Regionally accrediting agencies...

Okay members-

I know this might have been covered before, but I have one question:

Who are the regionally accrediting agencies to look out for when looking for Online Universities that the DOE mirrors?

I know of only one:

Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association.

 

There are six in total, and are listed here:

Regional accreditation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Reply

Cool! Thanks. So any online higher education University with these accrediting agencies should be good to go?

The following are the regional accrediting agencies for educational institutions in the United States:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools - Educational institutions in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, as well as schools for American children in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

New England Association of Schools and Colleges - Educational institutions in the six New England states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont).

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools - Educational institutions in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Northwest Association of Accredited Schools for primary and secondary schools and Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities for postsecondary institutions in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

Western Association of Schools and Colleges - Educational institutions in California, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Micronesia, Palau, and Northern Marianas Islands.

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools - Educational institutions in Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Texas.

 

Well not to muddy the waters but there are a few more that are on par with RA's.

 

Please clarify. I thought RA was RA. Anything other than RA would be for personal enrichment. But please elaborate on your reply, B4cz28.

 

Many people know of NYBOR (link below)
University of the State of New York - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But their are other states that can do the same thing.

Search Institutional Accreditation System

 

National accreditation is recognized by the US government as well and produces degrees accepted by various RA schools and by many (my understanding is most) employers. DETC is the stand-out in that category. To find out more about the DETC you should visit a thread where members of this forum argue endlessly about its validity and acceptance verses RA.

There really isn't any hard and fast information. Some colleges take it, many don't. Many employers take it, some don't. From what I hear many won't know the difference as long as it is accepted by the DOE.

 

Thanks Rick-

I am mainly trying to locate some info for my son. I am, within the next month starting the Doctor of Arts at Harrison Middleton University, which is NA. This DA is aimed only at personal goals, as I am a Humanities tutor, working for myself.

Thanks for the information.

 

Technically, no. Many states (probably most states) have formal procedures for licensing schools. But licensing is not the same thing as accreditation.

If a school has a valid state license, then it has legal authorization to operate within that state, and to grant degrees. However, there is no assurance that the degree will be accepted under the laws of other states. For broader recognition, a school generally needs accreditation, from a regional or national accreditation agency recognized by the US Dept. of Education.

The "New York State Board of Regents, and the Commissioner of Education" is the only state agency that is recognized as an accreditor by USDoE. It is classified by USDoE as a "national accreditation agency" (like DETC), although it only accredits schools in New York State.

So New York can both license and accredit schools. Other states can license schools, but cannot accredit them.

Nationally accredited schools, like those accredited by DETC or New York State, are legitimate. In general, however, they tend to be less well accepted (by employers, government, and academia) than RA degrees. This is a sweeping generalization, and it could be argued that exceptions exist, but it is nonetheless reasonable.

 

And of course there are non-USA academic institutions such as those in Canada, UK, and Australia which usually are the equivalent of being accredited.

 

Please see the link in my above post. Other states can accredit schools. They are even classified as Regional accreditors by the DOE.

 

Please provide an example of a state that is classified as a regional accrediting body by the US DOE and a reference to verify that classification. Your link to the DOE page of national accrediting agencies does not do that..

 

If a school, government agency, or employer specifies a "regionally accredited" degree, they mean one of the six traditional RA agencies.

For some reason, the current DOE database appears to be mixing the six RA agencies with state agencies that oversee non-degree vocational training, like the Pennsylvania State Board of Vocational Education or the Oklahoma Board of Career and Technology Education.

I don't know why the DOE database is doing this, but it does not mean that credits earned from studying welding at an institution like Erie County Technical School (one of the schools accredited by the Pennsylvania State Board) will be accepted as RA.

 

Please feel free to read my post above, about my other post above, which has a link in it. Phds.........

 

DOE has always had them listed like that, well for a few years anyways. Some of those schools have AS, AOS degrees.

 

OK, just to clarify

There are exactly SIX regional accreditors, as Cravenco posted. There are therefore six agencies that would be considered "regional accreditors" by AACRAO, the association of collegiate registrars. There are no other agencies, and certainly no state agencies, that would be considered as regional accreditors or equivalent to regional accreditors, by AACRAO.

There are other DoEd-recognized accreditors, such as ACICS and DETC that are legitimate accreditors, and schools accredited by these agencies are legitimate, but they would not be considered "regionally accredited" schools, nor would any school accredited, licensed, approved, certified, or otherwise recognized by any state agency be considered as regionally accredited. The database listed in the above article is referring to accreditors who serve a particular region, which is not the same as Regional Accreditors. One is descriptive, the other refers to a particular type of accreditor that is recognized by AACRAO.

If you want more details, I refer you to the "accreditation" chapter in Bears Guide, or to our article on accreditation in our articles section

I would appreciate it if people would not speak about things they don't completely understand, as that can end up with people giving really bad advice.

 

To find the most meaningful list, follow the money. Check out USDoE's official list of "accrediting agencies whose accreditation enables the institutions they accredit to establish eligibility to participate in the Federal student financial assistance programs". This is the principal reason why USDoE recognition matters.

The six RA agencies are there, and so are DETC, ACICS, and many professional accreditors.

But there is not a single state agency on that list -- except New York.

 

I went to your link, it did not specify that state agencies accredit schools, nor are they considered regional accrediting bodies. Chip and CalDog's post are correct in their explanations of regional vs. national accrdeditation vs, state licensing/approval. Other than New York, states do not accredit.

 

Ok you wanted to see the proof, I showed it to you.

The DOE has under Regional Accrediting Bodies more than the NYBOR listed.
Search Institutional Accreditation System

First box, scroll down.

 

Um, apparently you didn't read my above post.

That box is referring accreditors or licensing boards that happen to not be national, i.e., they are regional in scope. That is not the same as a Regional Accreditor. It's confusing that they've marked it that way, but those accreditors in that box, otherr than the six regionals, are not Regional Accreditors in the sense that AACRAO uses, which is the only context in which it's being discussed here.

Now can we please move off of this topic and stop confusing people?