National vs Regional Accreditation, Selecting the Right College or University- Video

[Saharapost]

[video=youtube;PIk1XBUpkgk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIk1XBUpkgk[/video]

I saw this on a different forum and thought I'll share it here for new and non new members alike...

[soliloquy]

This should be a sticky. I lot of new people that come here don't know these things.

[Dr John]

Interesting video, it was produced by Nightingale College, a Nationally Accredited school. The video has a specific slant towards making it sound as if nationally accredited degrees are considered the same and equal of regionally accredited degrees. Most national schools want to say that "some" regional accredited school will only accept credits from other regionally accredited schools. It's more along the lines that very few regionally accredited schools will accept credits from NA schools.

The video is otherwise spot on when it talks about institutional vs programmatic accreditation. Personally, I believe that at the Associates level or the bachelors level that you should probably only consider a regionally accredited school. I think the differences can become a bit more muddied at the Masters and doctoral level, unless you are aiming to teach at any local universities, in which case you should only consider a regionally accredited school. In my case, I am going to go for a regionally accredited masters, but I may consider a nationally accredited school for a doctoral degree if the price is right. I'm not after a doctoral degree for specific employment, only for personal growth and satisfaction.

[sanantone]

I don't care who it offends. I think it is important to stress the difference in acceptance of degrees/credits from NA and RA schools. Too many people end up surprised when their credits won't transfer to many colleges or their degrees don't qualify them for licensure. I wrote this article for another website.
The Best Dang-Darned, Most Comprehensive Guide to Going to School Online - Beyond Black & White

For anyone interested in law enforcement in Texas, having an NA degree can be useless in many cases. Otherwise, NA vs. RA doesn't matter to private employers or the federal government in most cases. It's also important to note that programmatic accreditation is often required for certain types of licenses. Some programmatic accreditors won't even accredit American schools with national accreditation. Some foreign countries won't recognize NA degrees.

[Dr John]

Sanantone, I agree with you completely, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement will not recognize an NA degree. Almost all of the police departments in Texas who require a bachelors degree will not accept an NA degree. I say almost, only because I have not seen every departments standards, but I have yet to find a department willing to accept an NA degree as meeting the degree requirement.

I have seen first hand the issue and heart breaking problems that people I have worked with or their family members have faced when trying to go to a regionally accredited school after completing a NA degree or earning significant NA credit. I know that the politically correct way of approaching this is to simply say that NA is the equal of RA and that eventually it will all be accepted fully. But until that happens, it really isn't the same.

[Saharapost]

This should be a sticky. I lot of new people that come here don't know these things.

If I knew the differences between NA, RA, and CBE, I probably would have got my degree one or two years ago. I thought it was because I was a non US citizen, but found out many US citizen are not aware about the different types of accreditations that exist...

[sanantone]

Sanantone, I agree with you completely, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement will not recognize an NA degree. Almost all of the police departments in Texas who require a bachelors degree will not accept an NA degree. I say almost, only because I have not seen every departments standards, but I have yet to find a department willing to accept an NA degree as meeting the degree requirement.

I have seen first hand the issue and heart breaking problems that people I have worked with or their family members have faced when trying to go to a regionally accredited school after completing a NA degree or earning significant NA credit. I know that the politically correct way of approaching this is to simply say that NA is the equal of RA and that eventually it will all be accepted fully. But until that happens, it really isn't the same.

Yep. I believe I've seen a couple of police departments that require 60 credit hours or an associates degree specifically mention that the credits/degree has to come from an RA school. Even though the Bexar County Sheriff's Office and San Antonio Police Department don't require a degree, they will only give educational incentive pay for RA degrees.

[NAP]

I don't care who it offends. I think it is important to stress the difference in acceptance of degrees/credits from NA and RA schools. Too many people end up surprised when their credits won't transfer to many colleges or their degrees don't qualify them for licensure. I wrote this article for another website.
The Best Dang-Darned, Most Comprehensive Guide to Going to School Online - Beyond Black & White

For anyone interested in law enforcement in Texas, having an NA degree can be useless in many cases. Otherwise, NA vs. RA doesn't matter to private employers or the federal government in most cases. It's also important to note that programmatic accreditation is often required for certain types of licenses. Some programmatic accreditors won't even accredit American schools with national accreditation. Some foreign countries won't recognize NA degrees.

What a wonderful article! Thank you for including me in the success stories! I hope there will be many more!

[EI2HCB]

Sanantone,

You are so right, this video appears to have a marketing bias, If you want to be a CPA you need to have a Regionally accredited degree plus other requirements having a Nationally accredited degree won't work. It was one of my first lessons I learned about American education and certainly one that needs voicing from time to time.