College Accreditation Explained: Why It Matters & How to Check

Jake went all-in on a four-year nursing degree, investing his time, effort, and money at a non-accredited institution… only to discover that it didn’t count for getting a license and landing a job. Now, he’s the guy with a cautionary tale about taking the wrong path in his career journey. 😬 

That example is just one of many students who were either scammed into getting an education from a non-accredited institution or uninformed about the importance of college accreditation.

Make sure your huge college investment is rewarded. Get the whole story on college accreditation below! 📃

What is College Accreditation? 

Here’s college accreditation explained: it’s an official stamp of approval that the quality of a college or program meets the standards set by an independent accrediting agency. 👍

College accreditation is how you’ll know an institution’s educational practices are legitimate and updated enough to prepare its graduates for the job market. This means you’ll be eligible to take a licensing exam, won’t get passed up for job opportunities, get paid better rates, and so much more. 

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) do not directly carry out the accreditation of colleges. Instead, ED and CHEA are the main bodies recognizing reputable accrediting agencies to perform quality assurance reviews. ✅ 

How Does a College Achieve Accreditation?

A college or university voluntarily chooses an accrediting agency and conducts a self-evaluation based on the agency’s standards. Then, accreditors visit the campus to confirm the accuracy of the self-evaluation and conduct a further assessment before granting, denying, or deferring accreditation status.

Accrediting agencies review the quality of a college using the institution’s mission and student achievement criteria, such as the rates for course completion and job placement. The same accreditation process must be repeated every five to 10 years (depending on the agency’s policies) to ensure that everything’s up-to-date. 📅

Sonny Ramaswamy, the president of the nonprofit organization Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), described their accreditation process to The College Post. 

Ramaswamy said when evaluating an institution, the organization will assemble a team of 10 to 12 evaluators consisting of experts in finance, policy, infrastructure, student services, and other areas. The institution will then provide those evaluators with data and information they can use to assess the performance of that institution. 📋

Evaluators will also meet with representatives from the institution to ask them about various aspects of their school. After that, the NWCCU’s commission will take a vote on the institution’s accreditation status, send a letter of action that details the institution’s status, and make recommendations for where the institution can improve. 

Ramaswamy emphasized the NWCCU makes a point to avoid conflicts of interest among evaluators and commissioners to ensure the accreditation process is as unbiased as possible. 👍

What are the Different Levels of College Accreditation? 

What accreditation should a college have? College accreditation comes in two main types: institutional and specialized. 🏫

Institutional Accreditation 

As the name suggests, institutional accreditation checks an entire school to assess the quality of its administration, financial profile, program offerings (both on-campus and offline), faculty credentials, student outcomes, and so on. ✔️

There used to be two different forms of institutional accreditation: national accrediting agencies evaluated religious institutions, vocational schools, and other for-profit schools, while regional accrediting agencies reviewed nonprofit institutions (such as the Ivy League universities) within a defined geographical area. 

However, the ED’s resolution implemented in 2020 allowed colleges and universities to apply for accreditation from any agency without being constrained by geographical location — essentially dissolving the regional vs national accrediting agency differences. 

Some universities may still require attendance at a previously regionally accredited school as part of the eligibility criteria for enrollment in a graduate program or for transferring credits. But whichever accreditation type it is, the importance of having a recognized external party review the education quality of schools remains. 👍

Specialized Accreditation

Once a college receives institutional accreditation, it doesn’t automatically mean that its educational programs are equally excellent, as each field is different. That’s where specialized accreditation comes in.

Specialized accreditation, also known as programmatic accreditation, ensures a degree program passes the career preparation standards of a certain expertise. Not all fields require accreditation, but it’s a must for highly technical areas like law, healthcare, engineering, and trade skills. 🧑‍⚕️

For example, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology checks the quality of STEM departments, units, or curricula of colleges offering related programs to ensure the competency of aspiring professionals.

Does a College Have to be Accredited?

Anyone can establish a college, so you need accreditors to ensure that the promised quality education is delivered and that its practices are on par with the others. Otherwise, it can be considered a diploma mill or a scam school. 😬

A college may have a good reputation, but an accreditation seals and verifies that image to be true. This legitimate external validation helps students, employers, and other stakeholders make informed decisions. ✅

“Everybody has to have the same rigorous set of standards and demonstrate that they are doing what the standards ask to do and it’s all evidence-based,” Jeff Lolli, an associate professor of business who specializes in accreditation at Widener University, told The College Post. “It really is kind of that external seal of approval that says, this is a quality program because they’ve gone under this microscope.”

What are the Benefits of College Accreditation? 

Accreditation comes with several benefits both for universities and students.

Category	Benefits for Students	Benefits for Institutions
Reputation	Eligible for obtaining licenses and career advancement	Credibility attracts more students and private donations
Access to Funding	Can obtain federal financial aid	Eligible to receive federal funding
Career Opportunities	Better job opportunities for graduates	Top choice for collaboration with reputable companies
Degree Recognition	Easy transfer of credits	Employers may view applicants from accredited institutions more favorably

What Happens When a College Loses Accreditation? 

A college can lose accreditation by failing to renew on time, being unable to meet a set standard, or having its go-to accrediting agency lose recognition from ED or CHEA. 

When this happens, a non-accredited college cannot guarantee quality education and cannot receive government-based funding. This makes students unable to apply for federal student aid (FAFSA) or certain scholarships unless they transfer to an accredited school. 😲

However, an accrediting agency may grant a grace period, usually two years, for the college to address issues before another quality assurance review. On the other hand, a school may set out to find another recognized accrediting agency for it to remain in operation. 

What Problems Will Students Face If They Attend a Non-Accredited College? 

The number one problem students will face when attending a non-accredited college is wasting their resources, aka time, effort, and money, in obtaining a degree that isn’t recognized to be up to standard. 🙁

They can’t apply for federal student aid, certain grants, scholarships, and work-study programs in a non-accredited institution, so they’ll have to pay out of pocket. Transferring and having undergraduate credits accepted will prove to be a chore since the credits likely won’t be considered in accredited colleges, and they’ll have to retake classes. 

“Let’s say you’ve finished your undergraduate degree and you want to go off to get a medical degree or a professional declare a law degree or you want to go on to get a Ph.D.,” Ramaswamy said. “All those institutions will look to see if you attended an accredited institution.”

Lastly, students will find it difficult to obtain the required licenses to practice their profession and, in turn, will lose job opportunities. 😬

---

Now that you’ve had college accreditation explained to you, run a quick check to see if your chosen school or program possesses the right qualifications to give you the education you deserve. 👍