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

[bjcheung77]

That's true for everything from accepting foreign credit to the number of foreign credits they take... Some institutions allow only 25% of credit that are alternative or challenge exams, etc, others may allow up to 50%, 75%, etc. Each institution has their own regulations and rules, they conform to the accreditation standards required, and they make their own adjustments (if any). There are things that are recommended by CHEA or USDOE, but institutions don't really have to follow them, an example is that the RA (regionally accredited) vs NA (nationally accredited) institutions should be 'equal', many institutions will only accept RA credits (about 80%), and only about 20% of them accept NA still, even though the USDOE recognizes them 'equally'.