Questions and Answers
What is this site, and how can it help me?
What is distance learning, and is it for me?
How do I earn a degree online?
What is accreditation?
How is this site different from other directory sites?
What's the difference between for-profit and non-profit schools?
What about scholarships and financial aid?
What is Accreditation?
Accreditation is the process by which educational institutions are granted credit or recognition for the quality of their academic programs and courses.
There are various accrediting agencies for institutions of higher learning.
These agencies - often composed of consortiums of individual colleges and schools - work together to establish and implement standards to improve the effectiveness of education. These standards represent a consensus of the academic community.
Colleges and universities are periodically subjected to review by these agencies. If an institution doesn't meet the standards required by its accrediting agency, it is given a period in which to review and improve its effectiveness in those areas.
On this site, whenever possible, we have included the accrediting agencies for each school and/or degree program. Be aware, however, that not all accrediting agencies have high standards.
To learn more about standards of accreditation, check out the following web sites.
http://www2.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html
http://www2.ed.gov/students/prep/college/diplomamills/index.html
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/