BAC ACCREDITATION

Does this sort of accreditation give a school total validity? Schools like Charisma University are BAC accredited. Is it any good?

 

Hopefully, we get a few definite answers

 

Does any accreditation give a school "total validity"?

My understanding is that BAC is a British further education accreditor. The UK makes a big distinction between further education and higher education. (Here in the US, that distinction isn't as large.)

https://www.gov.uk/further-education-courses

Further education refers to all the typically-vocational programs in the UK that award diplomas but not degrees. They range from the English language ESL schools to Higher National Diplomas.

Higher education refers to the kind of advanced education that results in university degrees.

In the UK, all higher education institutions that award domestic UK degrees must by law be accredited by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (the QAA).

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/recognised-uk-degrees

"All UK universities and other degree-awarding bodies (recognised bodies), whether publicly funded or not, must undergo review by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)."

The BAC (and ASIC) have no part in this. In the UK context, they are not university accreditors.

I'm hugely skeptical about Charisma University and my suggestion is that you avoid it.

BAC? It seems to have some value and some credibility accrediting non-degree-granting post-secondary vocational-type schools physically located in the UK. The UK Border Agency recognizes it for purposes of granting student visas. But accrediting degree-granting universities located outside the UK? Not really.

 

Thanks for making sense out of this for me. This is an eye-opener. And yes nothing like "total" validity should've said recognition.

 

I have not checked out BAC but I have problems with Charisma University and anyone who "accredits" Charisma University is suspect in my book.

 

lol...Reasons?

 

You are doing great work from SMC to BAC to CU.

 

It's called information gathering for informed decisions.

 

Elbulk, I suggest you do a search on Charisma University, both here at DI and also at degreediscussion.com. (DD is now a dead forum, but was alive at the time of the following...)

You will find many posts addressing Charisma's 2014 lawsuit against several members of DD and DI who opined that Charisma was a less-than-credible institution. Although several defendants were named in the litigation, only one member of DD and DI, Rich Douglas, could be located by the head honcho of Charisma. Douglas ultimately won the case (and Charisma, in turn, lost), and you can follow their adventures in detail on these forums.

Since Dr. Oplaka of Charisma is prone to suing people whom he dislikes, I would hesitate to call him or his so-called school a sham, a scam, a con, a ripoff, or any other sleazy term. (Actually, he did try to sue me, but was unable to find me.) I will simply leave it at the notion that Charisma does not seem to enjoy a high level of respect on these forums.

 

Best wishes!

 

They do indeed. But in its Wiki and on its webpage, BAC makes it clear that it accredits schools of both further and higher education. However, that doesn't really matter, for purposes of this post.

In the accreditation process, BAC concerns itself with:

• Management, Staffing and Administration

• Teaching, Learning and Assessment

• Student Welfare

• Premises and Facilities

Whatever accreditation BAC confers - has nothing to do with a school's ability/inability to confer degrees. Not part of the picture. BAC notwithstanding, the school either has authority or doesn't, according to the rules in its country. And with private schools abroad, one should always be alert for the possibility that a licensed school may legally award degrees - but the degrees may not have the same standing as mainstream universities in that country. Sometimes they may have no standing at all.

If you're enrolling at a foreign school, make sure beforehand that the degree you earn will be valid where you're going to use it!

 

BAC is ASIC's competitor. Legitimate, slightly clueless and, like ASIC, has no remit outside the UK.

 

Now I know

 

I strongly agree. (I'm agreeing with Kizmet! That's a shock to both of us, I'm sure.)

The ultimate test of a university accreditor is the nature of the universities that it accredits. That's especially true at the low end, since the least credible school on the roster is an indication of what the accreditor's minimum standards effectively are.

 

I agree that an accreditor might place different kinds of demands on associates degree programs and on Ph.D. programs. But given similar programs at the same degree level, I'd say that the least credible school that NEASC accredits kind of indicates what NEASC accreditation really means, the size of the hurdle that an applicant school must clear in order to become NEASC accredited. I think that's true of every accreditor.

If an accreditor accredits Axact mills (and we've seen it, though not from BAC as far as I know) then that tells us something fundamentally important about what it takes to become accredited by that accreditor.

 

People have told me that if you lay down for a while it will generally pass

 

On a slightly more serious note, I wrote that BAC would be "suspect" but even that is a status that allows for exoneration if sufficient new information is made available. I looked at a portion of the institutions that are accredited by BAC and I'd guess that the vast majority are decent places. A small percentage are non-British and when you look at them they are seemingly OK as well (although I didn't even try to scratch the surface). Why does the American University of Culture and Education in Lebanon want BAC accreditation? I don't know and I'm not prepared to say that they are anything other than a legit institution. But we also know that some bogus accreditors will accredit anything if you pay the fee. So I remain suspicious but it's possible that my suspicions are baseless. It's not likely but it's possible.

 

The fact is BAC is a low level private accrediter. It seems only useful to get a visa to study in the Uk. There are a few of these similar institutions that the immigration will let you study at in Canada, but the education is useless in Canada. The only people who are aware of these institutions are immigrants who are looking for students visas.