ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON
What is the difference between a high school diploma and a medical degree? About $3.2 million, says the Census Bureau.
It is well known that educational credentials are directly proportional to one’s income.
Oh, I understand that there are thousands of people with doctorate degrees teaching at high schools, working at mills, or pastoring small churches. Many people with master’s degrees are doing menial office tasks, work in children’s ministries, and even more people with bachelor’s degrees are waiting on tables, and asking, “Do you wanna double-size that order for a buck more?”
While there are exceptions, generally people with higher degrees earn more money. Therefore, many are searching in the advertisements sections of magazines for school ads and many are surfing the Internet in search for a degree through distance learning methods so that they can “go to school” and stay home at the same time. School that will not interfere with their careers and ministries. And, while there are lots of those schools out there, not all of them are good, legitimate schools.
Some Caveats
There are some generalizations that continue to misinform people about higher education and what’s available. One sweeping generalization is that "schools that are accredited are good" and "schools that are not accredited are bad." This is simply misleading. First, some schools that claim to be “accredited” are very bad schools, and a few unaccredited schools are very good schools.
In fact, all accredited schools were at some time in their history unaccredited. That's right. No school starts out accredited. And, some very good, legitimate, and academically astute schools simply do not seek accreditation because of the innovative or experimental nature of their programs and delivery systems.
So, there are some not-so-terrific accredited schools (especially for Christians who believe the Bible) and there are a few (very few) very good unaccredited schools. And everyone who is going to earn a degree through distance learning needs to take the time to investigate what’s out there in academia.
Bogus Accreditation?
On the other hand, however, there are many substandard schools that are in fact legal in the U.S. They lack legitimate academic rigor and faculty qualifications. Often these substandard schools buy bogus “accreditation” from unrecognized accreditors for anywhere from $100 to $1000 per year.
By the way, just so you know, anyone can start an accrediting association. There are no laws governing it. So, any con-man with too much time on his hands can start an accrediting association and sell his accreditation to bad schools. Sadly, this is completely legal in the U.S., but obviously it is not ethical because it is not REAL accreditation at all.
And too often people with solid bachelor’s degrees or solid master’s degrees damage their academic resume beyond repair by earning their next higher degree from one of these substandard, so-called accredited distance learning schools.
The Real Issue
The issue for many people today should not simply be “Is the school accredited?” becasue even bad schools can simply buy bogus accreditation, but will a degree from this school, accredited or not, be acceptable to the “gate keepers” of the career or ministry I wish to pursue?
If one needs a degree from an truly accredited school, one should be very careful to investigate the schools under review. Today, many substandard schools (and even many diploma mills) claim to be accredited. And, the scary thing is that they might in fact be accredited by one or more of the bad (but fully legal) accrediting organizations; however, you must ask, “Accredited by whom?”
U.S. Department of Education Recognition
In America, there are no laws governing the establishing of accrediting agencies. Over the years, I have collected a list of dozens of bogus or substandard accrediting agencies, most are legal under U.S. law, but they are not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. And, that’s the key to real accreditation.
Anyone can start an “accrediting agency” but only serious, academic accrediting agencies are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. So, when a school claims to be accredited, it might be. But, is their “accreditor” itself recognized by the U.S. Department of Education? If not, then the so-called accreditation, legal though it may be, is an academic sham.
Then there is a new crop of very bad schools that mislead people about the issue of accreditation. What amazes me is that the wording that they use is exactly the same. It’s like they had a “Very Bad Schools Convention” where they all agreed to use the same misleading wording. It goes something like this:
Is Accreditation Necessary?
If you are studying to become something other than a minister, for instance to become a professional in a secular field, you need to make sure that the school you are going to study with is accredited by a regional (or national) accrediting association that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. In secular education, this type of accreditation is essential.
However, if you are seeking an education for the Gospel Ministry or a related field with Christian ministry, secular accreditation is not required. All Christian Churches accept quality Christian education regardless of which accrediting group (if any) a school is with.
I hope you can see the many fallacies in the statement above. First, there are some secular areas that one might study and not need it to be from an accredited school. My auto mechanic went to a non-accredited auto-mechanic school, and now he has his own very successful auto shop. So, the statement that “In secular education, this type of accreditation is essential” is simply not true.
