According to Sloan Consortium, almost 3.5 million college students took one or more online courses in 2006-2007. And as distance-learning programs continue to garner credibility with industries and employers, that number should rise considerably over the coming decade. Here’s why.

In the Beginning: The Age of Degree Mills

Those brave enough to test the waters of the birth of online education found a mixed bag. Most of the big-name schools offered only a few sparse courses online or snubbed the concept entirely. For example, the Washington Post reports that you can take business courses from Harvard Extension if you have online access. No one, however, can earn a Harvard MBA online.’ And because the Internet inevitably promotes commercialism, cardboard-fronted colleges began offering degrees based on life experiences (read: no academic rigor required). Degree mills allowed anyone to pay a small fee to receive a diploma that wasn’t worth much more than the card stock it was printed on.

Accreditation Arrives: More Schools, More Options

The notion that working students could earn a valid university education without compromising their professional or personal obligations was too valuable to die. The demand was too great, and colleges knew a good thing when they saw one. So distance learning followed the path of accreditation. Validation groups such as The Council for Higher Education Accreditation and The Higher Learning Commission began the arduous task of examining online degree programs and ensuring their applicability to learning and professionalism.

The Future of Online Education

With an economy that is unsure at best, students, recognize the potential of the online education. And so do investors. According to BloggingStocks, a slowing economy and corporate layoffs are sending the population of unemployed and mid-career changers back to online school. And AOL reveals that total degree enrollment in Apollo Group Inc., a player in the distance education industry, rose 11 percent to 345,300 students versus one year ago. The bottom line? The point where online learning meets meaningful accreditation has given distance education a renewed credibility.

Sources:
America
AOL money & finance
BloggingStocks
Washington Post

Accreditation: The process by which students, families, government officials, and the press know that an institution provides a quality education. Colleges and universities in the US are accredited by one of 19 recognized institutional accrediting organizations.

Accreditation Means Value

The definition of “accreditation,” offered in the leader of this article by Community Foundation, is only half the story. Ensuring the quality of the degree program you choose has implications in your profession and in your wallet. Degrees without national or regional accreditation are typically ignored in the real world, a fact that most students don’t realize until after graduation. They’re then passed over for promotions and pay increases due to a diploma that carries little to zero weight. Colleges and universities recognize this, so they pour a great deal of human and financial resources into accreditation. Schools that do flourish in enrollment; those that don’t will fall by the wayside.

Why Colleges Seek Accreditation

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation has been tracking the last century of accreditation efforts by US colleges and universities. Currently, there are 7,000 higher education institutions and 17,000 specific degree programs accredited by one or more of the national bodies. Some of the top reasons why colleges seek accreditation include:

• * Earning federal and state government funding, as well as private sector financial support

• * Protecting students and consumers from fraud and abuse

• * Encouraging major innovation while maintaining quality

• * Facilitating states that carry out licensure of the professions

• * Responding to the current climate of accountability

Accreditation is in the best interest of all stakeholders, including students, federal and state governments, and the college and universities themselves. And as accrediting standards and procedures continue to fine tune, the distance learning concept will grow in popularity and application.

Sources:
CHEA
Community Foundation

In the United States, non-governmental organizations evaluate colleges and universities and grant accreditation to those that meet nationwide standards. The accreditation process is therefore not conducted directly by the government, although the accreditation agencies are themselves evaluated by the US Secretary of Education. The process is intended to assist students in deciding on where to continue their education, to promote the general elevation of educational standards around the country and to determine which institutions are worthy of private or public funds.

Accreditation begins with the establishment of educational standards, which is continuously performed by the accreditation agencies in cooperation with colleges. Colleges seeking accreditation conduct an intensive internal evaluation of their own practices and educational environment to determine whether it is up to par with those of other schools in addition to the agreed-upon standards. This evaluation includes close scrutiny of the curricula of specific courses at the college, judgment of the caliber of the professors leading the institution and the quality of the work of the students themselves.

Following this self-evaluation, the accreditation agency visits the school and conducts its own assessment of those same aspects with guidance from the school’s report. The agency then determines whether or not to grant accreditation, and in the case of a successful application, the college is listed in the agency’s publication of accredited schools.

After the initial process, the agency makes periodic reevaluations of the college to ensure compliance with its standards. The process is an important step in the establishment of a new educational institution, and most are not successful without winning accreditation.

Source:
US Department of Education – Overview of Post-Secondary Accreditation