| When deciding which criminal justice program | | | | • the Northwest Association of |
| to attend, the accreditation issue is very | | | | Schools and Colleges (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, |
| important. There are certain things that you | | | | Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington). |
| should know about accreditation. | | | | |
| | | | The two spin-offs are: |
| 1. What is accreditation? | | | | |
| | | | • the Western Association's |
| Accreditation means that a school and its | | | | Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges |
| programs have been peer reviewed through site | | | | and Universities (see WICHE Best Practices), |
| visits by bodies recognized and authorized by | | | | and, |
| the US Department of Education to do so. It, | | | | |
| therefore, ultimately means that degrees | | | | • the North Central's Higher Learning |
| obtained from accredited schools are | | | | Commission (see NCA Best Practices). |
| recognized across the nation and are accepted | | | | |
| as valid by employers. | | | | If your school is accredited by one of these |
| | | | eight (8) groups, which receive U.S. Dept. of |
| 1. Who are the recognized accreditation | | | | Education funding and operate primarily by |
| bodies? | | | | site visit-peer review, then you need not |
| | | | worry -- your school has the best |
| The US Department of Education funds eight | | | | accreditation there is. |
| accreditation bodies. There are six regional | | | | |
| accreditation (RA) bodies and two spin-offs | | | | 1. Are there other accreditation bodies? |
| of two of the six RA bodies. These bodies are | | | | |
| authorized to grant accreditations to schools | | | | There are other accreditation bodies and many |
| falling within their specified regional | | | | online schools proudly advertise that they |
| jurisdictions. | | | | are accredited by one or the other of these |
| | | | bodies. But these so-called accrediting |
| These bodies are: | | | | bodies are themselves not accredited so that |
| | | | their accreditations are not worth the paper |
| • the New England Association of | | | | they are written on. |
| Schools and Colleges (Connecticut, Maine, | | | | |
| Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island | | | | Out of all these other accrediting bodies |
| and Vermont); | | | | there are some that are simply blacklisted |
| | | | and not recognized while there are others |
| • the Southern Association of | | | | that may be accepted as valid in 30 per cent |
| Colleges and Schools (Alabama, Florida, | | | | of the organizations that matter. Employers, |
| Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, | | | | on the other hand, are likely to reject |
| North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, | | | | outright degrees given by schools accredited |
| Texas and Virginia); | | | | by these other agencies. |
| | | | |
| • the Middle States Association of | | | | 1. Is there a list of blacklisted schools or |
| Colleges and Schools (Delaware, the District | | | | a list of schools whose degrees are not |
| of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, | | | | recognized? |
| Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin | | | | |
| Islands, and Panama); | | | | Yes, at present there are two such lists. One |
| | | | list has been prepared by the state of |
| • the North Central Association of | | | | Michigan and another prepared by the state of |
| Colleges and Schools (Arkansas, Arizona, | | | | Oregon. Employers use these lists to check |
| Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, | | | | whether a particular degree from a particular |
| Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, | | | | school is worthless or not. |
| Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South | | | | |
| Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and | | | | 1. Is accreditation a really important issue? |
| Wyoming); | | | | |
| | | | Yes! It is the most important issue when you |
| • the Western Association of Schools | | | | are deciding which criminal justice school |
| and Colleges (California, Hawaii, the | | | | you should enroll in. If the school you |
| territories of Guam, American Samoa, | | | | enroll in is not accredited, then the degree |
| Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of | | | | that you earn after spending a lot of money |
| Palau, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas | | | | and effort will not be worth the paper it is |
| Islands, the Pacific Basin, and East Asia); | | | | written on. You will be a sucker of the worst |
| and, | | | | kind! |
| | | | |