Accreditation (US). Students should read.
polycounter lvl 18
I'm investigating a MFA at well ok, Digipen. This isn't one of those normal "should I go" threads. This is more to expand information for students for all degrees. Ever wonder whats up with some schools accepting your CC credits while others do not? Or why your degree from "XYZ Institute" is not recognized?
First Good Site:
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx
That will tell you what organization is accrediting the school. Here is what you need to know:
"Regional accreditation is the most commonly accepted form of accreditation in the US. Because most brick-and-mortar colleges are accredited by a regional orgnization. In pure academic environment it tends to be more accepting of transcripts and degrees that come from regionally accredited schools. "*
Digipen and Fullsail as examples are using ACCSC which is a national accrediting organization meant for career training. Compared to lets say UofWashington which is accredited by http://www.nwccu.org/ (regional). I should note I have found one exception with NASAD being a national organization (including Canada), whose accrediation is academically more like a regional one.
My biggest reason for doing this research came from the following two questions.
1. Would a MFA from say Digipen be accepted by another government (working internationally) as a true Masters? versus someone from a traditional University.
A: So far, I can't tell. I have a funny suspicion though there may be a distinction on the foriegn governments side depending on the Accreditor.
2. Would a MFA from Digipen be accepted by say UofWs Doctorate program?
A: Again, unknown, but from what I am reading, if nothing else, your degree would put you at the bottom of the pile compared to other applicants.
What's really funny, and "wouda thunk it?". AI in Seattle and Portland are accredited by the same regional institution as UofW. In theory.. theory mind you, credits and recognization should be at least partially transferable between.
I guess in short what I am saying. Academically. Not all degrees with the same name from different institutions are considered equal.... XYZ Institutes BFA does not equal Mars University BFA
In closing, be careful what you decide upon if you ever want to further your education or travel easily.
*http://www.work-study.us/work-study-USA-Info.html
First Good Site:
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx
That will tell you what organization is accrediting the school. Here is what you need to know:
"Regional accreditation is the most commonly accepted form of accreditation in the US. Because most brick-and-mortar colleges are accredited by a regional orgnization. In pure academic environment it tends to be more accepting of transcripts and degrees that come from regionally accredited schools. "*
Digipen and Fullsail as examples are using ACCSC which is a national accrediting organization meant for career training. Compared to lets say UofWashington which is accredited by http://www.nwccu.org/ (regional). I should note I have found one exception with NASAD being a national organization (including Canada), whose accrediation is academically more like a regional one.
My biggest reason for doing this research came from the following two questions.
1. Would a MFA from say Digipen be accepted by another government (working internationally) as a true Masters? versus someone from a traditional University.
A: So far, I can't tell. I have a funny suspicion though there may be a distinction on the foriegn governments side depending on the Accreditor.
2. Would a MFA from Digipen be accepted by say UofWs Doctorate program?
A: Again, unknown, but from what I am reading, if nothing else, your degree would put you at the bottom of the pile compared to other applicants.
What's really funny, and "wouda thunk it?". AI in Seattle and Portland are accredited by the same regional institution as UofW. In theory.. theory mind you, credits and recognization should be at least partially transferable between.
I guess in short what I am saying. Academically. Not all degrees with the same name from different institutions are considered equal.... XYZ Institutes BFA does not equal Mars University BFA
In closing, be careful what you decide upon if you ever want to further your education or travel easily.
*http://www.work-study.us/work-study-USA-Info.html
Replies
Regionally accredited schools (typical universities and colleges) have to go through a much more rigorous process for accreditation. The instructors have to have minimum educational requirements, for example (minimum of an M.A. or higher). Digipen can have people with industry experience teach, but those instructors would not be able to teach at a college unless they had a degree (and I don't even want to get into a discussion about experience vs. degrees--just stating the facts related to accreditation). I have no idea about which foreign country accepts which U.S. accreditation.
I reinforce your point about making sure that you confirm accreditation BEFORE you enroll, especially if you ever want to transfer (or land a job that requires a regionally-accredited degree).
