Kansas Online Education Accreditation

With as much time and money as you will invest in your Kansas online education, you want to make sure that the degree-issuing institution is reputable and accredited. Learn more about what accreditation is and why it's important here.

Accreditation Explained

Students pursuing Kansas online education need to be careful of "diploma mills," or disreputable institutions that take your money and give you a basically worthless degree in exchange. The best way to protect the investment you make in your education is to ensure that the school you attend is accredited. Accreditation is essentially a quality control process that validates learning institutions by assessing them according to certain educational standards. Usually, accreditation is a peer-driven process whereby faculty members from accredited schools evaluate institutions up for accreditation renewal or those seeking accreditation for the first time. Accreditation standards vary according to the type of academic program and the nature of the institution, but the school is usually evaluated on:

• Purpose, objectives, and goals
• Admission standards
• Faculty member quality
• Allocation of resources
• Support services for students
• Quality and diversity of educational offerings

Why It Matters

The accreditation of a Kansas online education institution will directly impact the value of the class you take or degree you earn. Most employers will not recognize a degree obtained from an unaccredited school, and you may have trouble transferring coursework to another school if it was completed at a non-accredited institution. When you look for an online school, you should try to find one that openly provides information about its accreditation. Reputable online education institutions will expressly use the word "accredited" and then specify the accrediting organization. You may come across colleges or universities that masquerade as accredited institutions by using meaningless words like "licensed," "registered," "chartered," or "pursuing accreditation." If you see any of these words or phrases, you should recognize them as red flags that you're dealing with an unaccredited and possibly dishonest institution. For other words you may not recognize, please check out our glossary of Kansas online education terms.

Even if the school is accredited, you should still look into the credentials of the accrediting agency. Some Kansas online education programs will invent their own accrediting agencies to pass themselves off as legitimate, quality institutions of higher learning. For instance, a few years ago, one disreputable school claimed accreditation by the "American Association of Accredited Colleges and Universities," which was actually a fake agency that they had created. No matter how official-sounding the accrediting agency's name is, you should still investigate its qualifications.