be unaccredited.


ACBSP accredited:

- Doctorate in Business Administration
- Doctorate in Finance
- Doctorate of Diplomacy
- Doctorate of Management
- Master of Business Administration
- Master of Science in Finance & Controlling
- Master of Science in Human Resources Management


Not ACBSP accredited:

- Bachelor of Business Administration
- PhD in Economics

The ACBSP accreditation should count for something in the US. Other schools with ACBSP accreditation for their business programs include the University of Phoenix, Cal State Dominguez Hills, and Alabama State. Of course, these schools also have regional accredition as institutions.

Acceptance of SMC's non-accredited degrees would likely be lower, although the existence of other accredited programs at the same school would likely be viewed positively.

 

SACS seems to actively accredit schools in Latin America. They currently list five schools in Mexico as accredited, along with single schools in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Venezuela.

They also accredit one school in the Middle East, the American University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. So 9 non-US universities total.

MSCHE lists 14 foreign schools as currently accredited, mostly in Europe and the Middle East, with two others as candidates.

 

Yes but those schools are RA as well.

 

I would avoid touching their unaccredited programs but their DBA looks a bargain at € 10.900.

 

Steve, Do you have any way of finding out what basis they used to show RA to ACBSP? I find the program interesting, but this issue bothers me.