A Look at College Accreditation

Accreditation of U.S. colleges and universities is a voluntary process designed around a "peer review" sort of system. The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) does not accredit any institutions of higher learning nor allow any institute of higher learning to operate. Rather, the USDE will choose to recognize independent accreditation agencies based on the predefined requirements of those agencies and the quality of the education of the institution it accredits. The job of allowing schools to exist and operate is a right granted to the individual states by the U.S. Constitution.

The USDE recognizes two main types of accrediting agencies, regional and national. Regional accreditation guidelines are considered to be much stricter than national guidelines. Regional accreditation is usually associated with traditional public colleges and universities, while national accreditation is usually used to accredit private for profit vocational focused schools. It should be noted, however, that several for profit schools have attained regional accreditation.

While accreditation of higher learning institutions is a voluntary process, meaning that no school has to apply for accreditation, earning accreditation by a government recognized agency is like a seal of guarantee that the school has established itself and its programs to a level of government satisfaction. Many schools will choose to not seek accreditation for various political, religious, and / or financial reasons. The process of accreditation is not cheap, so less popular schools with few students, while still providing a genuinely good education to their students, may not be able to afford the process.

The biggest goal of accreditation is to weed out diploma mills from the nation's education system. A diploma mill is a school that prints degrees while not offering quality education. Diploma mills have become quite profitable over the years thanks to the Internet, but a degree issued by a diploma mill is only as valuable as the paper it's printed on, and employers have learned to spot diploma mill generated degrees. In some states, people can even be charged with a crime if they attempt to gain a job using a diploma they bought online or through the mail from an unaccredited institution. Degrees earned from accredited schools shows the world that a level of work was done to earn the degree, a minimum of knowledge was learned to earn the degree, and a level of dedication was spent on earning the degree. Diploma mill degrees only show the world that you were able to afford whatever price the mill was charging for the degree at the time.

Again, it should be noted that just because a school is not accredited, it does not mean that the school does not offer quality education. An unaccredited school, however, should be approached with caution, and students should conduct their own research in order to affirm the validity of the school prior to enrolling.

For a list of currently recognized accrediting agencies, visit the USDE website. Visit each individual accrediting agency website for a list of schools currently accredited by the respective agency.

Diploma Mills and Accreditation - Accreditation. U.S. Department of Education.