Accreditation: Significance, Type and Impact

The word accreditation holds great importance in the world of online education. Students usually only go for universities that are accredited. However, not many of us know what the term accreditation really means or what its significance is on our online degree and in the employment community. This article aims to educate you about different aspects of accreditation. Once you finish this article, you will exactly know the role of accreditation on your degree.

Accreditation explained:

Accreditation is basically a recognition title given to universities after analyzing them on many different standards. These standards vary depending upon the type of courses the university is offering. The accreditation will tell you about the kind of instructors the university has, the financial assistance it provides the students and the assistance it receives from outside contributors. The assistance can be technological, financial and even graduate placements.

The argument on accreditation:

Today, you will find many accreditation agencies. All of these agencies recognize the online universities according to their own set of standards. Currently, there is a quarrel going on between online and traditional universities in terms of accreditation. Online universities claim that the education they provide is as good as traditional universities. Traditional universities, on the other hand, believe that online universities are not as efficient since the element of face-to-face interaction is missing.

However, the Department of Education has allotted several agencies in many regions of the U.S. who have the right to recognize online universities.

Is your university accredited?

U.S. Department of Education does not recognize online institutes. It has given this task to regional, national and international accreditation bodies that accredit online universities according to their defined standards. The accredited institutes always mention on their websites that they are accredited so you really don't have to be worried about it. If you want to double check their authenticity then you can have a look at the database collected by US Department of Education.

Some of the top accreditation agencies are:

1.         Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA)
2.         Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
3.         Distance Education and Training Council (DETC)
4.         International Accreditation Organization (IAO)
5.         New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC-CIHE)


If your university is not accredited:

There can be many reasons because of which your university might not be accredited. Usually new universities are not accredited. At times, the accreditation agency cancels the accreditation because of large number of complains. Therefore, it is always wise to check why your university is not accredited. If you find out that your university is not accredited because of the second scenario then it will be beneficial if you transfer your course credits to some other university.

To learn more about accreditation agencies click here.