Accreditation

The Facts About Online College Accreditation

When choosing from the many excellent online colleges, one factor to consider is whether or not the online school is accredited by one of the six regional accreditors. Why is this important? It is important because these six regional agencies are recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE) as well as the Council for Higher Accreditation (CHEA). It's also important to note that these agencies are the very same accreditors for all campus-based colleges and universities. This assures you that the online degree you earn or the credit hours you accumulate will be recognized both by employers as well as any future colleges or universities you plan to attend.

The process of figuring out whether or not a particular school is regionally accredited is pretty straight forward. First, you need to identify which State the online program is based out of. You can then look to see which of the regional agencies are responsible for that state. Once you know that you can just double check to make sure that the school states that it has been accredited by the proper regional agency. NOTE: if they have been accredited by any of the six, you can safely assume that your degree and credits earned will be widely accepted.

New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) Accredits schools in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

NEASC Accredited Online Colleges

Institution Name	AA/AS	BA/BS	MA/MS/MBA	PHD
Anna Maria College		X	X
Bay Path College			X
Boston University			X	X
Brandeis University			X
Champlain College			X
Lesley University		X	X
New England College		X	X
Northeastern University			X
Norwich University			X
Post University	X	X	X
Quinnipiac University			X
Southern New Hampshire University	X	X	X
University of Massachusetts-Central Office	X	X	X
Worcester Polytechnic Institute			X

North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA) Accredits schools in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Navajo Nation, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

NCA Accredited Online Colleges

Institution Name	AA/AS	BA/BS	MA/MS/MBA	PHD
A T Still University of Health Sciences			X	X
American Intercontinental University Online	X	X	X	X
American Public University System	X	X	X
Argosy University-Chicago		X	X	X
Arizona State University		X	X	X
Ashford University		X	X	X
Baker College of Muskegon	X	X	X
Bellevue University		X	X
Benedictine University		X	X	X
Bowling Green State University-Main Campus			X
Capella University		X	X	X
Chamberlain College of Nursing - St. Louis Campus		X	X
Colorado Technical University Online	X	X	X	X
Creighton University			X
Crown College	X	X	X
DeVry University	X	X	X	X
Fort Hays State University	X	X	X
Graceland University-Lamoni		X	X
Grand Canyon University		X	X	X
Herzing College	X	X	X
Indiana State University		X
Jones International University		X	X
Kaplan University	X	X	X
Kent State University Kent Campus		X	X
Lewis University		X	X
Malone University		X
National American University-Rapid City	X	X	X
Northcentral University			X	X
Northwestern College	X
Northwestern University			X
Ohio Christian University	X	X
Ohio University-Main Campus			X
Oklahoma Wesleyan University		X	X
Rasmussen College-Eden Prairie	X	X
Rasmussen College-St Cloud	X	X
Saint Xavier University			X
Sterling College		X
Tiffin University		X	X
University of Cincinnati-Main Campus		X	X
University of Illinois at Chicago		X	X
University of Minnesota-Crookston		X
University of Missouri-Columbia			X
University of New England		X	X
University of Phoenix-Online Campus	X	X	X	X
University of the Rockies			X	X
University of Wisconsin-Superior		X
Upper Iowa University		X	X
Walden University		X	X	X
Western International University		X	X

Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (MSA) Accredits schools in Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Central America, Europe, and the Middle East.

MSA Accredited Online Colleges

Institution Name	AA/AS	BA/BS	MA/MS/MBA	PHD
Bryant and Stratton College-Buffalo	X
Clarion University of Pennsylvania	X	X	X
DeSales University			X
Drexel University		X	X
Duquesne University		X	X
George Washington University			X
Lancaster Bible College		X
Lehigh University			X
New Jersey Institute of Technology			X
New York Medical College			X
New York University			X
Philadelphia University			X
Rochester Institute of Technology			X
Saint Josephs College			X
Strayer University	X	X	X
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh	X	X
University of Maryland-Baltimore County			X
University of Maryland-University College			X
University of Scranton			X
Utica College		X	X
Widener University-Main Campus		X

Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS) Accredits schools in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Latin America.

SACS Accredited Online Colleges

Institution Name	AA/AS	BA/BS	MA/MS/MBA	PHD
Abilene Christian University			X
Amridge University	X	X	X	X
Cumberland University		X	X
Eastern Kentucky University		X	X
ECPI College of Technology	X	X
Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences		X
Florida National College	X	X
Hodges University	X	X	X
Keiser University-Ft. Lauderdale	X	X	X
LeTourneau University		X	X
Liberty University	X	X	X	X
Loyola University New Orleans			X
Nova Southeastern University			X	X
Regent University	X	X
Saint Leo University	X	X	X
Stetson University			X
Sullivan University	X	X	X
Thomas University			X
University of Florida			X
Vanderbilt University			X

Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Accredits schools in California, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Palau, Micronesia, Northern Marianas, Marshall Islands, and other Australasian locations.

WASC Accredited Online Colleges

Institution Name	AA/AS	BA/BS	MA/MS/MBA	PHD
California State University-Monterey Bay			X
California State University-Northridge			X
Hawaii Pacific University			X
San Joaquin Valley College-Online	X
University of California-Irvine
University of Southern California			X

Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NWCCU) Accredits schools in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

NWCCU Accredited Online Colleges

Institution Name	AA/AS	BA/BS	MA/MS/MBA	PHD
Boise State University			X
Corban College			X
Gonzaga University			X
Marylhurst University		X	X
Portland State University		X
Western Governors University		X	X

If your online degree is from an online college or university that has been accredited by one of the above accreditors, they you can be certain that it will be accepted by any employer or other university. There are very few exceptions. If you are concerned about it and know exactly what you intend to do with your degree it's always a good idea to double check. Please do remember though if you are going to any school in a State noted above, that same accreditor will most definitely have given any college (campus or online) the same accreditation. Again, a degree from an accredited online college (regionally accredited) is the same as any traditional or campus-based degree program.

Regional Accreditation vs. National Accreditation

So what if the online college you want to attend is NOT accredited by one of the six regional accreditation agencies?  Does that mean that your degree is somehow inferior?  Several online schools are accredited by the Distance Education Training Council.  The DETC is recognized by both the USDE and CHEA.  So that's great news for students of those colleges.  It basically means that any employer will accept degrees earned from the DETC.  However, since the degree did not come from a regionally accredited school it is very possible that you will run into problems with  a regionally accredited school accepting transfer credits or the degree that you earned from a DETC accredited school.  It's also important to note that several online colleges are both regionally and nationally accredited so be sure to look for that as well.

How to Check Your Online School's Accreditation

You might think that it is difficult or takes a lot of work to validate a school's accreditation.  In reality it's actually very simple.  You can simply go to the United States Department of Education's college search page located here.  Once you are there you can search for your online college and see what its says.  You will be able to immediately identify any potential problems with your online college.