When you are searching for a college, how do you verify if your chosen college has the right institutional accreditation. The importance of institutional accreditation is huge. Depending on what the accreditation is, you will be able to advance your education or apply for certain employments. For instance, most of the federal or state employers, fortune 500 companies and fastest growing companies are looking for graduates from regionally accredited colleges. Tuition reimbursement from employers helps students like you and me to clear our student loans and not get inundated with bad debts, thus saving our credit score and become more financially independent. Most human resource departments of renowned companies set guidelines for tuition reimbursements, which are applied only for regionally accredited college’ graduates. As you can see, the importance of choosing the right institutional accreditation, regional accreditation.
It's not our fault that we do not know how to find the right accreditation. Many times we relied on resources provided by colleges at their websites. Colleges who are not regionally accredited, don’t disclose the information or put it in fine print. Many colleges will tell you that they are accredited. However, your next question towards them should be, “ what type of accreditation your college has? Is it regional?” Many colleges have national accreditation, which is not the same as regional accreditation. You have to understand the difference between the regional and national accreditation. Here is a prime example.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan of Illinois state on Jany, 2012 filed a lawsuit against the national, for-profit college Westwood for engaging in deceptive practices that left Chicago area students with up to $70,000 each in debt for degrees that failed to qualify them for careers in criminal justice.
Madigan’s lawsuit alleges that, through marketing its criminal justice program, Westwood falsely convinced students they could pursue a law enforcement career with agencies such as the Chicago Police Department, Illinois State Police and suburban police departments, even though those employers don’t recognize a Westwood degree due to its lack of regional accreditation.
What is regional accreditation?
Regional accreditation is the educational accreditation of schools, colleges, and universities in the United States by one of twelve regional accrediting agencies. Each regional accreditor oversees the vast majority of public and private educational institutions, both not-for-profit and for-profit, within its region.
The accrediting organizations identified in this directory are recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
Regional Accrediting Organizations 2015-2016
Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC)
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Web: www.accjc.org
Scope of Accreditation
Associate degree-granting institutions in California, Hawaii, the Territories of Guam and American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. (2003)
Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
Recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, January 2015
Scope of Accreditation
Degree granting institutions incorporated in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming or federally authorized sovereign nations that are authorized (licensed) by the same state or nation to award higher degrees (associate, baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degrees (both research and professional)). (2012)
Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
Web: www.msche.org
Scope of Accreditation
Degree-granting institutions which offer one or more postsecondary educational programs, including those offered via distance education, of at least one academic year in length in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other geographical areas outside the United States in which the Commission conducts accrediting activities. (2013)
New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC-CIHE)
Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
Recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, September 2013
Scope of Accreditation
The accreditation of institutions that award the bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees and associate's degree-granting institutions that include in their offerings at least one program in liberal studies or another area of study widely available at the baccalaureate level of regionally accredited colleges and universities in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and internationally. (2013)
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
Web: www.sacscoc.org
Scope of Accreditation
Regional accrediting body for degree-granting institutions of higher education in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Latin America, and other Commission approved international sites, including the accreditation of programs offered via distance and correspondence education within these institutions. (2014)
WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)
Web: www.wascsenior.org
Scope of Accreditation
Baccalaureate degree or higher institutions in California, Hawaii, and the Pacific Basin; institutions that offer programs outside the United States when such institutions are capable of being reviewed effectively by WASC processes. (2014)
How do I find out my school's’ accreditation?
Answer is very simple. Now that you know the accrediting organisation, click at the website and look for the listing of the schools. Here is an example of how you can find the step by step guide to find out your school’ accreditation.
Jane lives in Chicago, Illinois. She is trying to enroll into Elmhurst College. She wants to know the if Elmhurst College is regionally accredited.
Step 1:
Jane clicked on Higher Learning Commission's website.
The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an independent corporation that was founded in 1895 as one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. HLC accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in the North Central region, which includes the following 19 states (Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming).
Step 2:
Jane clicked the HLC institution tab and then open up the search page for HLC institutions:
Step 3:
Jane insert ELmhurst College in Illinois and found out that the school is in accredited status with HLC.
Once you conduct a search once, the next search will be piece of cake.
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