Accreditation Question

[Karis]

Is anyone here familiar with...

or have experience with...

 

The National Association of Private and Home Schools?

 

Is there a general consensus about being (or not being) accredited?

 

Is this a good thing? Worth looking into?

 

A mom at our co-op asked me and I'm TOTALLY clueless.

 

So... of course, I came here. ;)

[Gwen in VA]

:bigear:

[Ellie]

I always come here when I'm clueless. :D

 

In most cases, accreditation of schools below college is not all that important. The only thing it says is that the schools have been examined by a third-party organization which says the schools have done what they say they're going to do.

 

Sometimes--rarely--a homeschooled student who has been enrolled in an accredited homeschool program will find it easier to enroll in a local public (or private, I suppose) school.

 

Most people report that their dc were accepted by colleges with home-generated transcripts.

 

Sometimes, people who earn credits at non-accredited colleges have trouble transferring those credits to other colleges.

 

Personally, I would avoid using an accredited school if public school officials were pushing it, unless there was something actually in the law. I'm just like that. :D

[Teachin'Mine]

I just found out about this when someone asked about Veritas Press. You can go onto the website - for the accreditation - and see the list of schools. I think the best way to find out if it's at all meaningful is to ask a school which requires courses from accredited schools whether they accept courses from the schools with that accreditation. I can't imagine it being at all helpful for homeschoolers or for co-ops to have this accreditation, but I may be wrong. :)

[Joan in GE]

I've started researching this more and hadn't thought of searching this way before...

 

I got a hint from a NYT article that said that "Some, like Oregon, have tried more comprehensive approaches, making it a crime to use degrees from diploma factories named on a state Web site. "

 

Then I found this on Wikipedia about Accreditation Mills though it might just be for colleges.

 

The one asked about by OP isn't recognized or unrecognized.

 

A list of recognized agencies. Scroll down for the US.

 

A list of unrecognized agencies.

 

This Diploma Mills info could give some links. You can also search "fake accrediting agencies".

 

Here's the CHEA site list of organizations but again, I'm not sure if it covers high school. It is all fairly confusing as I read on the Trent School (an umbrella school) in their defense of not being "accredited" that most high schools are recognized by the dept of education in their state.

 

ETA - I keep finding stuff. On the CHEA site, it gives a some links, one of which is the Better Business Bureau.

If you know where they are located, you could go to the state's BBB site to search for accredited businesses. You'll see the choice to "check out a business or charity". Then when you get the name of the business, if you click on it, another window will open which tells you if there is any record of complaints.

 

Joan

Edited February 19, 2011 by Joan in Geneva

[Karis]

Joan, this is helpful.

[Alyce]

I have graduated 2 to college and applied to many. None of them cared whether or not we used an accredited school. Most only looked at SAT scores and some wanted SAT II. They do want a way to substantiate a homeschool transcript and this is how they do it. If a student has all A's on his report card but only gets an 800 on math and english combined it looks fishy but they know that that can happen with accredited schools as well. There are a few IVY league schools that require this but most schools don't. I think it's a big waste of money to do it just so you'll have a diploma from an "accredited" school when "mommy" diplomas are just fine. If your homeschool law requires it that's different, then you have no choice. I think if you ask on the college board you'll get a better answer because those are the ones who have already gone through the college process and have seen more first hand whether they truly made a difference. As for us, we had no problem at any of our schools with my "mommy" made diploma and we just don't have that kind of money to waste when it wasn't necessary.