Regional accreditors are not knowledgeable enough in DL procedures ! - CNU

Below is a reply i got from California National University some time back.!


Hi Manjunath,



Thank you for letting me know that the information has arrived. CNU is not regionally accredited as we are 100% distance education and do not offer any campus programs. To date, we don’t feel that regional accreditation is knowledgeable enough in distance education procedures so we do not plan on applying. In fact, some of the regional accrediting bodies (WASC included) are presently working with the DETC to better understand how a good distance program should be reviewed. We may choose to apply at a later date but it is not certain.



Please let me know if you have any additional questions. I will also make a note to check in with you again within 3 weeks if I haven’t heard from you first.



Jeanne
Jeanne Cunneff

Admissions Representative, CNU

 

Maybe that's KW's problem. The accrediting bodies are just not knowledgable enough to understand how their program of completing 5 courses and an extended term paper equals a bacheolor's degree.

 

I agree with this statement. In the past the RA bodies have had criteria that make no sense for a distance ed school (the number of volumes that the library MUST contain, for example.) The RA bodies are indeed trying to address this, but they are not there yet.

 

And CNU is in WASC territory, which is a tough place to be for a DL school seeking accreditation.

 

Interesting and candid post, Manjunath.

 

Has WASC ever accreditied any distance only schools?

 

No.

 

More fools they.

 

Saybrook is distance-only, if you interpret "distance" to include short-residencies. I'm not sure if this was the case when they were first accredited. More recently WASC accredited Pacifica Graduate Institute, which requires 3 days a month attendance, plus one week in the summer. I think that Fielding, Pacifica's Santa Barbara neighbor is all short-residency as well.

 

I do believe it’s safe to say that DETC has more experience in accrediting distance education programs than all the regional bodies combined.

 

That's certainly true. Even TRACS (for those who are OK with its religious stance) has more experience with DL accreditation.