What Are the Benefits of a Regionally Accredited Vs Nationally Accredited School?
Generally speaking, nationally accredited schools and regionally accredited schools are very different types of schools. National accreditation is typically for career colleges and for-profit schools. Regional accreditation is generally for liberal arts colleges, non-profit schools, and traditional universities. There are six regional accrediting agencies across the United States, and they review entire institutions. National accreditation has grown in prevalence as career colleges and online universities have expanded. Some national accreditation agencies work with schools that have only one emphasis such as information technology or business.
University and College Accreditation in Short
Essentially, accreditation is a set of standards to which a school is held accountable to uphold. It's a quality control measure. Accrediting institutions weed out diploma mills so that you can be sure that you'll be attaining a worthwhile education. Furthermore, accredited institutions can be eligible for federal financial aid, which can make affording school much easier.
All reputable educational institutions have to go through regular accreditation reviews. There are several steps, starting with the college or university doing a self-study. If a school fails its accreditation process, that can lead a probationary period with monitoring and oversight.
Benefits of a Regionally Accredited School
The main benefit from a regionally accredited school is that your courses or degree from such a school is respected by other regionally and nationally accredited schools. That can make admission into programs or transferring credits to another school easier, depending on your education goals. There's a little bit of a pecking order in the world of accreditation where regional accreditation may be given preference over national accreditation. Some of that is likely changing as national accrediting institutions become more rigorous in their standards. What it can mean is that it potentially is harder to get into a regionally accredited school coming from a nationally accredited school. It's not supposed to happen, but there is some thought that it can.
Benefits of a Nationally Accredited School
The general benefit of going to a nationally accredited school is that you're going to a school that is accredited. Ultimately, it shouldn't really matter if the school you go to is nationally or regionally accredited. On Dean Dad's blog on InsideHigherEd.com, there's talk about doing away with regional accreditation, which was created at the turn of the 20th century when people were unlikely to ever leave a given region to create credit transfer issues. But with more mobility and the online education explosion, it's changed the whole landscape of accreditation. A student can go to an online university and then want to transfer credits to a state university in another program. That's where the accreditation issues can get sticky.
Getting a Quality Education Online or Offline
At the heart of the matter, you should be choosing the school that offers the educational program that you want. As long as you do your due diligence in selecting a good college, you'll be taking care of the main thing that accreditation organizations are most concerned with: getting a quality education.
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