Accreditation in the US vs Other Countries

I've noticed that a good number of members are not aware of how accreditation works in other countries or parts of the world outside the US and this makes them use the American system as the default standard.
For instance, in Nigeria, we Have the NUC (National Universities Commission) that accredit universities that offer degrees (and colleges affiliated to universities)
NBTE (National Board for Technical Education) who accredit polytechnics and other technical colleges for OND (Ordinary National Diploma), HND (Higher National Diploma), NID (National Innovative Diploma)
NCCE (National Commission for Colleges of Education) who accredit colleges of education for NCE (National Certificate of Education)

OND,NID,NCE will be the equivalent of an associate degree because they are 2-year diplomas (except the NCE which is 3 years)
WES evaluates the HND as an RA degree equivalent because it takes an additional 2 years to get so is the equivalent of a 4-year college degree.
Masters Degrees and Doctorates from Nigeria also are evaluated as American Equivalents as long they are accredited by the NUC.
When it comes to Business degrees, the additional recognitions are really not popular here. Lagos Business School ( https://www.lbs.edu.ng/ ) is probably the only school with AACSB & AMBA accreditations as it is a top business school in this part of Africa. They also have an undergraduate university called Pan Atlantic University ( https://pau.edu.ng/ )

 

This is the type post that might be a useful reference years from now. Consider asking a moderator to change the name to something like "Accreditation from Nigeria equivalents to USA Accreditation".

 

Lot of good info here, Elbulk. Thanks.

One question: Are we sure all these 2-yr diplomas come out to US evaluation of Associate degrees. I know for a fact there are a lot of Canadian 2-yr College diplomas that don't spec. out to Associate - or any kind of degree in US. (I have one that doesn't.) Conversely, in some Canadian provinces here nowadays, many 2-yr courses are now called Associate Degree programs from word 'go' and that's the credential you get at the end. Solves the problem - but only for those programs.

Again - are we sure those 2 yr college programs (diplomas) you mention are all acceptable as 2 yr degrees in US? Or are you just assuming? My Canadian one (Niagara College, 1989 - a fully-recognized Ontario Community College) and many many others won't cut it. I have no idea why, except possibly, because they're NOT degrees here at home, (they're diplomas) they can't be considered as degrees any place else -or at least, not in the US. Not sure.

 

And just for interest, I point out that a British HND is usually evaluated as equivalent to an Associate Degree. Yet a Nigerian one equates to a full US Bachelor's degree? Is this always (or mostly) the case? It seems unusual - especially so when I'm told that the Nigerian HND Diploma takes 4 years to earn. Usually, it's a 2 year process in UK or other countries using the British (or similar) system.

Makes me wonder why Nigeria would have both Bachelor's and HND programs - if they both have the same completion time. Generally, in UK and other countries, the (usually 2 year) HND can stand alone or be used as a springboard to a Bachelor's, cutting 2 years off the process. If both programs are 4-year in Nigeria, what's the rationale? Any idea?

 

A further funny story. I had pretty good marks on that diploma - and consequently, although it wasn't a degree, a couple of GOOD American schools offered to put me in 3rd year of a 4-year program at 50% of regular tuition - which meant $7500 a year back then, instead of $15 K, which was about 3 times the Canadian cost in those days. Both schools were in NY State and no more than 30 miles from my front door in Canada. I could have commuted, but...

I didn't go. I would have liked to - but it was an offer for full-time study and I was working f/t and had a lot of years in. I needed all the money I could save for my upcoming retirement 4 years later. Oh well...

Went to a Canadian Uni after I retired. They gave me practically NO credit for the diploma. That sucked, but I went anyway. The teaching was OK and I did fine marks-wise - but OML - The Administration!! Bad memories!!

 

The vast majority of posters on this board are in the U.S. One might expect conversations regarding accreditation to be rather U.S.-centric.

Further, because of the make-up of this board, how university recognition functions in other countries really isn't an issue. No one really cares how. They care about "if."

But even that has its limits. So, there was a time when people who make such decisions relied upon authoritative sources like the Commonwealth Universities Yearbook and others to determine what is and is not a university to recognize. This worked fine when the numbers of theses decisions were small. But as the world gets smaller--and technology allows us to take degrees from universities around the world--answering the question shifted to a more dynamic process with the rise of foreign degree evaluation agencies. This is where we sit today.

The one fly in the ointment are those setups where the school sells degree programs outside its official scope--usually to people outside their countries' borders. But again, fodder for discussion here, but almost unseen outside this board. (Mavens can get quite detailed in the pursuit of their passions. Don't get me started about swing weight and moment-of-inertia.)

Just as we have sketchy accreditation agencies here in the U.S.--some recognized, many more not (or even completely fake)--we have certain countries whose university systems are highly suspect. But you probably already knew that.

 

From this statement, are we expected to infer anything about Nigeria, the country under discussion, its entire University System and the NUC that oversees it, as all being "highly suspect?" Or did the thread just migrate to another part of the world entirely? ¡Dígame, señor!

 

Deleted

 

Spoken by a U.S. member who sought out - and holds - an overseas (UK) Doctorate.

We have members, with valuable knowledge to share from many parts of the world - and there are plenty of US members who are smart enough to listen to them, ask questions and learn about education in other countries. People with invaluable resources to share - mintaru (and others) in Germany, tadj (Poland) , asianphd , Stanislav (now in US) msganti (our Indian / South Asian guru) mbwa shenzi, -- just for starters.

It's a BIG mistake to project your own feelings onto our membership at large.

 

I thought you had me on ignore? If not, perhaps that would be best.

 

Thank you for the feedback.

 

No, thank you.

 

Apologies I'm replying late, I've been up and about. So if it's an OND (Ordinary National Diploma) yes it does have the AS Degree equivalence but if it's say a university/polytechnic professional diploma then it may not. However, my sister moved to the USA in 2019, she had a university 2-year diploma and a HND from a Polytechnic and both were accepted to be evaluated as a degree.

 

The thing is a good number of people in authority do not understand what change should look like. Every HND in Nigeria is degree equivalent even though there's the "dichotomy" a lot of times but for no valid reason other than that it is called a diploma.
So recently the Lagos state governor sought and got approval to "upgrade" the state polytechnic to become a University of technology and the 2 colleges of education to be merged to become a university of education.
Some of them offer degrees in partnership with universities and give the degrees for the universities but this too has to be accredited by the NUC.
Bureaucracy plays a major role in why some things are not done.
If you want to qualify as a chartered accountant, the body sees the HND and Degree as the same and you both will start from the same entry-level of professional exams. Some schools allow HNDs directly to some masters programs but the truth is the HND graduates are usually more hands-on with the technical courses.

 

Same here. Bureaucracy plays a major role in EVERYTHING!
Thanks for your kind and detailed explanation. I learned from it. Always good to hear from you.

 

Always my pleasure, thank you too