Seeking and Finding Wholeness

If you’re looking for any school program in the US, I am pretty sure that you’ve been exposed to many internet ads (while browsing the Internet for school), magazine ads and even TV ads for all sorts of study programs, certificates and even graduate degrees. The question that comes to mind rather quickly is “How do I know the school I’m looking at is not just a diploma mill?”

Well, there are many things you could do, first start with accreditation, make sure they are accredited regionally or by the state, or other accrediting agencies.

Regional accreditation is the strongest, better accreditation. National accreditation is also strong. Programmatic (specialized) Accreditation can be trust worthy but perhaps not in all cases. Your local state university is regionally accredited.

Regionally accredited schools are predominantly academically oriented, non-profit institutions. Nationally accredited schools are predominantly for-profit and offer vocational, career or technical programs.

Knowing about all these accreditation levels, from the national, regional to state and programmatic, I would seriously discourage enrolling in any school program that is not accredited by at least one of these levels.

What is regional accreditation?

A few but well known regional accreditation agencies exist in the US. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is one example; WASC offers accreditation to schools that offer the capacity to maintain educational and financial stability and to offer educational services effectively and of a sufficient standard.

Here is a list of accrediting agencies:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
Jean Avnet Morse, President
3624 Market Street, 2nd Floor Annex
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: 267-284-5000
Fax: 215-662-5501
E-mail: info@msche.org
Web: www.msche.org

New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (NEASC-CIHE)
Barbara E. Brittingham, President / Director of the Commission
209 Burlington Road
Bedford, MA 01730
Phone: 781-271-0022
Fax: 781-271-0950
E-mail: CIHE@neasc.org
Web: www.neasc.org

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

The Higher Learning Commission (NCA-HLC)
Sylvia Manning, President
30 North LaSalle, Suite 2400
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: 312-263-0456
Fax: 312-263-7462
E-mail: info@hlcommission.org
Web: www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
Sandra E. Elman, President
8060 165th Avenue, NE, Suite 100
Redmond, WA 98052
Phone: 425-558-4224
Fax: 425-376-0596
E-mail: selman@nwccu.org
Web: www.nwccu.org

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
Commission on Colleges
Belle S. Wheelan, President
1866 Southern Lane
Decatur, GA 30033
Phone: 404-679-4500
Fax: 404-679-4528
E-mail: bwheelan@sacscoc.org
Web: www.sacscoc.org

Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (WASC-ACCJC)
Barbara A. Beno, President
10 Commercial Boulevard, Suite 204
Novato, CA 94949
Phone: 415-506-0234
Fax: 415-506-0238
E-mail: accjc@accjc.org
Web: www.accjc.org

Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities (WASC-ACSCU)
Ralph A. Wolff, President and Executive Director
985 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 100
Alameda, CA 94501
Phone: 510-748-9001
Fax: 510-748-9797
E-mail: wascsr@wascsenior.org
Web: www.wascweb.org

These are the National Accrediting Agencies

• Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES)
• Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT)
• Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET)
• Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS)
• Distance Education and Training Council (DETC)
• Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) Commission on Accreditation
• Association of Advanced Rabbinical and Talmudic Schools (AARTS)
• Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) Commission on Accrediting
• Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) Accreditation Commission

These are Programmatic Accrediting agencies:

• Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)
• Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM)
• Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)
• Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA)
• Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools
• Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC)
• American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE)
• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT/COAMFTE) Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education
• American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) Council for Accreditation (CFA)
• American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs (CoA-NA)
• Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE)
• American Bar Association (ABA) Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
• American Board of Funeral Service Education (ABFSE) Committee on Accreditation
• American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) Division of Accreditation
• American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) Board of Trustees
• American Culinary Federation (ACF) Accrediting Commission
• American Dental Association (ADA) Commission on Dental Accreditation
• American Dietetic Association Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE-ADA)
• American Institute of Certified Planners/Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Planning Accreditation Board (PAB)
• American Library Association (ALA) Committee on Accreditation (CoA)
• American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE)
• American Optometric Association (AOA) Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE)
• American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation
• American Physical Therapy Association Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education
• American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) Council on Podiatric Medical Education (CPME)
• American Psychological Association (APA) Committee on Accreditation (CoA)
• American Society for Microbiology American College of Microbiology
• American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB)
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology
• American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Division of Education and Research
• Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
• Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
• American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE)
• Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)
• Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME)
• Council on Accreditation for Recreation, Park Resources and Leisure Services, sponsored by National Recreation & Park Assn. (NRPA)
• Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)
• Commission on English Language Program Accreditation
• Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation
• Commission on Opticianry Accreditation
• Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)
• Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA)
• Council on Aviation Accreditation (CAA)
• Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) Commission on Accreditation
• Council on Education for Public Health
• Council on Naturopathic Medical Education
• Council on Occupational Education
• Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) Commission on Standards and Accreditation
• Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Office of Social Work Accreditation and Educational Excellence
• Joint Review Committee on Education Programs in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT)
• Joint Review Committee on Educational Programs in Nuclear Medicine Technology (JRCNMT)
• Liaison Committee on Medical Education
• Midwifery Education Accreditation Council
• Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education
• National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS)
• National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (NACCAS)
• National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB)
• National Association of Industrial Technology (NAIT)
• National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health Council on Accreditation
• National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) Commission on Accreditation
• National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD) Commission on Accreditation
• National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) Commission on Accreditation and Commission on Community/Junior College Accreditation
• National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation (COPRA)
• National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) Commission on Accreditation
• National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)
• National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council
• National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC)
• Planning Accreditation Board
• Society of American Foresters (SAF)
• Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC)

Why should you not get a diploma from a diploma mill? Good question that has a simple answer.  Your diploma will be worthless. If anybody even bothers to search the name of the school on any major search engine, they will quickly find that it is not really a school, then rightfully-so your reputation will be tarnished.

Below I listed more resources to help you spot a diploma mill and resources on accreditation.

Hopefully the school you are looking at is clearly legit, if it is not clearly legit I would avoid that school even if it wasn’t a diploma mill because reputation matters, especially bad reputation.

Diploma Mill lists and articles

• http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/unaccredited.aspx
• Beware of Online Diploma Mills
• FTC Consumer Alert – Diploma Mills: Degrees of Deceptio
• Press Release: Announcement of Guide on Avoiding Fake Degrees
  
• Facts for Business: Avoid Fake-Degree Burns By Researching Academic Credentials
• http://www.ed.gov/students/prep/college/diplomamills/diploma-mills.html

Sources used in this article (where you can find more information about accreditation in the US):

• http://www.accreditedschools.org/school-search/#agencies
• http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation/
• http://www.accsct.org/
• United States Department of Education
• http://www.chea.org/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_accreditation
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_Higher_Education_Accreditation
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recognized_accreditation_associations_of_higher_learning
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_accreditation
  
• http://www.answers.com/topic/school-accreditation
• http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/psychotherapy/a/initials.htm