accreditation for online universities?

Question

if an online university is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). and is also endorsed by the National Academy of Opticianry (NAO). is this university legit? and will i be able to transfer credits?

Answer 1

Regardless of delivery method (on ground, online, hybrid), a higher ed institution in the US can have 3 institutional accreditation statuses.

1. Regionally accredited - the highest and most useful.
2. Nationally accredited - real, but not as recognized or useful. Yes it is less than regional accreditation, which isn't intuitive.
3. Unaccredited

DETC is a national accreditor. You should be able to find a Regionally accredited school that offers your major. You may have credit transfer problems and it doesn't qualify you for licensing in some areas.

Be sure to check here before you enroll: http://www.chea.org/search/

Answer 2

DETC is a recognized accreditor in the United States on both federal lists. We refer to them as a National Accreditor and they are legit.

However, most colleges and universities in the US hold Regional Accreditation (RA) which is higher. An RA college will generally not transfer credit from a DETC program.

You likely have another thing to consider as well and that is level of training. Opticianry is generally a vocational (as opposed to academic) program. Vocational courses won't usually transfer into an academic program no matter what school they come from.

Transfer of credit is neither automatic nor a right. It is entirely up to the receiving school whether they will accept any credit from any other college. Some are generous, others are not. You will need to ask the school in question whether they will accept transfer from the school you're considering now.

add: another wrote "And the DETC is a relatively new association, who knows its track record?" DETC was founded in 1926. That's not "relatively new" as accreditors go.

I'm thinking that being active in this industry for coming on 100 years is an indication that they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Also consider: The recent academic research indicates that when considering online vs traditional, if reputation of the awarding school is introduced, reputation weighs much more heavily than does delivery method. Or, in other words, an online MA from Harvard University is given more value than a traditional MA from Waikikamoucau State U. It's really not about online vs traditional any longer - it's about the reputation of the awarding school.

Answer 3

And now a word of caution: the US government has, in the past, recognized accrediting boards for vocational education and then revoked recognition because the board clearly was working as a rubber stamp--qualifying its member schools for federal loans and other financial support without any real standards for quality of program, qualifications of faculty, or ability to maintain physical facilities.

Are the accreditors for this program of a similar stripe? Can't tell from here--a few factoids make me wonder.

The national academy of opticianry lists a membership of about 2000; compare that with the membership of similar program accrediting groups like the American Bar Association or the National Academy of Nursing.

And the DETC is a relatively new association, who knows its track record?

There are many, MANY regionally accredited universities, community colleges, and trade schools that offer online programs. Those include many public institutions, which of course will be less expensive. Moreover, there's research showing that many employers think a degree earned primarily or completely online is lower quality--get a diploma from a fully accredited state institution and it won't look like it came from an online school.

I'd proceed with caution--there's no hard evidence that impeaches the program you're describing, but it's a major investment of money and time so get as much information about completion and placement rates as you can before you commit to it.