If a school you are considering is not institutionally accredited, that is a serious red flag. This means that regionally accredited colleges may present higher admissions hurdles, including minimum test scores, a competitive high school GPA, and a current academic record. Does it matter? Three years later, you decide you want to continue your education to get a bachelor’s degree at your local public university. If a school loses its accreditation, it becomes ineligible to accept federal financial aid dollars and thus loses a primary source of revenue. The average number of credits lost when transferring schools was 13, according to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics. This means that regionally accredited colleges may present higher admissions hurdles, including minimum test scores, a competitive high school GPA, and a current academic record. The three most popular “national” college accreditation agencies recognized by CHEA are: Other national accreditation agencies include: CONSUMER ALERT: The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) had its recognition to issue national accreditation withdrawn by the Department of Education in 2016. In the United States, there are six primary regional accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and/or the Council for Higher Education accreditation. What does a “regionally accredited” college mean? There are also many regionally accredited online colleges. Without it, their degrees may be ignored by large numbers of people. The vast majority of institutions accredited by these regional agencies are either nonprofit or public schools, but not exclusively. The problems may be complex and compounding, but the last straw, at least publicly, is often that the school’s financial stability has become untenable. Accreditation might be the last thing on your mind when you are looking for a school that will be affordable, fit your schedule, and offer the subjects that you want to study. They also are more likely to require standardized admission exams, such as the SAT, GRE or GMAT. In a word, yes. A non-accredited degree could end up being worth little or nothing if future employers do not recognize it. An accredited degree meets certain quality standards, which are honored by other reputable institutions and organizations. What Does it Mean to Be a Fully Accredited College?. In fact, regional accreditation stretches back into the late 1800s and is often considered the gold standard for educational institutions. What does regional accreditation look at? Regionally accredited programs all qualify for corporate tuition reimbursement, while nationally accredited schooling may not always have tuition benefits from employers. Accreditation helps members of the public avoid scams like diploma mills or subpar instructional programs. If you choose a nationally accredited school now, but in five years decide that you want to pursue further education, your credits are less likely to transfer than if you had chosen a regionally accredited school. You can see the specific regional accreditation standards here: Fundamentally, regional accreditation considers if a college or university is mission focused and is organized to achieve that mission. That was a substantive change and, moreover, it depended on translating measurable competencies into equivalent units of credit hours. A professional license in fields such as nursing or teaching usually requires a degree from a regionally accredited school. After a series of challenging life events, Sullivan enrolled in the BS in Health Information Management program at SNHU. 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