soliloquy Wrote:This should be a sticky. I lot of new people that come here don't know these things.

Dr John Wrote:Sanantone, I agree with you completely, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement will not recognize an NA degree. Almost all of the police departments in Texas who require a bachelors degree will not accept an NA degree. I say almost, only because I have not seen every departments standards, but I have yet to find a department willing to accept an NA degree as meeting the degree requirement.

I have seen first hand the issue and heart breaking problems that people I have worked with or their family members have faced when trying to go to a regionally accredited school after completing a NA degree or earning significant NA credit. I know that the politically correct way of approaching this is to simply say that NA is the equal of RA and that eventually it will all be accepted fully. But until that happens, it really isn't the same.

sanantone Wrote:I don't care who it offends. I think it is important to stress the difference in acceptance of degrees/credits from NA and RA schools. Too many people end up surprised when their credits won't transfer to many colleges or their degrees don't qualify them for licensure. I wrote this article for another website.
The Best Dang-Darned, Most Comprehensive Guide to Going to School Online - Beyond Black & White

For anyone interested in law enforcement in Texas, having an NA degree can be useless in many cases. Otherwise, NA vs. RA doesn't matter to private employers or the federal government in most cases. It's also important to note that programmatic accreditation is often required for certain types of licenses. Some programmatic accreditors won't even accredit American schools with national accreditation. Some foreign countries won't recognize NA degrees.