Accredited Distance Education Degrees

Distance Learning - How to Verify a School's Accreditation

By Carl Street, Pupbrothers.com

It's important to make certain the distance education plan you choose is an accredited distance learning program. Do you understand what accreditation means? Read on to find out all you need to know about accredited distance education degrees.

 

What does accreditation mean?

Accreditation can mean the difference between obtaining a diploma that is legit or one that is worthless. Distance learning accreditation is actually an official analysis of distance education courses to guarantee that it meets all of the criteria that has been outlined by the agencies that award accreditation. Right now there are 6 accrediting agencies that are recognized by the National Board of Education. These 6 agencies are:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)

North Central Association of Schools and Colleges (NCASC)

Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (MSASC)

Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS)

Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WACS)

Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NWCCU)

 

 

Why is accreditation important?

Accreditation is a way to guarantee that all students learn the same types of information regardless of the individual distance learning institutions they may attend. Accreditation is also a way of assuring possible employers that students have received quality schooling and have achieved skills that are pertinent in the modern marketplace.

Other types of accreditation

In addition to institutional accreditation, there is another kind of accreditation called 'specialized accreditation'. Specialized accreditation is typically awarded to an individual department or distance education degree program inside a bigger school or college. This could be, for example, a College of Medicine which is part of a larger university, or just a particular specialized course of learning within the school such as a trainer certification course that's given by a school.

Typically, a school that carries a specialized accreditation also carries an institutional accreditation by one of the aforementioned six accreditation agencies.

If you're considering pursuing a career in one of the fields that normally have specialized accreditation programs offered, which comprise many health and medicine programs, commercial art and design, theology, distance learning engineering, culinary arts, accounting education online, and law, verify to see if the online learning center you're considering participates in this sort of accreditation so you'll have better luck landing a high-paying job when you are finished with your education online.

How to verify a distance learning course's accreditation

It might amaze you to learn there is an accreditation organization whose job it is to accreditate all other accreditation organizations. That's the teaching trade's way of ensuring that no bogus accreditation organizations emerge to back diploma mills and low-class long distance learning schools.

This organization is called the Council on Higher Education Accreditation and they manage a web site at www.chea.org. Only recognized accreditors and online accredited education schools are allowed to appear on this web page.

If the school in which you're considering enrolling claims to be accredited and either that school or the bureau that accreditates it is not listed on the CHEA.org web site, you should investigate more as something is definitely not kosher.