Is the American accreditation system too complicated?

[cardiacclep]

If you can't convince 'em, confuse 'em seemed to be the mantra of higher ed for years. Fortunately with the internet and forums like this, the monopoly is crumbling along with a shift in generational views on higher ed is finally making alternative options viable. At a minimum, it would be nice for traditional schools to start accepting MOCCs and Straighterline course for credit for prereq courses. It appears the confluence of inflation, generation shifts and advances in tech have brought many universities to the realization their product is not so special sans the Ivy and Public Ivy schools. Exciting times really.

[bjcheung77]

Nationally accredited schools arent all bad.

University of the People and Nations University are all NA.

Aspen University, Ashworth College and Penn Foster all NA that also offer low monthly payments.

They arent all so bad.

That's a good list of Nationally Accredited schools I would recommend international students as well, especially the ones with a very limited budget as all of them allow 75% of the credits to come through alternative means (such as CLEP/ACE, etc).

There was another school, New Charter, it remained on my list when they partnered with StraighterLine, but later fell off my list as they had some "issues" since late last year, and now remain off my list of recommended schools as they've removed most of their offerings, limiting them basically to just "business". I wonder what really happened to them... so many ups/downs...

[sanantone]

Nationally accredited schools arent all bad.

University of the People and Nations University are all NA.

Aspen University, Ashworth College and Penn Foster all NA that also offer low monthly payments.

They arent all so bad.

That's a good list of Nationally Accredited schools I would recommend international students as well, especially the ones with a very limited budget as all of them allow 75% of the credits to come through alternative means (such as CLEP/ACE, etc).

There was another school, New Charter, it remained on my list when they partnered with StraighterLine, but later fell off my list as they had some "issues" since late last year, and now remain off my list of recommended schools as they've removed most of their offerings, limiting them basically to just "business".  I wonder what really happened to them... so many ups/downs...

Wow! New Charter has really gone downhill. They were the model for Patten University when it was bought by the same company that owned New Charter, and we all know how that turned out.

[eLearner]

It is intentionally complicated- here in the US businesses really rely on the ability to be able to mislead consumers. Think about how many less products we would have for sale if you weren't allowed to lie or mislead consumers?

I put nationally accredited for-profit colleges and the sellers of useless diet supplements in pretty much the same category. Why either of them are allowed to exist is beyond me. Well, not really, I know it's so a bunch of people can make a bunch of money off of gullible people.

But you used Straighterline, a for profit business and Sophia, a for profit business, both of which promote relationships with for profit colleges, and Sophia is directly partnered and exchanging resources with Capella, a for profit college. You've also gone to WGU which once carried national accreditation and hasn't changed its model much since going fully regionally accredited. You've taken CLEP exams and I doubt all of the hosting centers were non-profits since many are indeed for profit businesses.

[sanantone]

It is intentionally complicated- here in the US businesses really rely on the ability to be able to mislead consumers. Think about how many less products we would have for sale if you weren't allowed to lie or mislead consumers?

I put nationally accredited for-profit colleges and the sellers of useless diet supplements in pretty much the same category. Why either of them are allowed to exist is beyond me. Well, not really, I know it's so a bunch of people can make a bunch of money off of gullible people.

But you used Straighterline, a for profit business and Sophia, a for profit business, both of which promote relationships with for profit colleges, and Sophia is directly partnered and exchanging resources with Capella, a for profit college. You've also gone to WGU which once carried national accreditation and hasn't changed its model much since going fully regionally accredited. You've taken CLEP exams and I doubt all of the hosting centers were non-profits since many are indeed for profit businesses.

To be fair, Jennifer was talking about colleges, not for-profit businesses, in general. Almost all of our food comes from for-profit businesses, so they're nearly impossible to avoid unless you become a subsistence farmer. 

CLEPs are mostly offered at colleges that choose to offer them. Some of these colleges are for-profit, but most are nonprofit because most colleges are nonprofit. I don't know what any of this has to do with the predatory marketing practices of the for-profit college industry, their high student loan default rates, and low graduation rates. Just about all of the statistics prove that they're lower in quality. I also don't know what this has to do with the limited utility of NA degrees. Many employers won't care, but it is a fact that many licensing boards do not recognize NA degrees, some employers don't recognize them, and many regionally accredited schools won't accept them.

[eLearner]

Makes no difference. She received college credit through the use of for profit college oriented programs. Her position is contradictory.

[sanantone]

Makes no difference. She received college credit through the use of for profit college oriented programs. Her position is contradictory.

Well, non-profit accreditation bodies accredit hundreds of for-profit schools. Does that mean they're for-profit-oriented? The Department of Defense has given for-profit colleges billions in education benefits. Does that mean they're for-profit-oriented? Jennifer is using her CLEP and ACE credits at a nonprofit school. What does that have to do with for-profit schools also accepting those credits? If all the for-profit colleges disappeared, the Big 3 will still be accepting ACE credits.

SL and SDC are simply forging partnerships with any accredited school that is willing to accept their credits. For-profit colleges qualify for accreditation, so they qualify for partnerships, financial aid, and military benefits.

[armstrongsubero]

On the NA side I must also mention Grantham which has ABET accredidation for its EET program. So it cant be all that bad.

[sanantone]

On the NA side I must also mention Grantham which has ABET accredidation for its EET program. So it cant be all that bad.

DEAC-accredited schools tend to be much cheaper than other nationally accredited schools. I don't think they're all bad. People just need to be aware of potential limitations.

[cookderosa]

regulations are supposed to help people filter out the bad- but in the process, it catches the "innocent" as well. Not every college /university / school needs the red tape or enormous hoops and costs associated with the (optional) regional accreditation. It's sort of the public's fault for lumping all postsecondary education into one basket (school, college, university) and then being confused or angry when it all doesn't meet the same standard. RA is great for universities and necessary for public CCs that rely on seamless transfer to state colleges/universities, but beyond that, it's a solution looking for a problem.