| When deciding which criminal justice program to | | | | - the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges |
| attend, the accreditation issue is very important. | | | | (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and |
| There are certain things that you should know about | | | | Washington). |
| accreditation. | | | | The two spin-offs are: |
| 1. What is accreditation? | | | | - the Western Association's Accrediting Commission |
| Accreditation means that a school and its programs | | | | for Senior Colleges and Universities (see WICHE Best |
| have been peer reviewed through site visits by | | | | Practices), and, |
| bodies recognized and authorized by the US | | | | - the North Central's Higher Learning Commission (see |
| Department of Education to do so. It, therefore, | | | | NCA Best Practices). |
| ultimately means that degrees obtained from | | | | If your school is accredited by one of these eight (8) |
| accredited schools are recognized across the nation | | | | groups, which receive U.S. Dept. of Education funding |
| and are accepted as valid by employers. | | | | and operate primarily by site visit-peer review, then |
| 2. Who are the recognized accreditation bodies? | | | | you need not worry -- your school has the best |
| The US Department of Education funds eight | | | | accreditation there is. |
| accreditation bodies. There are six regional | | | | 3. Are there other accreditation bodies? |
| accreditation (RA) bodies and two spin-offs of two | | | | There are other accreditation bodies and many online |
| of the six RA bodies. | | | | schools proudly advertise that they are accredited by |
| These bodies are authorized to grant accreditations | | | | one or the other of these bodies. But these so-called |
| to schools falling within their specified regional | | | | accrediting bodies are themselves not accredited so |
| jurisdictions. | | | | that their accreditations are not worth the paper |
| These bodies are: | | | | they are written on. |
| - the New England Association of Schools and | | | | Out of all these other accrediting bodies there are |
| Colleges (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New | | | | some that are simply blacklisted and not recognized |
| Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont); | | | | while there are others that may be accepted as valid |
| - the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools | | | | in 30 per cent of the organizations that matter. |
| (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, | | | | Employers, on the other hand, are likely to reject |
| Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, | | | | outright degrees given by schools accredited by |
| Texas and Virginia); | | | | these other agencies. |
| - the Middle States Association of Colleges and | | | | 4. Is there a list of blacklisted schools or a list of |
| Schools (Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, | | | | schools whose degrees are not recognized? |
| New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, | | | | Yes, at present there are two such lists. One list has |
| the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Panama); | | | | been prepared by the state of Michigan and another |
| - the North Central Association of Colleges and | | | | prepared by the state of Oregon. Employers use |
| Schools (Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, | | | | these lists to check whether a particular degree from |
| Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North | | | | a particular school is worthless or not. |
| Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, | | | | 5. Is accreditation a really important issue? |
| South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and | | | | Yes! It is the most important issue when you are |
| Wyoming); | | | | deciding which criminal justice school you should enroll |
| - the Western Association of Schools and Colleges | | | | in. If the school you enroll in is not accredited, then |
| (California, Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American | | | | the degree that you earn after spending a lot of |
| Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of | | | | money and effort will not be worth the paper it is |
| Palau, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas | | | | written on. You will be a sucker of the worst kind! |
| Islands, the Pacific Basin, and East Asia); and, | | | | |