Sometimes, it is just not logical for a person to devote all of his time to pursuing higher education. This can be due to social responsibilities, financial difficulties, careers or anything else in their life. In these cases, the best solution comes in the form of accredited online degree programs that are designed precisely for these types of people. However, because of the popularity of accredited online degree programs, there are many fake accreditation scams operating online. In order to see through such scams, you need to understand the inherent process of accreditation and its implications. Here are a few details:
What is the accreditation process?
This process is a widely accepted standard of judging the legitimacy and quality of an educational institution before it can offer legitimate, accredited online degree programs. For an educational institution to offer accredited online degree programs, it has to go through a stringent evaluation process from the accrediting agency. Once the process runs its course without any hitches, the institutionÕs accredited online degree programs can be trusted.
How do you verify the legitimacy of an accrediting agency that has accredited online degree programs?
Although the system varies from one country to another, in the US the accrediting agencies are primarily nonprofit, privately held entities, instead of being directly controlled by the government. However, the US government does recognize accrediting agencies by way of the US Department of Education (USDE). Furthermore, a regulating body known as the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), made up of a network of schools, also has its own recognition process.
What are the different types of accreditation agencies?
Accreditation agencies in the US can be categorized into three groups. The following is a list with their descriptions:
- National accreditation agencies
As the name suggests, national accreditation agencies work throughout the country and are not limited by any state borders. On the basis of the accredited online degree programs that they deal with, these can further be sub-grouped into specialized, professional, private or career.
- Regional accreditation agencies
These are accreditation agencies that only operate in a certain region. However, this means that they can focus on their purview more, which, in turn, results in stronger, more stringent standards. Some schools prefer to get national agencies accredited online degree programs instead of regional agencies accredited online degree programs. Regional accreditation means that the school has met very high standards though. Some of these include New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges, Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the Higher Learning Commission, Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
- Religious accreditation agencies
These are specialized accreditation agencies that focus on schools with faith-based programs because most schools providing faith-based programs do not agree with the accreditation standards of other accreditation agencies. Some of these include the Association for Biblical Higher Education Commission on Accreditation, Association of Advanced Rabbinical and Talmudic Schools, Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools Accreditation Commission.