Next, note that the statement above slips in the word “secular” with regard to Christian education: “However, if you are seeking an education for the Gospel Ministry or a related field with Christian ministry, secular accreditation is not required.” Secular accreditation? Yes, there is such a thing. But what they don’t tell you is that there is also such a thing as Christian accreditation that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
So, please, please, please, understand that when these (less-than-terrific) schools tell you that there is only one kind of accreditation and that is “secular” accreditation, it is simply meant to mislead you into thinking that the reason why they are not accredited is because they are not going to allow the big bad government to tell them what to do; so, they refuse “secular accreditation.” What they don’t tell you is that there are good, solid Christian accrediting associations that will not accredit them because they are not legitimate, academically astute schools.
Next, their last line is simply laughable. They state: “All Christian Churches accept quality Christian education regardless of which accrediting group (if any) a school is with.”
Man, this one is loaded with error and misrepresentation. I’ll try to keep it simple:
First, NOT ALL Christian Churches accept quality Christian education from non-accredited schools. In fact, some Christian Churches demand that their ministers attend their denominational schools which are accredited, and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Next, notice that their statement says, “. . . regardless of which accrediting group (if any) a school is with.” This “regardless of which accrediting group” swings open the door to those dozens of bogus accreditors that are not only NOT recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, but they are condemned by real schools and real accreditors as being false or bogus accreditors.
Again, remember what I said above, if one needs a degree from an truly accredited school, one should be very careful to investigate the schools under review. Today, many substandard schools (and even many diploma mills) are accredited by bogus accreditors that are not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. So, if a school claims to be accredited, you must ask, “Accredited by whom?” And that accreditor must be duly recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, or else the so-called accreditation is a sham.
So Is Accreditation Necessary?
It’s really as simple as this: It depends on the degree itself and on the reasons for wanting it. For instance, if you are seeking a job promotion or a salary increase, and your employer states that any master's degree, accredited or not, will garner you a promotion or a salary increase (yes, some say this), then the unaccredited master's degree through a legitimate school earned 100% off campus is exactly as good as a master's degree earned by sitting in classrooms for years at an accredited school. Add to that the fact that tuition at good, unaccredited schools is far less than accredited schools. Also, one can more easily continue earning a living while pursuing the distance learning degree because of the inherent flexibility, and there are no moving costs or major family disruptions.
As another example, a nonresident doctorate earned through one of the good, unaccredited, legitimate colleges may be of minimal value in getting a faculty position at Harvard. But such degrees have proved useful in many cases for advancement in business, counseling, government, industry, and ministry.
Unaccredited But Credible
However, and please make this distinction, even if you do not need a degree from an accredited school, you always do need your degree from a credible school; and schools (especially Christian ones!) that lie and mislead prospective students about the issue of accreditation are not credible schools.
Credible unaccredited Christian schools will be openly honest and up front about their unaccredited status. As I have researched unaccredited Christian schools over the years, I have been deeply saddened and appalled at the fact that only about 1% of these schools are being honest about this issue. Amazing isn’t it? At its most elemental level a CHRISTIAN school should be transparently honest about what it can and cannot offer. How can a Christian school claim basic Christian ethics if it purposely misleads about or hides the fact that it is not truly accredited?
Let me repeat what I said above. This is what I have told to many, many people over the years who have sought my advice about attending unaccredited schools: "Even if you do not need your degree to be from an accredited school, you do need it to be from a credible school."
The Final Issue
Some employers (including churches) refuse to hire people with unaccredited degrees. However, many others welcome them. The most enlightened employers consider each applicant on his (or her) own merits and education and abilities and not on the “stamp” that may or may not be on the schools that they attended.
This is the same with accredited schools. Some simply refuse to accept transfer students with unaccredited degrees. However, the most enlightened ones consider each applicant on his (or her) own merits and education and abilities.
CES has enjoyed relative acceptability from employers and accredited schools. CES has had graduates move on and up in their careers and ministries. And, some CES graduates who wanted to go on with their educations have transferred credits and degrees into other accredited schools.
Over the last 15 years of CES history, CES have proven that while it is not accredited, it is indeed honest and integrity-driven; in a word, CES is highly credible.
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