In the U.S.A. there are two types of accreditations.
Regional accreditations: These are schools that have been a accredited by a regional body based on location. chea.org/regional-accrediting-organizations-accre…
Regional accreditations are the BEST in the US. The best colleges have one, credits can be transferred freely between all schools, and they have the most respect in business and academia.
National accreditation: Schools with this are considered inferior. They are regulated, and generally are considered “FINE”. But, you should ONLY pick one of these schools if you have a good reason. If a school has National Accreditation, but is charging as much as a regional school, pass it up and go to your community/state college. These schools should only be on your list if they are cheaper or offer a program that you can’t get in any other way.
Credit transfers are more difficult. There is no guarantee credits you earn at a school with National accreditation can be transferred to regionally accredited bodies. Some schools have agreements with other schools to accept credits regardless of the accreditation, but there is no promise.
Here are Valid Accrediting bodies: chea.org/chea-and-usde-recognized-accrediting-org…
If a “College” is claiming that they are accredited by an organization that is not on that list, then it is a scam and its degree is worthless.
Here is a list of known Diploma Mills, that no one should ever go to: www.geteducated.com/…/degree-mills-list/#/
Saganaki@lemmy.one 1 year ago
It’s been 15 years, but for engineering degrees isn’t “ABET Certified” basically a requirement? Mobile doesn’t let me search, frustratingly, so that website you provided isn’t super useful.
ericbomb@lemmy.world 1 year ago
So ABET accredits programs, not schools.
So a school would have either national or regional accreditation (most likely regional) then their programs could have more specific accreditation.
Like Kent State has regional accreditation, then their program has recognition from ABET.
Since there are a million program accreditation things and I have no idea which ones are worthwhile, I didn’t really get into those.
Saganaki@lemmy.one 1 year ago
That makes a lot more sense. Grateful for the explanation, thank you.