If you have ever considered earning a university degree, it’s important to understand that choosing the right program goes hand-in-hand with accreditation. The reason why is because you don’t want to waste your time and money on a degree program where the school is not accredited. This will make it extremely difficult to obtain a career in your degree if the employer does not have a high respect for the school based on an accreditation.
How To Choose a Degree That is Accredited
Before deciding to apply at a university that offers accredited degrees, these are the three questions you should ask yourself first:
What is the Amount of Time the School Has Been Educating Students?
Many of the top colleges and universities have been around for many years or longer. This is good to know if you plan to enroll in a degree program from them. Once you find out the length of time, you can easily check to find out if they are accredited or not. This is due to the number of partnerships and overall relationship with the surrounding community. You can rest assured that an accredited school will have reputable community relationships.
Is Transfer Credit Accepted?
After establishing what their community relationships are like, cruise over to their page governing credits. Every accredited school will accept transfer credit as long as the credit is from another accredited institution of higher learning and the credit is offered at the receiving school.
Is Accreditation A Token of Their Esteem?
As you continue skimming through a university’s website to decide on a degree, 9 out of 10 times you will come across their accreditation seal or something similar. This is what you want to see to ensure that your educational experience will be of the best quality possible. If you are able to, click on any link related to their accreditation. This will give you the reassurance you’re looking for.
Nobody likes to invest thousands of dollars into a university that has not received the appropriate accreditation from an agency. So remember, accreditation equals quality when it comes to a degree.
So What Exactly is Accreditation and Why Should it Really Matter?
There are many factors that make accreditation important. The first and foremost important factor is the standard of quality that an accrediting agency places on it. Not only that, but they are also responsible for making evaluations of the programs they offer. With accreditation, the school shows that they allow students an opportunity for them to achieve educational greatness.
Currently, three types of accreditations exist for higher learning; these are programmatic, national, and regional. With programmatic accreditation, the agencies review certain program types and accredit them based on the quality of the program. This accreditation is often seen in programs of nursing or engineering. National accreditations involve organizations that accredit schools of a religious nature and technical and vocational programs while regional accreditation involves boards that make school evaluations based on their geographical location.
Various Options Are Available
Everybody likes to have options when they shop around and including options for a great education and accredited degree should be no different. This is why we listed the best accredited degree programs covering three popular subjects and the top three universities that offer the programs.
Bachelor’s Degrees Obtained Online
The 3 best universities that offer a bachelor’s degree online are:
• Ohio State University
• Arizona State University
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Online Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice
The 3 best universities that offer an online master’s degree in criminal justice are:
• Sam Houston State University
• UC-Irvine
• University of Nebraska-Omaha
Online Master’s Degree in Education
The 3 best universities that offer an online master’s degree in education are:
• Clemson
• Utah State University
• University of Florida
Online Master’s Degree in Engineering
The 3 best universities that offer an online master’s degree in engineering are:
• Columbia
• USC
• UCLA