While accreditation itself is not a process undertaken at government level, the US Department of Education does publish a list of the agencies that it deems reliable according to own procedures and criteria. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is a non-governmental body which also reviews accrediting organizations.

According to CHEA, accreditation is a “collegial process of self-review and peer review”. This means that an online college seeking to be accredited will need to put into practice a system to assess its own academic quality according to the standards of an agency and write a summary of its performance. It will also be reviewed by other experts, such as faculty members, and will receive a visit by a team from the agency. The agency then decides whether to grant accreditation or not.

Accredited status can be conferred to the institution as a whole, or to specific programs or departments within a college, depending on the nature of the school or the agency that is conducting the review.

Regional Institutional Accrediting Agencies

Prospective online degree students need to know what different types of accreditation mean and the relative importance of various regional, national and professional agencies. In particular, acceptance by one of the six regional agencies below commands particular attention:

• MSA – Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Higher Education
• NCA – North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, The Higher Learning Commission
• NEASC – New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
• NWCCU – Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
• SACS – Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
• WASC – Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities

Credit Transfer

One of the biggest concerns for higher education students is whether they will be able to transfer credits for courses already completed if they change schools in the middle of a course. National accreditation is not always as widely recognized as its regional counterpart, and so credits from regionally accredited schools are often considered more transferable – although accredited status by itself does not guarantee that you can transfer credits. If this is a concern for you, it’s wise to check on different schools’ policies before you enroll.

The situation with accrediting agencies varies from country to country. In some parts of the world, accreditation is carried out by the government. In the USA, it is performed by private accreditors on a national or regional level. Sometimes the criteria for regional accreditation are more stringent than those required by national agencies.

If you’re going to take an online degree, you’ll expect the best standard of education for your money. And a propective employer may look for accredited qualifications from job applicants.

A school offering accredited courses, whether in traditional or online programs, will have undergone a form of peer review through one of these agencies and will have to meet acceptable levels of quality assurance.

It’s important to recognize the differences between reputable online colleges and those that offer qualifications with little or no academic merit. When you enroll in an online degree program, be sure that the degrees offered are properly accredited and that the accreditation itself is authentic.