What do you want to go for? If it's design or something, aren't there regionally accredited, respected schools with very solid game design MFAS? I know Dan Pinchbeck got his mfa at a regular university, although I belive in the UK.
If it's for art, why Digipen? Why not a traditional artschool?
There are two types. Regional and National. When regular folks think "Accreditation", what they're thinking is the regional system. It means you get a legit degree, and can go to other schools and universities in the US, in the world, and even to other Non-Regionally-Accredited schools.
The National Accreditation system may as well be called the Bullcrap accreditation. It's as good as you graduating from the BigJohn school of life.
I know cause I graduated from one of the many Art Institutes that's Nationally Accredited. I wanted to keep going for a masters, and applied at a state university where I was declined. I then applied to quite a few universities in the country, some of which I knew the staff and professors in, and got nowhere. Basically, no real university anywhere will accept any credits at all from a Nationally Accredited school, no matter what they tell you.
At the time I even tried contacting the Art Institute itself. They swore that "some" schools will take their credits. That's utter BS, and it has nothing to do with the particular school, but the accreditation that they hold. State Universities, legit ones that is, have a list of other schools they recognize. It's a list of other Regionally Accredited schools. If your school isn't on the list, it's over. They won't even try and work with you. And trust me, I've tried in all sorts of universities all over the country.
It was actually so bad that I tried applying in another Art Institute that actually was regionally accredited (the Seattle one) and even they wouldn't accept the credits, though in their defense they did accept some (25% of my credits).
The answer to your 1. and 2. questions is both No. At least from my pretty decent personal experience with the system.
For shits N' giggles I tried looking up Guildhall. I think they still are under the wing of SMU accreditation as I saw no separate entry for them? If so, they are regionally accredited (i.e. more accepted degree)
Joseph, that's getting OT, so I answered you via PM.
Gotta check it for yourself. If it's not Regional, stay the F away. And don't even bother calling them up and asking. I did, and the poor people working there don't even know. They'll tell you blanket lines like "Oh, since it's an Art school, SOME schools will accept the credits, and some won't". But that's just not true. It's not because it's an art school, it's because it doesn't have proper accreditation. Like I said, even other AIs wouldn't accept all the credits from a National AI.
Also does anyone know how accreditation effects Visa applications?
I heard about it in this dcoumentary on the whole for profit issue:
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Very interesting indeed. Do you have any idea how this all relates to getting visas etc?
Relevant work experience, to the tune of 8-12 years. You will need very good documentation to prove it too. Freelance work may not count (usually depends on how you did your taxes).
totally irrelevant outside the US. for non US governments/companies/universities the regional vs. national accreditation idiocy does not matter,as long as it is accredited by a government body such as the dept. of education. try explaining this "yes, it's accredited, but..." problem to anyone outside the US and they'll just shake their heads. AI & Co are recognizedvia their accrediting bodies to the US dept of education as colleges and that is all that matters for the outside world. Now if you want to do a masters in the US you're pretty much fxxked with a nationally accredited degree though and you have to jump through many hoops to even get a chance.
de jure all degrees in the US should be equal, and there is indeed a few US uniswhich treat them as equal, so there is no law that makes a distinction between the degrees. it mostly comesdown to academic standards each uni can set for itself and whom they deem worthy for acceptance and transfer and whom not. And when it comes to national vs regional then this is purely a US academic issue fought out between US accreditors and US universities.
The argument is basically "nationally accredited has supposedly lower academic standards, therefore, in the eyes of regional unis, they're not comparable and therefore not recognised", and there's quite some debate if that assumption is really always true.
for the rest of the worldaregional accredited degree is just the same as a nationally accredited one.
even the US government does not make a distinction between them. It's the same procedure as applying to any other government recognised college if you're a foreign student (remember both nationally and regionally are govt. recognizd). you can even apply for that 1 yearwork visa. no difference.
thats why i'm getting my masters degree at University of Liverpool now' they don't care about US academic turf wars. cheaper too. guess i should be thankful to the US unis to turn me away
Awesome thanks, that really clears it up.