The term “accredited” has been sported by many online institutions and is one of those key words that students look for when choosing online universities. However, how much do really understand by the term accredited and what are the responsibilities that come with the term? Even without knowing the definition of the term its existence have significant influence on the value of your online degree and how much it is accepted by the wider employment community.
What is Accreditation?
The term accreditation refers to an accepted standard that must be met by online universities to be associated with a particular standard. These standards will vary on the type and level of courses and the stipulation established by state educational boards and peers. It is used to give an insight into aspects such as the level of instructors, amount and type of financial assistance available for students and how much assistance the university receives from industry contributors. These contributions may be in the form of technology, financing or placements for graduates.
The Accreditation Debate
It is a fact that not all online universities have received accreditation from any of the many accreditation agencies set up to regulate the educational standards of online universities. There is currently a heated debate on how to weight online universities when compared to traditional universities. Supporters of online universities suggest that online universities provide the same education as traditional instructions and thus should receive the same accreditation. On the other hand, supporters of tradition institutions lament the fat there is no direct contact between students and doctors and so the student loses some amount of influence.
In the interim as the debate continues, the Department of Education have appointed agencies in six regions to act as accreditation bodies that spans across state borders to accommodate the various types of online universities.
How to know if your University is accredited?
The US department of Education does not itself accredit online universities. The task of accrediting online universities is delegated to regional bodies that are strategically located to cover the spans of the United States. These regional agencies have established guidelines as dictated by the secretary of education, industry players and their peers. They carry out various forms of assessments to ensure online universities adhere to the established standards. These may come in the form of tracking student complaints, checking of course work material and monitoring of university accounts.
To check on the accreditation of a particular online college, students can visit one of the many websites set up buy accreditation agencies. These include a database established by the US Department of Education @ http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx where students simply enter the name and location of the university to gain accreditation information.
What to do if your University is not accredited?
If you conduct an accreditation search and found out that your online university is not accredited, the first to do is to contact your nearest state accreditation agency with jurisdiction over that states education affairs. There may be various reasons why any particular online university may not have gain accreditation. These include:
The university is relative new and has not completed all their requirements that qualify them for accreditation. They will also on the progress the university is making towards accreditation.
The accrediting agency has received overwhelming complaints about the conduct of the university. As a result, their accreditation has been suspended pending improvements.
Online education can definitely beat classroom study but it will depend on number of factors. It includes accreditation, syllabus quality, scope of practical training and your daily schedule.
Accreditation
Accreditation is the most important factor when it comes to online education. Your online degree is only going to be useful when you earn it from an online university which is accredited by the US Department of Education. When studying through classroom setup, you do not need to worry about the accreditation as most of the colleges are accredited. Same cannot be said about the online colleges and universities especially with so many of them operating with only one objective in mind, to earn money from their students.
Syllabus Quality
The quality of syllabus will have a huge impact on your career prospect. In an online environment where chances of interaction with your faculty are pretty limited, you would like to learn more things so that it can help you in your career. Online education beats classroom study in syllabus quality because unlike traditional schools and universities, online universities update syllabus on a regular basis so that students do not miss any important concepts. Another good thing about online education is that syllabus is designed by the industry experts that have a thorough knowledge of their area of expertise.
Scope of Practical Training
Online education is definitely much better than classroom study in terms of offering practical training to their students. When studying through classroom setup, you will find that all the focus is on the theoretical concepts and there is not much scope of practical training. Situation is completely different in an online environment where all the emphasis is being put on practical training. In this day and age when competition is intense in every field, you will require right kind of practical training in order to succeed. If you are not able to implement theoretical concepts into practice, your theoretical knowledge is of no use. Employers these days prefer giving jobs to individuals that have received practical training from an accredited university.
Daily Schedule
For working professionals that are looking to increase their academic qualification, online education is a much better option in comparison to classroom study. When you opt for online education, you can study at your own pace. This is not possible in a classroom study where everything is done on time. Location is not much of an issue in online education as you can study from any location you want. To do this, all you need is a laptop with good internet connection. Online education not only gives you an opportunity to increase your academic qualification but also your work experience. This is going to play a significant part in your career advancement.
Tuition Fee
In comparison to classroom study, tuition fee of online education is quite low. It means that you can easily afford it without taking any student loan. Grants and scholarships are also available for students that are studying in an accredited online university.
Before taking admission in any college or university, it is quite important that you check the accreditation status first. If the college you have opted for is accredited, you will find that they are good in terms of infrastructure and their degrees are regarded very highly by the experts.
Advantages of taking admission in an Accredited College
When you take admission in an accredited college, you can avail bellow-mentioned advantages.
The quality of syllabus at accredited college is often top class. It means that you are going to gain comprehensive knowledge out of your degree program. When designing syllabus, college authorities take into consideration current industry trends.
Tuition rates of accredited colleges are often lot less in comparison to non-accredited colleges. With low tuition rates, you can concentrate solely on your study rather than worrying about paying monthly installment to the financial institution.
By successfully earning degree from accredited college, you will find that you are going to get job straightaway. This is not the case when you earn degree from non-accredited college. Employers do not think very highly of non-accredited colleges because their only objective is to earn money from their students rather than focusing on quality of education.
If you are interested in taking admission at higher education level such as Masters Degree program and PhD degree program then make sure that you earn degree from an accredited college because most of the top colleges do not give admission to candidates that have earned a degree from non-accredited college.
By taking admission at accredited college, you can earn degree quickly as they run accelerated program for their students. Before taking admission in accelerated program, be clear in your mind that you can study for a period of five to six hours daily.
Most of the accredited colleges provide their students financial aid in the form of grants & scholarships. This is not the case with non-accredited colleges. To get an approval for grants & scholarships, make sure that you apply well in advance, ideally once your admission application is accepted by the college authority.
In accredited colleges, teaching is conducted by the experienced and highly qualified faculty. This in turn means that you are going to learn things in a much better way.
Student-faculty ratio in accredited colleges are often quite low which means that you will be able to concentrate on your studies in a much better way.
