Going to a school that is accredited is vitally important to your budget, your time, your professional potential and your educational training. Accreditation refers to a school’s status as an approved college, university or other postsecondary institution that can award degrees. These institutions have met the requirements set forth by several different accrediting agencies, which have also been approved by the U.S. Secretary of Education. Schools need to meet certain educational standards in curriculum design, faculty training, funding, financial aid, and other areas. If you attend a school that is not accredited, then the quality of your education is most likely not up to these basic standards, and future employers and graduate programs will not recognize the time and effort you put into your education. Some organizations that aren’t accredited have been set up specifically to scam students. These diploma mills or degree mills are fundamentally illegal and print out worthless degrees while charging unsuspecting students fraudulent tuition. If you verify a school’s accreditation and only intend to enroll in a program that is accredited, you can eliminate this threat altogether.

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation, also known as refers to a school’s status as an approved college, university or other postsecondary institution that can award degrees. These institutions have met the requirements set forth by several different accrediting agencies, which have also been approved by the U.S. Secretary of Education. Schools need to meet certain educational standards in curriculum design, faculty training, funding, financial aid, and other areas. If you attend a school that is not accredited, then the quality of your education is most likely not up to these basic standards, and future employers and graduate programs will not recognize the time and effort you put into your education. Some organizations that aren’t accredited have been set up specifically to scam students. These diploma mills or degree mills are fundamentally illegal and print out worthless degrees while charging unsuspecting students fraudulent tuition. If you verify a school’s accreditation and only intend to enroll in a program that is accredited, you can eliminate this threat altogether. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation, also known as CHEA recognizes many different accrediting agencies for different types of schools and industry-specific academic programs and professional programs. The most important kind of accreditation for a traditional school to pursue is regional accreditation. Even if you plan on getting an MBA from an online program, find out if the online program is associated with a campus-based institution. If it is, that school will need to be accredited by one of the six regional accrediting bodies: The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. If your online MBA program is offered through a fully online university, then your school needs to be accredited by one of the distance learning accrediting councils, like the Distance Education and Training Council, or DETC. The DETC website provides a searchable directory for students wanting to verify their school’s accreditation status. The United States Distance Learning Association, or USDLA, also provides information on distance learning accreditation and recognizes high achieving distance learning institutions.

Once you have verified the basic accreditation status of your institution, you will also need to research your program’s industry specific accreditation and professional accreditation. The CHEA website lets students search by program, like business, to verify this information. The Programmatic Accrediting Organizations page displays contact information for The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and similar agencies.

Graduate programs should also be accredited by the Council of Graduate Schools, which ensures that your graduate program adheres to the standards of higher education and postgraduate training.