FAQ ABOUT ACCREDITATION:
• Q. Are (educational institutions) required by law to be accredited?
• A. No. It is voluntary and not mandatory. (In fact; most American “public” grammar, middle, and high schools are not accredited by any federally approved agency. They are “recognized” as legitimate by each state’s department of education. (source: world wide web – The Trent Schools Accreditation Facts Sheet)
• Q. Why do some schools choose to be accredited?
• A. For many reasons, including:
1. to take advantage of federal aid programs, (government money).
2. to add to their credibility.
3. to aid in transferring their credits to other schools. No matter what school one attends, there is no ironclad guarantee that all credits will be transferred to another school. It is entirely up to the individual school as to whether or not they will accept any part or all of credits earned from another school.
4. A few states require their secular schools to be accredited in order to grant permission to operate. Most educational authorities claim that accreditation is entirely a voluntary process. Remember, only the school is accredited, not the credits awarded.
• Q. If a school is regionally accredited or has any other type of accreditation does that guarantee credit transfer to other schools?
• A. No. The U.S. Department of Education states “accreditation by a regional accrediting agency or any other accrediting agency does not provide automatic acceptance by an Institution of credits earned at another institution…”
• Q. Are all accrediting associations or agencies required to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and/or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)?
• A. No. A direct quote from a letter from the U.S. Department of Education reveals “No accrediting agency needs the Secretary’s recognition in order to… operate, and no agency needs recognition by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), the successor to CORPA, to operate.”
• Q. What are the different kinds of accreditation?
• A. Some accrediting organizations are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (Federal agency) and/or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (nongovernmental Coordinating agency). Schools recognized by those organizations qualify for the federal aid programs. This type of recognition is sometimes needed for certifications, licenses, and other secular-oriented positions. However, employment or credit transfer is not guaranteed even with this type of recognition.
(source: Dr. Cecil Johnson, AAATI)