An online graduate degree is a master’s or doctorate degree you earn from an online school or the online program at a university. After you’ve achieved a bachelors or other undergraduate degree you can work on a graduate degree online. It is important that you choose an accredited online graduate school program to earn your degree.
Understanding What Accredited Means
Colleges, universities and other institutions of higher learning have to abide by established standards in order to be validated or accredited. This process ensures that the education you are receiving meets specific guidelines. These guidelines are generally established through a review process. The review is done by or facilitated by a group of faculty members from already accredited institutions.
The basis of the review is to assess items like the overall mission of the school, the goals and objectives the institution plans to reach, the admission requirements that must be met by students who wish to enroll in the school and what resources the school has to meet student needs. Other items that will be reviewed and qualified are what support services are available for students and at how well the faculty and class offerings meet established measurement standards.
New schools have to go through this process as well as established schools have to renew their accreditation on a regular basis to keep their standing. This peer-review method is not only used for online schools, but for brick and mortar institutions as well. In the United States this process is not overseen by the government nor is the process mandated by law.
The voluntary process is managed by regional and national agencies. The criteria to identify the judges and the process are evaluated by the government to ensure the accrediting agencies meet specific guidelines while doing their job.
Accreditation is Important
It is important to choose an accredited school in order to receive value from the degree you receive or the course that you pay for. Degrees earned from non-accredited institutions may not be recognized by employers. Course credits earned from a non-credited school may not be transferable to other schools.
Accredited online schools often have to overcome the bad reputation that is generated by so-called “diploma mills” that grant degrees without making sure the students have earned those degrees by successfully completing the appropriate qualifications for the degree.
Be aware that some online graduate schools will use words like recognized, authorized or licensed. This does not mean accredited. Pursuing accreditation does not mean accredited. There are also organizations that say they are accredited or are approved by an accreditation agency, but the agencies aren’t recognized by the US Department of Education.
Truly accredited institutions will offer the name of the accreditation agency and you will be able to visit the US Department of Education’s website and verify the agency’s credentials. You can also check with CHEA, or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This is an agency that isn’t associated with the government but they assist recognized agencies coordinate information, policy and other issues. CHEA has a list of all the regional and national agencies that meet the stringent standards necessary to bestow accreditation on a school or institute.
CHEA’s website even maintains a search function so that you can enter either the state where the school is based or the name of the institution and the database will verify if the online school has been accredited by a reputable agency. They do this not only for the United States but also for international schools.
Having accreditation still doesn’t mean that all or any of your credits will transfer to all schools. But this is true with brick and mortar schools as well. Many factors are considered when it comes to transferring credits. Schools will look at what you are studying in your current program as well as any past degree programs you’ve completed. They will also look at your grades and how long the course lasted.