The federal goverment is happy with a nationally accredited degree.

The federal goverment is happy with a nationally accredited degree according to the office of personel management. If this is correct, do you see a need for a RA degree for a goverment employee?

 

In an era of cutbacks, how can a government employee count on remaining one all his life?

 

Apples & Oranges

This may surprise you, but the Federal government also recoginizes the Eagle Scout award.

Maybe the Feds should settle for "having been a Boy Scout" instead of RA or National accreditation?

 

Hi Mark

That is an idea.

 

Yes and no. Like everything else in life, it depends.

One disagreement that I have with some people on Degreeinfo is that they tend to treat degrees as if they are generic fungible commodities: a degree is a degree, so long as the accreditation obsessions are honored.

I'm not sure that it always works that way. I see it more as a continuum.

On one end there are positions where holding a particular degree is a generic requirement, a formality. All applicants must have a bachelors degree. An insider needs a masters degree for a promotional position. In these cases, pretty much any recognized degree would work.

There may be cases in the middle of the continuum where things are more competitive and the degree becomes an important factor, but where it's still kind of generic. Some MBA and teaching slots may fall here. I think that this is where it's most advantageous to grduate from a prestige university.

And at the far end of the spectrum are jobs in which education is a critical deciding factor, where the employer is specifically looking for individuals expert in particular things.

The National Park Service might be hiring a masters level historian. They don't want a generic historian, they want a civil war historian. And they would probably prefer a civil war historian that's expert on the specific battles that took place at the National Battlefield Parks where they foresee assigning that applicant.

In that case an American Military University civil war military history graduate may shine more brightly than a great many less specialized RA applicants, even if the latter graduated from superficially "better" schools.

But if the openings are at colonial sites, they might opt instead for somebody from William and Mary. Not only is W&M highly prestigious, but more relevantly it's optimized in colonial history and in historic preservation.

You see this kind of specificity a lot in the sciences. I've observed a couple of biotech interviews. They were technical, intended in part to determine if the applicant was able to think creatively about the company's specific research problems. Accreditation was never mentioned. (Of course, biotech Ph.D.s are pretty much all RA or equivalent.) "Tiers" and rankings never came up. (I believe the interviewer was familiar with the applicant's department.) What counted was research experience and creativity in those areas the company was interested in.

So, to sum up a little, I think that schools with non-standard accreditation work best in non-competitive situations, or in situations where the competition revolves around things other than degrees.

When things are competitive and the degree counts, schools with non-standard accreditation probably work best when they can bring something special to the table, where the unique features of their program can actually be a tie-breaker in an applicant's favor. AMU's unusual offerings do that pretty well, I think.

There's something else to think about: The category of "NA" takes in a lot. It can't always be dismissed as just the accreditation minor leagues.

I think that the dividing line between "national accreditation" and "specialized accreditation" is very blurry. Most of the national accreditors are in fact specialized accreditors that sometimes serve as the institutional accreditors of specialized schools.

I don't think that the National Association of Schools of Art and Design is in any way second best. Practicing artists would probably respect a NASAD art school more than an RA college with a perfunctory art department. That might translate into an advantage in hiring for some design jobs.

I don't know. Maybe I'm rambling here. If so, sorry. But my gut is uncomfortable with creating simplistic rules and then applying them blindly.

 

Becoming an Eagle Scout is not a insignificant accomplishment.

http://www.usscouts.org/advance/boyscout/bsrank7.html

Unlike many other awards/qualifications, an Eagle Scout must complete all requirements before his 18th birthday.

Eagle Scouts may enlist in the Navy at paygrade E-2. Some other accomplishments that may allow for advanced paygrade upon enlistment:

Girl Scout Gold Award - E-2.
30 semester hours of college - E-2.
45 semester hours of college - E-3.
900 hours vocational school - E-2.
1800 hours vocational school - E-3.
Talking your friends into enlisting - E-2 or E-3 depending on numer of enlistees and/or program.
2 years Sea Cadets/JROTC - E-2.
3 years Sea Cadets/JROTC - E-3.

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/blnavyadvancedrank.htm?terms=navy+advanced

 

Just one more thought

I was never involved with the BSA myself, but if I remember correctly there were two Eagle Scouts in my high school class. One went to West Point. The other also went to college immediately after graduation, University Delaware maybe?

 

Carlos,

The answer to your question is: strictly speaking, a nationally accredited degree is fine for govt service.

May I suggest ISIM - they just started offering BA's - very reasonable

 

Thanks David

 

ISIM is now Aspen University.

 

There might be situations where having a degree from a nationally accredited school might not be acceptable, but there doesn't seem to be a concrete policy across the board. There are many cases where government employees are working with the benefit of degrees from unaccredited schools, for example. There are yet other situations where such degrees would be useless.

 

In fact, unless otherwide stated (USMC OCS for example) the Federal Govt HAS a policy of accepting national accreditation.

It's logically consistent, Federal agancies accepting degrees from school recognized by the Federal govt.

Got it now?

 

Got what? We know there are examples where nationally accredited degrees are acceptable. We also know of situations where unaccredited degrees get in. But what about policy across the board? That's what I asked about. If you can cite some sweeping policy on this matter, fine. I'd love to see it. But don't act as if I don't "get it."

As for your logic, it doesn't always apply. In California, for example, degrees from California-approved schools are useless for admission to California's state university systems.

 

And California-approved schools do not qualify as the degree portion of the requirements for a teaching credential issued from the State of California.



Tom Nixon

 

Actually RD, you ARE acting as if you don't "get it".

This thread's focus is about whether a NA degree is acceptable for Fed Govt employment - you know - working for a living.

Your citing of Califonia-approved schools and California state university systems clearly implies that you have no idea of what the Federal Govt IS or what this thread IS.

It will, however count towards your 4,000th post.

Got that?

 

Typical. "Thanks," Dave.

 

My question is simple. Are degrees accredited or are schools accredited? My understanding is that schools are accredited and not degrees.

 

Re: Re: The federal goverment is happy with a nationally accredited degree.

All the regional accrediting bodies and most of the others (such as DETC) are institutional accreditors, they technically don’t accredit individual programs. They accredit colleges or universities. The American Bar Association accredits individual programs. (The ABA accredits the Juris Doctor but not the LLM.) But this is rare and my guess is that most attorneys and state bar don't even realize this.

 

Re: Re: The federal goverment is happy with a nationally accredited degree.

While technically colleges are accredited (with some exceptions), it is common to discuss degrees as being accredited.



Tom Nixon

 

What has been cut?