State approved non-accredited colleges/universities

It can get even more confusing in New York. Most state job postings indicate that a degree needs to be from a regionally accredited university or a university approved by the Board of Regents. Any nationally accredited school in NYS is required to be approved by the board of regents.

Even more confusing is that the NY Board of Regents is recognized as an accrediting agency by the USDOE. They accredit 24 schools (in a process separate from "approval"). So a degree which might appear state approved in New York can actually be accredited.

Anyone else think life would be a little bit easier if the USDOE just recognized each state's education department as an accrediting body? I think it would send a strong message related to the stringency of Oregon and New York's approval process (and think about what it would do if lax states kept losing their recognition by USDOE).

 

No. The USDoE does NOT perform an ongoing "accredit the accreditor" program. While it maintains a list of approved accreditors, it doesn't inspect them routinely like the accrediting agencies inspect schools. Thus....

Each state would still be left to its own devices, and we've seen for decades the folly in that.

Then there's the question of whether or not the federal government would even be able to exercise that jurisdiction. (I am skeptical that it could.)

Perhaps the USDoE could take the states on that wanted such recognition, but it would still be hit-and-miss. And what if a state's vigilance waned? We saw that in California when they went to approval for all unaccredited schools in 1989.

Finally, it would create huge redundancies with the already-recognized accreditors. They're made up of their constituent schools, and they're not going anywhere.

New York state as an accreditor is an anomaly no one really cares about in the practical world. I'm not so sure go towards that model would produce anything good.

 

It would be much harder. If you want to see what the results would be like, just compare degrees to a different kind of credential -- the state professional license. For example, compare an accounting degree with an accounting (CPA) license. Professional licenses are normally issued at the state level, every state has the authority to set its own standards, and those standards typically differ from state to state.

What does this mean in practice? Well, it means that it's a major hassle to move a license from one state to another. If you are licensed as an accountant in State A, your license has no value in State B. If you want to do work in State B, you will have to re-apply for a State B license. But since states can set their own standards, the fact that you were licensed in State A does not guarantee that you will meet the standards of State B. Its's true that States A and B may use the same licensing exam, and in that case you won't have to take the exam again. But you will still have to prove that you meet State B's standards for education and experience, because these are probably not identical to those of State A.

The application and review process routinely takes weeks or months, and costs hundreds of dollars. And then, if everything is in order, you get a State B license. Of course, there are still 48 more states.

In contrast, regional accreditation is pretty much a universal standard -- it transcends state lines. So a regionally accredited accounting degree moves effortlessly from state to state -- you don't even have to think about it. Do you really want a degree that requires review and approval by each individual state?