I believe that this subject has been between to death but I still need to ask. What is the difference between 1-5 below and can give examples of schools associated with. I seem to be getting so many different opinions. 1. No Accreditation 2. State Accreditation 3. Regional Accreditation 4. National Accreditation 5. Professional Accreditation (i.e. AACSB) Thanks
I posted a thread about a year ago, and another thread was posted about a month ago on this exact subject. You may want to do a search. A great deal of it is based on what you want to do with the degree.
If you can find a copy of Bears' Guide (15th ed.) in a library (or a bookstore with chairs), Chapter 9 ("Accredited vs. Unaccredited: how does one decide") gives my long answer to this. The only short answer, or advice, is that whatever you do, be as certain as you can that it meets not only your present needs, but your predictable future ones.
Start by reading Rich Douglas's piece: http://web.archive.org/web/20030611055839/http://degree.net/news/guestcolumn01.html Note, in particular, the sentence: "The fact that 'national' denotes a level below 'regional' is another confusing and counter-intuitive aspect of accreditation." Your #3 and #4 should be interchanged. And you mean "State Licensure" or "State Approval", not "State Accreditation". US states (except possibly New York State) do not accredit schools; private organizations representing schools do.
Asking the question again will just generate more opinions 1. No Accreditation Self-explanatory. Lack of accreditation means that we lack the familiar forms of external quality assurance. A non-accredited school may or may not provide a good education, but it's difficult for outsiders to tell. Odds are very good that the school is substandard, since most schools that avoid outside scrutiny do so because they know that they would fail to satisfy it. 2. State Accreditation Technically doesn't exist. Every state has laws requiring the licensing of degree granting post-secondary institutions. A state license says that a school is operating legally, but it doesn't say very much about the school's academic credibility unless one is familiar with the particular state process that it met. State licensing standards range from virtually nonexistent to rather strict. 3. Regional Accreditation Has evolved into the de-facto national standard. Generally speaking, when people speak of "accredited colleges", regional accreditation is understood. Many people are unaware that any other kinds of accreditation exist. 4. National Accreditation Overlaps with professional accreditation. National accreditors are specialized accreditors that are recognized by the US Dept. of Education as stand-alone institutional accreditors in some cases. That means that they don't only look at a particular department's specialized educational offerings, they also examine a school's administration and finances to make sure that the school can reliably offer the specialized programs. This category is increasingly complicated by several accreditors whose specialization is so broad that it overlaps the regional accreditors' general interests. DETC accredits distance education programs in any subject. AALE accredits liberal arts programs, which takes in a lot of territory. ACICS is expanding from a vocational business accreditor into a more general function. ACCSCT accredits vocational/trades-type programs in many fields. 5. Professional Accreditation (i.e. AACSB) Are specialized accreditors that don't serve as stand-alone institutional accreditors. They only accredit specialized programs within larger institutions that already have institutional accreditation from a different accreditor. They don't worry very much about overall administration and finances. Professional accreditors concern themselves with specialized programs and departments that offer courses in their area of interest, be it business (AACSB) or engineering (ABET).
I agree with all of the above posters, with one small nit: 3. State Accreditation. Only one state, New York, is recognized by the USDoE as an accrediting agency. Also, Indiana calls its recognition "accreditation," even though (1) it is not accreditation in the accepted sense in higher education ("approval" is more accurate) and (2) such recognition would not meet GAAP.
Bogus accreditation is equivalent to no accreditation. Degree mills often claim that they are accredited by fake and unrecognized accreditation agencies. Ike Okonkwo, PhD
Thank you all for your responces. As far as foreign schools, in particular UNISA, how does this hold up in the US in both recognition and ability to use for University employment. Thanks once more