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