Online universities can receive several different types of accreditation. There are two main types of accreditation: Institutional, which can be at the national or regional level, and specialized. When searching for the best online school for your needs, it’s important to know what these different kinds of accreditation mean.
Institutional
Institutional accreditation is awarded to colleges and universities as a whole, meaning it takes into account all of their programs, services and academic offerings. This kind of accreditation is provided by either national or regional accreditation agencies.
- National: National accreditation agencies can evaluate and approve colleges anywhere in the country. National accreditation is most often sought out by more ìnon-traditionalî schools, such as trade schools, religious schools and certain distance programs. These programs cannot be adequately compared with other more traditional educational programs and therefore seek out national accreditation. Two major national accrediting bodies are the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology and the Distance Education and Training Council, though many others exist.
- Regional: Regional accrediting agencies only review schools within a specific geographic area. In the United States, there are six different regional accrediting bodies. Schools that have been regionally accredited are often more widely accepted by employers and other colleges, which can be an important factor in some careers. Students who have any worries about accreditation with respect to an online university should look for schools with regional accreditation.
Specialized
Specialized accrediting bodies focus on a particular field of study or major rather than a regional area of the country. Specialized accreditation is given to schools who want to measure the quality of a specific program of study on campus. Students will very often find specialized accreditation in programs for:
- Heath Care
- Teaching
- Law
- Fine Art
- Counseling
- Theology
When looking at the accreditation a school has, students may find that many schools have more than one type of accreditation. It’s always a good idea to do your research and find out what kind of accreditation may be needed to pursue a career in a given field and what each of the types of accreditation a school has actually mean.