Choosing Quality US Colleges, Universities and Programs
Students who seek a rewarding educational experience at any college or university may find the selection process intimidating. Trying to make a good decision from half a world away, when the school is in a foreign country, can be particularly daunting. To make the process easier, the United States Department of Education (USDE) and Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) have established a system of accreditation that identifies programs and schools that meet quality standards.
The US System of Accreditation
The CHEA and USDE rigorously evaluate organizations that award certification to postsecondary educational institutions and programs. Accrediting bodies that are recognized by CHEA or USDE (or both) assess individual schools and programs according to established standards of quality, and certify those that meet these requirements. More than 7,700 institutions and 18,700 programs have been accredited by organizations recognized by either CHEA or USDE.
Accrediting Organizations
In addition to government-initiated accreditation, many industries have established national organizations that have their own requirements for consistent, quality college-level education in their field.
For example, veterinarians must be licensed or certified in most states to practice, and in order to be licensed they must be graduates of a program accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association's Council on Education (COE). The AVMA COE allows educational institutions and programs to submit voluntarily to non-governmental review, and awards COE accreditation if they meet accepted standards of quality.
AVMA accreditation helps:
- students identify programs that will train them to meet a competency threshold that allows them to be licensed as veterinarians
- employers find graduates of programs that are trained to standards of veterinary medicine and will be eligible for licensure
- program faculty and administrators to make sure their curricula and training requirements meet national standards
- customers of veterinarians who wish to know they are well-trained and properly licensed
Similar benefits apply to many careers in many industries.
Degree and Diploma Mills
Although there are some legitimate schools that have not yet been accredited or are religious institutions that choose not to be listed, beware programs that falsely claim to be accredited. If a school does not appear on the recognition chart provided by CHEA and USDE, extra care should be taken to verify the credibility of a program.
Organizations that provide false accreditation, schools that falsely claim accreditation, and schools that provide illegitimate degrees and diplomas are called "mills". They do well-intentioned students, state and national resources, and education in general a great disservice by:
- Defrauding individuals who are misled by the promises of the purported school that the degree they earn from the school will have some value
- Award bogus credentials in fields where they could present a threat to health, safety or well-being, such as nursing, nutrition, electrical and mechanical engineering, biochemistry and accounting, at significant risk to the public
- Detract unfairly from the millions of individuals who have worked hard to earn legitimate degrees
- Demeaning the value of learning and the importance of educational standards by treating degrees only as a commodity to be bought and sold
They may claim to be US schools, but are operated outside the jurisdiction of state or national laws. They can start up, collect considerable amounts of money from consumers, go out of business, change their name and emerge as a new entity in a very short period of time.
Why Choose an Accredited School?
- International students pursuing postsecondary education in the US are required to attend colleges, universities and/or programs that are recognized by the USDE or CHEA as accredited.
- Financial aid (international and federal grants, private sponsorships, scholarships and loans) is often awarded only for students attending schools and programs that are accredited.
- Employees who apply for tuition assistance from their employer are often required to provide proof of accreditation.
- Many employers prefer hiring graduates from programs and schools accredited in their industry.
- Most states require that schools to be accredited before they can allow students of some professional fields to sit for state licensure examinations.