U.S. Department of Education considers a degree as a high school equivalency

[CollegeStudentAC]

Hi, I'm turning 20, had a bad experience with my high school and unfortunately ended up not graduating. Now I am aware of tons of schools I can enroll in to get a degree due to me having (transfer credits) Sophia, but there are other schools that don't have transfer pathways or do but require to self-certify, high school completion. So I thought okay, as those schools have highschool diploma or equivalency as a requirement, I could get an associates degree first from a school that does not require that and then, if I want to enroll in one of those schools, I can. Though, with my communications with various schools, they don't consider a degree as a equivalency even though I later stumbled upon a U.S. Dept of Education page stating 60 credits or an associates to be an equivalency and explained as such. The TESU chat rep for example messaged saying that the chat has become unproductive and disconnected on me.

https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/...ploma.html

"Recognized Equivalent of a High School Diploma (RED)

RED-Q1. The regulations at 34 CFR 600.2 include the definition of a “recognized equivalent of a high school diploma.” One of those equivalents is “an academic transcript of a student who has successfully completed at least a two-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor’s degree.” Does this mean that any coursework that is at least two years or more is an acceptable equivalent of a high school diploma?

RED-A1. No. To be a “recognized equivalent of a high school diploma,” the two years of coursework must be acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor’s degree. The following are considered the equivalent of completing a "two-year program," regardless of the time it takes a student to complete the coursework (e.g., on an accelerated schedule):

Successful completion of an associate’s degree program;
Successful completion of at least 60 semester or trimester credit hours or 72 quarter credit hours that does not result in the awarding of an associate’s degree, but that is acceptable for full credit toward a bachelor’s degree at any institution; or
Enrollment in a bachelor’s degree program where at least 60 semester or trimester credit hours or 72 quarter credit hours have been successfully completed, including credit hours transferred into the bachelor’s degree program.
[Guidance issued 1/24/2014; revised 7/7/2015]"

As said, I already have a list of schools for me to choose from and I have already chosen my school for my associates so it's not a issue in that regard, just upsetting that these schools refuse to acknowledge the U.S. Department of Education's policy.

Also, I am Canadian and in my province of Ontario, a degree is also considered an equivalency.

I am wondering if people have any thoughts on this, like if I was misinterpreting the policy or what's up with this