The Truth about Accreditation Comes Out at DI

[Poptech]

The Truth about accreditation comes out in this discussion at DI: Long Term Future of DEAC.

I don't think most people know the difference between NA and RA.

They are just figuring this out?

But would the regionals ever accept a national accreditor as their equal as a matter of policy?

They already do, in the sense that they're silent on the matter. Regional accreditors do not restrict the schools they accredit from accepting credentials from nationally accredited schools when it comes to transfer credit, enrollment in higher level programs, or hiring faculty.

Wow, talk about hypocrisy by admitting this and then pimping RA or it's worthless.

The regional accreditors are taking flak for accrediting the schools seen as the biggest predators. RA accreditation was seen as lending credibility to the online schools that came into being in the past decade. But the unintended consequence is that so many of them have been accredited that it is beginning to reflect poorly upon the RAs.

The reality is they don't like RA accreditation when it comes from a for-profit school. DI members should just come out and admit they hate for-profit schools because they hate capitalism.

DEAC definitely survives in the innovational higher education. Simply because most people do not know the differences among accreditation. I have encountered some people, they thought that National accreditation is better than Regional accreditation. Because National means bigger than Regional..

Ironically I told them this a month ago.

All of the accreditors (national, regional and programmatic) derive their legitimacy from their recognition by the USDOE. The USDOE doesn't place them into a hierarchy. So, how exactly do we measure the notion of "better" in terms of accrediting agencies?

This is the argument they have no answer for and should be used repeatedly against anyone who preaches RA or nothing.

Also, to highlight how little many HR professionals seem to know about accreditation, two or three respondents gave "No" responses to an RA accredited program.

I told them this too, nice to see it was confirmed by a survey. This is too funny though, how would you like to be someone who took their RA or nothing advice and then get shot down by an HR department because you thought it would be advantageous to mention your schools is RA on your resume?

Now will they be intellectually honest to new members seeking advice on this issue? I doubt it.

[jhc7]

Most employers don't have a clue about this RA / NA stuff. The RA schools will do what they wish about accepting NA degrees-credits. I would estimate that about 1/3 would accept the degrees and credits. If we are talking about distance education degrees I don't see much advantage to one over the other, though that also depends on who granted the degree. A University of Phoenix degree vs. a NA degree might actually favor the NA. But would NA do well against Harvard or Yale, nope. But since that's not the comparison we are looking at it really doesn't matter. Distance education is great and has much to offer. Just don't confuse apples and oranges. My Ashworth degree / State Licensed Degrees, don't carry much water compared to the upper tier colleges, but against the lower tier RA for profits, they are fine.

[Yancy Derringer]

Some guy named Douglas proved these very points beyond a shadow of a doubt and with geometric logic in a research study he claims he conducted.  It probably didn't hurt that the guy who thought up the project in the first place was on his committee, but if he had been at an Ivy League school he might have needed 15 more guys to write it up for him. 

E.g.:

When State Approval was offered without a description, almost 96% of participants rated it at least "Somewhat Acceptable." Even after reading the provided description of State Approval, slightly more than 65% of participants still rated it at least "Somewhat Acceptable." This leads one to to conclude that two-thirds (or even more) of employers may accept degrees from unaccredited, but state-approved, schools.

--Richard C. Douglas
page 136, The Accreditation Of Degree-Granting Institutions And Its Role In The Utility Of College Degrees In The Workplace, 2003