The DETC January Accrediting Meeting

The biannual DETC Accrediting Commission Meeting concludes today! Here are the candidates:

# Accelerated Training Institute, Napa, CA
# Aerobics and Fitness Association of America, Sherman Oaks, CA
# American Center for Conflict Resolution, Euclid, OH
# American Fitness Professionals and Associates, Manahawkin, NJ
# Anaheim University, Anaheim, CA
# Apollos University, Huntington Beach, CA
# BILD International University, Ames, IA
# Brigham Young University Independent Study, Provo, UT
# California Miramar University (formerly Pacific Western University) San Diego, CA
# California University of Technology, Diamond Bar, CA
# Ellis College of New York Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL
# Erudio College, Miami, FL
# Florida Virtual University, Weston, FL
# Hawthorn University, Whitehorn, CA
# Hindu University of America, Orlando, FL
# The Institute of Business and Finance, La Jolla, CA
# Institute of Theology by Extension, Des Moines, IA
# International Sports Sciences Association, Carpinteria, CA
# Lion Investigation Academy, Bethlehem, PA
# The National Institute of Whole Health, Wellesley, MA
# Perelandra College, LaMesa, CA
# Real Estate Prepatory Schools, Inc., Sacramento, CA
# Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions
# Teacher Education University, Winter Park, FL
# University of Atlanta, Mobile, AL
# University of Philosophical Research, Los Angeles, CA
# Vision International University, Ramona, CA
# Yorktown University, Inc., Denver, CO

DETC should post the results on their web site sometime next week. I'd say BYU Independent Study has a good chance of making it in this cycle, as they've been on the list for some time now.

 

I find it surprising that the dreadful "University of Atlanta" actually went through the process. The former "Barrington University" was operated from a secretarial service in Mobile, Alabama, which is not exactly in Atlanta. I would hope the DETC visiting team noticed that.

 

Vision International University in Ramona, CA has been on the list for sometime also.

 

The schools listed are not "candidates." They are applicants. Being a "candidate" for accreditation is a specific status; DETC does not use "candidate." Schools are applicants until they are accredited or go away.

 

Surely the members of this forum would realize I was referring to the word candidate in the ordinary usage, not the specialized status assigned by certain agencies.

 

This forum gets a lot of visitors. Those with experience in these matters, therefore, are even more pressed towards correct usage. On this board, "ordinary usage" and correct usage are the same.

 

Very true. Like when someone sees the AACSB logo on a school's website and reports they are "accredited", when in fact they are just a "member."

 

Results are out! No official release yet, but do a search for accredited insitutions and you'll find a few that were granted initial accreditation in 2008.

 

Can you name any?

 

Teacher Education University
University of Philosophical Research

 

still on the applicants list

 

The applicants list has not been updated. The directory of accredited institutions has.

 

Here is the DETC link: http://www.detc.org/search_schools.php?searchSet=true&category=A

 

Here's one that made it!

Hi -

University of Philosophical Reasearch made it - first accredited 2008, according to the new list. Thanks for the link!

Johann

 

Here are 3 more!

Hi -

I went through the list of applicants and compared it with the new list on the DETC site.

Three more appear to be newly accredited:

Ellis College of N.Y.I.T.
Institute of Theology by Extension
Teacher Education University

Four in total, I guess

Johann

 

Hmm... that would be a bit different. Being a "member" and being "accredited" are specific designations with the AACSB and using one in place of or to suggest the other would be outright deception, while in Vincey's case the term "candidate" was being loosely used obviously to refer to DETC's "applicants," which could not be confused at all with "accredited"...

 

Yes, it can. That's the problem. The term "candidate" for accreditation has very specific meaning in the U.S. It implies a school has gone through a very thorough initial screening (often after a year or more of correspondence and preparation, including a self-review), and appears to meet the requirements for accreditation. The candidacy period is used to (a) confirm over time what was observed and (b) to watch the candidate school perform.

Candidacy has its benefits, too. In many situations, candidate schools are treated the same as accredited schools. Their credits and degrees are often accepted as if coming from accredited schools, for example. While candidacy is not assurance that a school will eventually become accredited, almost all of them do. (The only two DL schools I can recall that became candidates without progressing to accreditation are Prometheus College and the International Graduate school. Both of those cases occurred in the early to mid-1980's.)

The term "candidate" has very specific meaning. Its misuse, casual or otherwise, matters as much as--or more than--the diploma mill ploy of leveraging "membership" as "accreditation." This is an opinion, of course. YMMV.