Is it better for a college to be regionally accredited or nationally accredited?

Answer 1

Most of the answers you have received are completely incorrect.

A college should be regionally accredited, because regional accreditation is required for a college's degrees to be considered respectable, and for a college's credits to transfer to other institutions.

Regional accreditation is reserved for brick-and-mortar colleges and universities. The six regional accreditation associations are:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
New England Association of Schools and Colleges
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Examples:
Columbia and Princeton are accredited by MSACS.
Harvard and Yale are accredited by NEASC.
The University of Michigan and Ohio State are accredited by NCACS.
UNLV, Oregon State, and BYU are accredited by NCCU.
Stanford, UC Berkeley, and U Hawaii are accredited by WASC.
UVA, Duke, and Georgia Tech are accredited by SACS.

National accreditation is conferred only upon distance education programs (DETC - Distance Education and Training Council) and vocational education programs (ACCSCT - the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology).

There is also professional accreditation, conferred by the ADA (American Dental Association) on qualifying dental schools, by the ABA (American Bar Association) on qualifying law schools, or by the ATS (Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada) on qualifying theological schools and seminaries.

DETC accreditation is pretty useless, and most "online universities" have it, but astonishingly, many have trouble keeping it.

ACCSCT is also relatively easy to get, but a vocational school's reputation within the trades with which it is associated is generally more important.

Answer 2

A college should be accredited by one of the regional accrediting associations. National accreditation is usually for other purposes, such as distance learning and such. If you wish to enter a graduate program after college, the schools you are looking for will likely look for the regional accreditation.

You also should ignore things such as State authorization to grant a degree, as they are mostly meaningless in academics.

Also, some trade organizations have their own accreditations, and you might want to look for those, specifically for your intended occupation afterward.

Answer 3

Nationally.

Answer 4

It is much better for a college to nationally accredited that way your degree is recognized anywhere within the United States instead of just your state.

Answer 5

technically it's better to be nationally accredited because it is better compared to A LOT more schools...thus more competition. But for some they prefer the regional schools and might hate the national schools because it may be too big, too much competition, little fish in a big pond blah blah blah. But some people love it, it's just a matter of taste. Go to sparknotes.com to take a college test to see what's best for you

Answer 6

A nationally accredited college would be better.
Getting a high regional rating is great too... but if its the only college in the area... that really means very little.
LOL.... I have a small community college near me. It has a big sign in the front. Something about the highest rating in East side. Well, duh.... its the ONLY one on east side!

Answer 7

if you ever plan on moving outside of your area and go to another school then it must be nationally credited so you can transfer your work. It may be the same for employers accepting your education as legit...

Answer 8

nationally=recognized by the entire US not just the little area its in.