Health and other associated issues - Tips, Information and Guides
Insights of Accreditation
by: Harris Jhosta Requirements for licensing and/or authorization for educational
institutions vary from state to state in the United States. Most states require
that a learning institution be certified, authorized and/or accredited in order
to award degrees to students. There are some schools out there that do not meet
these requirements. In fact, there are several levels of fraud found in some
educational programs and "schools." They range from using the student's work
history as the "learning" period that earned the degree to simply selling
diplomas. These "diploma mills" have been around for decades. Online degrees
programs like Degrees-R-Us promise a bachelor's, masters or doctoral degree in
about 10 days. (There is a higher tuition fee if you want to graduate with
honors!) Now, however, there are some states (Oregon, Iowa, and South Dakota) that
are cracking down on schools within their borders that grant degrees without any
type of approval and legitimate accreditation. There are also some states
(Wyoming, Montana, and Hawaii) that allow unaccredited universities to do
business as long as they have a physical presence in the state. The problem is
that when a state does pass legislation that requires accreditation, those
schools simply change addresses (when you don't have a campus, it's not that
difficult to move). The question of jurisdiction also comes into play. If the
institution has an address in one state but sends out degrees from another
state, then which state is responsible for it? For this reason, the most important thing to check out before you begin
any kind of distance learning program is the accreditation the school has, or
claims to have. Simply having a statement about being "licensed by the state"
isn't an accreditation and may not mean anything at all. There have been many
violators that claim accreditation from agencies that either don't exist, have
been created by the school itself, or are legitimate agencies but have no record
of accreditation for the school. Students who are enrolled or have completed
degrees from schools that are not accredited have wasted a lot of time, money,
and effort on a degree that may be rejected by potential employers. Credits from
schools that are not accredited cannot be transferred to other universities. There are several state-based and regional accrediting bodies. Each is
recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. To find out whether the school is truly accredited, contact the
appropriate State Department of Higher Education. Tribulations with non-accredited schools some of these violators have been awarding diplomas and degrees for
decades. Courts that have shut them down have cited problems like: • Too few qualified faculty members to maintain the number of
students or level of education • Too much credit given for previous life and work experience
without properly determining the actual level of knowledge • Not having course objectives • Awarding PhDs to students who haven't performed the type of
research and analysis typically required of such a degree Basically, the problem relates to the schools having substandard
requirements for earned degrees. Some programs even allow students to earn
masters or doctoral degrees without having first earned a bachelors degree. The Best of the Practices The best bet is to stick with a known, reputable university or college
that is offering online/distance life experience degrees. That school's
reputation will be at stake so it is more likely to have the same quality online
as offline. Of course, there are some good programs from universities that are
strictly online. According to an article by a former student at the University
of Phoenix Online, many students feel as connected with other students as they
would if they were on a campus attending classes in the traditional way.
About The Author
Harris Jhosta is holding the market experience of IT industry and immense business solutions for about 2 decades now. His vast experience in the related field gave him the acclamation and renownship in many sectors of business. Harris has also been involved in providing educatinal services in form of various seminars and lectures, in many well renowned universties. Presently carrying a research on the evolution of business performance by the advent of Information Technology Ciphers in the state University Of California. |
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