What is Online College or University Accreditation?

If you're going to attend college, whether online or on campus, you'll want to attend one that is properly accredited.

Accreditation provides for the independent review of education programs for the purpose of determining if that education is of uniform and sound quality.

College accreditation is important if you want to have a public record of your learning that will be widely accepted by employers, professional associations and other colleges and universities.

The six regional accreditation boards are:

There is no better or worse agency among these six agencies. Regionally accredited colleges recognize degrees and credits earned at other regionally accredited institutions as equal to their own.

For example, if you earn an undergraduate or bachelor’s degree at one university that holds regional college accreditation, such as the University of Maryland, it will be recognized as a valid degree for entering a graduate program later at the University of Illinois Online or any other regionally accredited university.

Academic departments within universities often seek specialized accreditation for individual degree programs. Careers regulated by state licensing may require degrees that carry special programmatic accreditation.  

Teacher licensing boards may require degrees earned from colleges whose education schools are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). State bar or lawyer licensing regulatory boards often require law degrees from schools accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA). If you hope to become a licensed engineer, you may have to attend an engineering degree program that is accredited by the Accrediting Board for Engineering Technology (ABET).

Three different agencies in the United States specialize in accrediting business schools. Among these agencies, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools Business International (AACSB) is considered, by academics themselves, the most prestigious type of business school accreditation. If you intend to pursue a career in teaching or research in a university environment, then an AACSB-accredited business degree may be a wise investment.

In order for accreditation to have any meaning, it is important that your online college’s accrediting agency be recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the U.S. Department of Accreditation. Essentially, the accrediting agency itself needs to be accredited.

As online education has increased in popularity, so too have the number of unrecognized, fake and bogus online college accreditors. Be very careful when searching for college degrees online. Hundreds of fake online colleges—also known as degree mills—advertise heavily online. These colleges are usually accredited by fake accrediting agencies with very official-sounding names.

To determine if your online college is properly accredited consult GetEducated’s free consumer protection service, the Diploma Mill Police.