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Institutions Not Holding
Recognized Accreditation
In many countries, government authorities require colleges
and universities to obtain accreditation, but in the United
States accreditation is voluntary. Therefore, an institution
can choose whether it wishes to be regionally or nationally
accredited, or even if it wishes to be accredited at all.
Or an institution may be accredited by a body that is not
recognized. Students at institutions that do not hold some
form of recognized regional or national accreditation are
likely to encounter difficulties in the following areas:
- They will be ineligible for many loans and scholarships,
as well as some other academic honors. For example, many
foreign governments will grant educational loans only to
students who are attending a regionally accredited institution.
- It will be difficult to transfer credits to, or to have
their degrees recognized by, other U.S. institutions that
do hold recognized regional or national accreditation.
- Governments of other countries will often not accept degrees
from, or recognize, U.S. institutions that do not hold regional
or national accreditation.
- Many private employers will not recognize credits and
degrees earned at an institution that is not regionally
accredited.
In considering institutions that do not hold accreditation
from a recognized body, you need to be aware of two additional
factors:
- Recognized accrediting bodies have strict policies to
avoid any conflict of interest between the institution being
evaluated and those who are doing the evaluating. For example,
evaluators cannot be students, alumni, owners, or employees
of the institution undergoing the evaluation. This integrity
in the accrediting process cannot be guaranteed if the accrediting
body is not recognized.
- If you attend an institution that does not hold accreditation
from a recognized accrediting body, not only may employers
and governments not accept your credits and degree, but
also the education that you receive may not be as current
or comprehensive or of as a high a standard as that offered
by institutions accredited by recognized bodies.
If you are considering studying at an institution that does
not have proper accreditation, ask for the names of alumni
who have used their degrees to do something similar to what
you plan to do with yours. Then contact the alumni evaluations
of their experience.
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