Over the course of the past ten months, I've acquired a good deal of information with regard to accreditation in general and greatly enjoyed various posts discussing the pros and cons of each type of accreditation. Others haven't enjoyed it as much--but sometimes a little more information can bring things into focus.

While looking up some information on AACSB accreditation I stumbled across the Rasmussen College web site which contained a very interesting chart detailing their perspective on National Accreditation (NA) vs. Regional Accreditation (RA) and their journey to acquire RA for their institution. It reminded me of an unrelated post I saw in another forum which I've pasted in below with some modification by me. I'd love to give credit to the originator but he goes by the screen name of JohnDoe! In any event, here's a link to the Rasmussen chart and some rough information that may be useful to people as they attempt to map out their higher education path.

Accredited Distance Learning Degree

One Man's Take on Accreditation

1. Regional accrediation. The Gold Standard.

This gets you in everywhere.
Schools and employers are all happy.

2. National Accreditation (Ex. DETC, CHEA, etc.). The Silver Standard.

This gets you in quite a lot of places, but not everywhere.
Some RA schools may allow you to transfer in credit from an NA accredited school, but many do not.
Most employers find it ok, but some don't.

3. State accredited degree

This is valid in the current state, but is most probably of no practical use outside the state in which it has been validated.
You most likely will have a problem transferring credits to institutions with NA and RA standards.
Most employers outside the state do not like this education.

4. Legal unaccredited degree

Totally unaccredited degree, but still legal.
Will most likely not transfer to accredited institutions or get you employed anywhere.

5. Illegal unaccredited degree

Totally unaccredited degree and illegal. The institution offering this has no authority to issue degrees. By using this degree, you can - in some states - go directly to jail.

6. Diploma Mills

"Send us your money, and we will ship you your diplomas in 5 days. Full satisfaction guaranteed".
Totally illegal, and you don't have to do anything but pay to get the diplomas (maybe state some rubbish about your previous experience etc.)

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Michael

CLEP - ISCA 68, Sociology 72, Psych 73, A&I Lit 61, HG&D 65, Ed Psych 70, Marketing 72, Management 69, Macroeconomics 63, Microeconomics 67
DSST - Intro to Comp 66, MIS 61, Supervision 67, Counseling 58 - no study!, Personal Finance 67, Statistics 60, Criminal Justice 57, Ethics 58, Finance 63 (All A's at EC)
COC - 2007 (Community College) - Acctg I&II 10c, Work/Study 4c, Intro to Research (Info Lit req) 1c, Society and Rock & Roll 3c, Fund of Music 3c, Guitar I & II - 4c, Bass Guitar I - 2c
ECE - Ethics (A), HRM (B), Organizational Behavior (B) | CSU - Operations Mgmt. (A) | TECEP - Business Policy 80 (CR)

My Excelsior Degree Journey

Bachelor of Science in General Business, cum laude
Excelsior College

__________________
It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer. ~Albert Einstein

__________________
Brian R. Fey Sr.
Psy.D - (Very Nearly and Insanely Enrolled)
M.S. - Psychology
B.S. - Criminal Justice
A.S. - Administrative Management

Shoto-Advice:
"EC"
"CCU"
"Prayer"
"A Pass is a Pass"
"Slow and Steady - Wins the Race"
“Sometimes The Easy Way Is Not Always The Best Way”
"Passing a Petersons = Conquering a CLEP -or- Defeating a DSST"
"The 5 R's of Study: Repetition - Re-Enforces - Recognition - Recall - Retention"

"Always be Ready to Release Your Mind & Incorporate the Advice of Others into Your Plans."

"Studying is much like Boiling Water, if it is not Heated Constantly it will Once Again Become Cold Water."

Other Sources of CLEP & DSST Study Material

REA Books, Comex Books, Pass Your Class Guides, Standard Deviants DVD's, Petersons Practice Exams, Dummies Books, Idiot's Guides .

So I guess its safe to say....if you can, get an RA degree. If not, go for an NA degree. NA is better than nothing and nothing is better than the remaining options!

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Excelsior College B.S. Liberal Studies

119 Credits 2.75 GPA

46 Credits transfered in from B & M School (5 D's, gotta love Excelsior)

18 Credits from CLEP
48 Credits From DSST/Dantes

7 Credits from Excelsior College (Information Literacy, World Population & Ethics Theory and Practice)

Remaining Exams/Courses

ECE Org. Behavior

and one of the following ECE exams (what would u recommend?):

Research Methods in Psychology
Foundations of Gerontology
History of Nazi Germany
American Dream
Pathophysiology
Psychology of Adulthood & Aging
World Conflicts Since 1990
Abnormal Psychology
Social Psychology
Organizational Behavior
Religions of the World
Juvenile Delinquency
Bioethics

Well.....not quite. If you are pursuing a professional degree like being a doctor, lawyer, or psychologist then the RA degree is pretty much mandatory by state law requirements. If you are not, then the NA degree will do just fine. In my case, NO company can say my degree is without merit as it is endorsed by the US government (In fact, it was paid for by them as well!). I don't consider the effort I exerted, nor the degree, is substandard to a RA degree in any way.

I'm sure this not what you meant when you wrote this either....I was just using it as a personal example to the scenario I used.

Hope this clears things up a bit...Lee

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Associates Degree, Aviation Maintenance Technology, Community College of the Air Force
Bachelors of Science, Liberal Studies Degree, Excelsior
MBA Human Resource Management, California Coast University