Setting Basic Criteria When Selecting Your College - Part 4

By Author: Ket Ledford
Total Articles: 99
Comment this article

Imagine this scenario. You have selected a college. You work hard for one, two or perhaps even five years and pass with an A+ grade. You start hunting for a job. Then you get to know that the college you got your diploma, degree or doctorate from, is not accredited and hence what you have got is an unrecognized degree. Getting a degree from an unaccredited college can bar you from getting a professional license or practicing. Your hard work goes waste. To prevent this from happening, it is important to find out whether the colleges that you have shortlisted are accredited or not.

This is part 4 of the series that explains the basic criteria to be considered when selecting a college. In this article, college accreditation is being discussed as one of the most important criteria to be checked before finalizing a college.

What is accreditation?

Accreditation is recognition of any institution providing education by an agency. Accreditation generally does not come by simply providing education but it requires that the college maintain suitable standards as per the rules set by the department of education.

Who ...
... provides accreditation to colleges?

Generally, the department of education in a state, province or country provides accreditation or basically recognition to a college. However, some countries also have private organizations providing accreditation.

How to check accreditation of colleges?

To check accreditation of colleges, you can seek your local department of education and find out whether the college is indeed accredited. However, many colleges create their own accrediting agencies and get themselves accredited. In the US, there is provision for finding if an accrediting agency is legitimate or not through the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). CHEA is a private agency that accredits such accreditation agencies.