Distance Education Programs and Accreditation

Distance Learning Education

No doubt you’ve heard that it is critical to make sure the online education program you finally choose is actually authorised. But are you aware the reason? In addition, do you actually understand what accreditation involves? If you do not then that is certainly all right. Read on to find out all that’s necessary to find out on the subject of distance learning education and accreditation.

Exactly what does accreditation mean

Accreditation can mean the distinction between receiving a diploma that’s valuable or one that’s worthless. Accreditation serves as a formal review of a distance education program to ensure it satisfies all of the standards that have been defined by the agencies which give accreditation. At this time there are six accrediting agencies that are identified by the National Board of Education. These six agencies consist of:

• 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)

Exactly why is accreditation necessary?

Accreditation is a way to make sure that all learners learn the same types of information regardless of the specific school the person attends.  Accreditation is also a way of stating to prospective companies the student has acquired an excellent education and has learned knowledge that are applicable in today’s marketplace.

Other forms of accreditation

In addition to institutional accreditation, there is a different sort of accreditation called ‘specialized accreditation’. Specialized accreditation is usually granted to an individual department or educational program contained within bigger school or university. This might be, as an example, a College of Medicine that’s part of a larger university, or maybe a certain specialized training program within the university for instance a teacher certification program that’s taught by a university.

Often, a college that has a specialized accreditation also holds an institutional accreditation by one of the aforementioned 6 accreditation agencies.

Should you be looking at going after a career in one of the career fields that commonly have specialized accreditation programs available, which include many health and medicine programs, commercial art and design, theology, engineering, culinary arts, accounting and law, check to see if the distance learning education program you’re considering participates in this type of accreditation. That way you’ll have a better chance of obtaining a top-paying career when you graduate.

How to check out a distance learning education program’s accreditation

It might surprise you to find out there is an accreditation organization whose job it is to accreditate other accreditation organizations. That is the education industry’s means of ensuring that no phony accreditation organizations spring up to aid diploma mills and low-quality schools.
This organization is called the Council on Higher Education Accreditation and they run a online site at www.chea.org. Only established accreditors and accredited schools are allowed to be on this web site.
If the online education college in which you are considering enrolling claims to be accredited and either that school or the agency that accreditates it is not listed on the CHEA.org site, you need to investigate further as something is definitely wrong.