New DEAC Accredited Schools

I think the state should regulate and accredit universities. Interestingly, Canada does not have a department of education. It is a provincial responsibility.[/QUOTE]

Canada has ten provinces. The U.S. has fifty states. I can't imagine the diversity there would be in accreditation standards. I would hate to think some states would lower expectations in states that already have low K-12 standards.

 

DEAC once accredited 100 or more schools and now they only accredit 90. I am wondering whether it is worth the time and energy for a new school to seek accreditation from DEAC .

 

Can you elaborate on this statement? Do you mean that because DEAC now accredits 10% less schools than in the past then it is not a viable accreditor anymore? Or do you mean that DEAC, if it was indeed once a viable accreditor and still was, should be accrediting many multiples of schools than it formerly did (i.e. 200 or 300 +)? Just seeking some clarification.

 

I think the state should regulate and accredit universities. Interestingly, Canada does not have a department of education. It is a provincial responsibility.[/QUOTE]

Membership in Universities Canada normally is what we look for the university to be recognized and this is a national wide body, not an accreditation body but it acts like one in practice:
https://www.univcan.ca/

There are some private universities that are provincially charted but are not members, normally these schools are a bit of a gray area as some professional associations would recognize them while others not. Some private schools have one to one deals with professional associations.

As for American schools, they must be evaluated by a member of CICIC in order to be recognized in Canada https://www.cicic.ca/. Most professional associations honor reports coming from CICIC members including immigration Canada.

I believe some people here have mentioned that they have not been able to evaluate DEAC accredited degrees as equivalent to Canadian degrees for some reason. I know that NARIC UK refuses them. NARIC UK reports are normally also honored by some professional associations in Canada as well.

For non regulated professions such as business, it is up to the employer to recognize the degree. However, most employment agencies that hire MBAs such as Robert Half look at the recognized status of the schools, I am not so sure if a DEAC MBA would be recognized by Robert Half, Deloitte, or similar companies that hire MBAs. I have seen in Toronto people teaching at colleges with DEAC degrees so I guess there is some market for them.

I have a friend with a DEAC MBA in Toronto, he is self employed so only uses it to attract customers and enhance his linked in profile.

 

Their standards have gotten stricter since the newest leadership change that took place some years ago. We've witnessed some schools get spanked and axed for pulling shenanigans that in the past they would've gotten away with. This is the kind of leadership the DETC/DEAC needed and Dr. Leah Matthews is providing it. Don't look at the drop in schools as a bad thing, look at it for what it is: an improvement in quality control.

 

What you state may be accurate but the overall perception of credibility of DEAC schools has not nearly ascended to the level of regionally accredited schools.

 

Nor did he say or even imply that they have. That said, the perception of their credibility also isn't in the landfill the way some nuts around here attempt to portray it.

 

I'll also make the true statement that many regionally accredited schools are trash and operate at quality levels below ASIC standards, forget about the DEAC. I went to a few, and from that I learned to judge each school individually rather than getting caught up in herd-hate mentalities against schools of certain accreditation folds.

 

Here is my occasional reminder that the only study I know of, comparing acceptance of DEAC schools vs. regionally accredited ones is the one that Rich Douglas and I did 19 years ago. At that time, about 40% of RA schools generally accepted DEAC, 40$ regularly did not, the rest in between. Predictably things have changed since 2000, but it would be lovely if someone replicated our study to find out.