The Importance of Accreditation for Online Accounting Degree Programs
Accreditation is one of the most important factors you should consider when deciding which online university is the right place for you to pursue a degree in accounting. There are serious drawbacks to earning a degree that is not accredited by a recognized accrediting agency. Read on to find out what the risks are of attending a non-accredited institution, and how to tell if a school is accredited or not.
What is Accreditation?
In short, accreditation applies objective standards to post-secondary education. In order to become accredited, the faculty and curriculum of a school submit to the accreditation process, wherein they are judged by a particular standard. If your school is accredited by a recognized accrediting agency, then you can rest assured that your degree at least meets the minimum standards of a decent education. If your school is not accredited, or has been accredited by a shady accrediting agency, then your degree might not be worth the paper it's printed on.
Drawbacks of Attending a Non-Accredited School
If your school is not accredited, or has been accredited by a non-recognized agency, these are some of the problems you might face:
- If you decide to change schools, your credits might not transfer.
- Your degree might not be accepted by possible employers or other educational institutions when you apply for a job or for admittance into a graduate program.
- You will not be eligible for federal financial aid.
- Your school may be a diploma mill, and your classes may be giving you a less-than-stellar education that will not prepare you for a career in your field.
Buyer Beware
It is relatively simple to set up a phony university online and start defrauding people by taking their money and in return giving them worthless degrees. Many of these diploma mills claim that they have proper accreditation. So how can you tell if your school is really accredited, and with which accrediting agencies?
The U.S. Department of Education is your best resource. Though the Department of Education does not accredit educational institutions, it does maintain a list of accredited schools. The best way to protect yourself from diploma mills is, once you've decided on a few schools you want to apply to, visit the Department of Education's Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs to find out if the schools are accredited. If your school claims to be accredited, but you're leery of the accrediting agency, you can check to see if the accrediting agency is recognized by visiting the Department of Education's list of Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agencies.
Types of Accreditation
There are several different types of accrediting agencies. State agencies accredit public postsecondary programs, and private agencies can be either regional or national in scope. National accrediting agencies usually have lower quality standards than regional agencies.
Furthermore, there are two basic types of educational accreditation, “institutional” and “specialized” (or “programmatic”). Institutional accreditation is given to an entire college or university for providing a high enough quality of education. Programmatic or specialized accreditation is given to a specific part of a larger institution, such as a business school. If you're looking at accounting programs, then you should make sure that your accounting program of choice is properly accredited.
Article Resources:
U.S. Department of Education
The Higher Learning Commission
“College Degrees Without Going to Class,” The New York Times