Nationally accredited program?

[cookderosa]

I tried asking Hawthorne before if they'd consider enrollment (probationary, even) in the master's program without a bachelors degree, and they just pointed me to the certificate programs (which are different in content). It's worth a try again, though, now that I'm about at the point of having an undergraduate degree. I'm not interested in Hawthorn for financial reasons, mostly for personal reasons, although they're pretty credible in the holistic health arena, so I do think it will mean more than an unaccredited degree in most other fields. Natural health folks tend to be pretty unimpressed with government, so they're likely to be less concerned with accreditation and more concerned with the college's associations with other organizations they trust.

This is true, however, the state you practice in does have a government, and you'll want to be sure you're legally allowed to practice whatever it is you hope to practice. If your state requires your degree to be accredited, you'll want to know that in advance.

I'll speak just to field (culinary & nutrition) which is full of people breaking the law. People breaking health department regulations, practicing nutrition without a license, and so on. I don't have the time or motivation to report them, but others do.

My parents were part of the holistic health arena you're speaking of. My dad is a chiropractor, my mom a nurse (passed away in 2009) - who used dosing rods, pyramids, and crystals on my chakras instead of mediine. I was an adult living on my own before I ever went to ANY doctor or received any type of medication or vaccination of any kind. The whole lifestyle...you know what I'm talking about.

So, I get what you're saying about choosing a degree that's respected by the community you're trying to service. But, here's the thing about choosing an unaccredited degree- you'll have no ability to discern between activism and science because your teachers are not held to scientific standards. An activist teaches their point of view to people equal or less than them, and wants them to adopt it. That group of people don't posess the scientific chops to make actual counter-arguments or challenge their assertions. A scientists tells other scientists to test and retest and poke holes in their findings. It's a point of view issue. When you look at programs like Bastyr vs Hawthorne, it's 100% possible that the content is identical and the work to earn it is identical. The difference is how the rest of the world views your credential. You'll only be respected by people with less training than you, because after all that time-work-money, someone else with a degree from an accredited program wins every time.