Simply put, yes, accreditation is important. At least if you're concerned about your current boss, any future boss, or other schools recognizing the time and money you put into getting your degree.
To confuse things, however, a few useful and legitimate schools are unaccredited. And many phony and illegitimate agencies are issuing accreditations, making it possible for a school to be "accredited" and for that accreditation to mean absolutely nothing. The wrong accreditation can be just as bad as no accreditation at all.
Now that you're most likely quite confounded, we'll set off to make things clearer, starting with the simplest first.
What Is Accreditation?
Accreditation is a validation by independent review of educational programs for the purpose of helping establish that the learning offered is of a uniform and sound quality. In the U.S., accreditation is an entirely voluntary process done by nongovernmental agencies at an individual school's request.
The accreditation process is a lengthy one, often taking years and many tens of thousands of dollars paid by the institution wishing to be accredited. Recognized accrediting agencies judge institutions in 12 general areas during the accrediting process: curricula; faculty; facilities, equipment and supplies; fiscal and administrative capacity; student support services; program length, tuition and fees in relation to academic objectives; program length, tuition and fees in relation to credit received; student achievement (job placement, state licensing exams, etc); student loan repayments; student complaints; compliance with student aid rules and regulations; and miscellaneous (including recruiting, admissions practices, calendars, grading practices, advertising, etc.).
Why Is Accreditation Important?
As mentioned above, attending an accredited institution is the easiest way to ensure employers, professional associations and other colleges and universities recognize your degree and the hard work that went into it. If you're just out to learn for your own sake, accreditation doesn't matter, but if you want a public record, accreditation is the way to go.
While some legitimate and good schools are nonaccredited, it is highly unlikely that any very bad or illegal schools are accredited by recognized agencies.
Going with an authentically accredited school protects you against wasting time and money at "diploma" or "degree" mills, bogus universities that sell college diplomas-the piece of paper itself rather than the education behind it. At such institutions, anyone who pays the "tuition" amount-usually several thousand dollars-is given a diploma.
Who Grants Accreditation?
The answer to this question is at the root of most accreditation-related confusion. Really, anyone can grant accreditation. Someone can start a degree mill and open an accrediting agency the next day, confer accreditation upon themselves and legally say "we're accredited."
The first question to ask a school claiming to be accredited is "By whom?" In the U.S., the most widely recognized accreditations come from one of six regional accreditation boards:
- Middle States Association (MSA)
- Northwest Association of Schools & Colleges (NASC)
- North Central Association of Colleges & Schools (NCA)
- New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC)
- Southern Association of Colleges & Schools (SACS)
- Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC)
Top universities like Stanford and Princeton are regionally accredited, as are many other schools.
For distance learning programs, another reputable accreditation agency is the Distance Education & Training Council (DETC). Founded more than 75 years ago, DETC accredits numerous home-study institutions. A handful of other reputable accrediting agencies also exist.
To determine whether the agency that has issued accreditation to your prospective college is legitimate, visit www.chea.org. CHEA, the Council on Higher Education Accreditation, tracks both authentic and phony accrediting agencies.
Lastly, don't believe everything a school tells you about its accreditation until you've verified it for yourself on the CHEA web page. It seems extraordinary a school would lie about anything that can be so easily verified, but it has been done before.many times.
How Does Accreditation Affect Financial Aid?
If the benefits listed under "Why is accreditation important," aren't enough, there is one more biggie: federal aid is not available to students attending nonaccredited schools. No ifs, ands or buts about it. No accreditation, no federal aid.
What If Your School Isn't Accredited?
Let's look at a real-life example. According to the Omaha World Herald and U.S. News & World Report, Nila Nielsen, an Omaha elementary school principal, earned her Ph.D. from a nonaccredited university that very cleverly disguised the fact it is nonaccredited. Looking at the university's web site and printed literature, you'd never been able to tell. Nielsen found out about the nonaccreditation the hard way, however, when she was in the running for a position as a principal. The hiring board didn't recognize her Ph.D. because it wasn't from an accredited institution. Fortunately for Nielson, she had an accredited Master's degree and that was enough to get her the job. But she still spent time and money on a Ph.D. that she now knows is useless.
