Accreditation should play critical role in college choice

As the spring semester begins, high school students in Alabama are contemplating their higher education choices. 
   
While a college’s accreditation status may not be on the minds of these students and parents, it should be, according to leaders of Alabama Baptist colleges.
   
Accreditation is the process by which the federal government ensures quality education in colleges and universities around the country. According to the Web site of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, accreditation is a voluntary process on the part of a college or university that involves both self-study and peer evaluation. 
   
“The essential purpose of the accreditation process is to provide a professional judgment as to the quality of the educational institution or program(s) offered and to encourage continual improvement,” the Web site states.
   
According to Nancy Lacey, staff associate in the office of institutional effectiveness and planning with the commission, there are both regional and national accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and/or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). 
   
Lacey said determining a school’s accreditation status is not complicated but it is very important.
   
“It takes diligence on the part of the student and their parents [to determine a school’s accreditation status], and it centers around the recognition of the accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education and/or the Council on Higher Education Accreditation,” she said.
   
The most recognized regional accreditation authority for schools in Alabama is the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, often referred to as SACS.
   
All three Alabama Baptist colleges — Judson College in Marion, Samford University in Birmingham and the University of Mobile (UM) — have been accredited by SACS for decades: Samford since 1920, Judson since 1925 and UM since 1968. The schools continue to comply with the established policies, procedures and principles of the association. Every 10 years, each college goes through a SACS review process to have its accreditation renewed.
   
The review process is overseen by a committee of administrators and faculty members from institutions similar in size and stature of the college under review.
   
“There are many different ways of fulfilling the principles,” said UM President Mark Foley. “But the guiding principle is we must do it to the satisfaction of a group of peers from like institutions — peers who approach things in a similar way.”
   
Judson recently completed its 10-year review process and received a reaffirmation of accreditation from SACS July 11, 2005.
   
Mark Tew, senior vice president at Judson, said the accreditation process is a thorough one that requires a great deal of time and energy from the administration, faculty and staff of the college. 
   
During the yearlong review process, six committees composed of Judson faculty and staff worked on the compliance certification document and another leadership group revised and finalized the document, according to Tew. The final document was sent to the college’s review team, followed by an on-site visit last September.
   
He said he believes the reaccreditation experience is a valuable experience despite the work. “Rigorous self-examination is often painful, but it is well worth the effort.”
   
While students may not think accreditation is important, Foley said students should realize that accreditation affects their financial opportunities at an institution.
   
“In order for students to receive Title IV federal financial aid [including Pell Grants and Perkins and Stafford loan programs] at our institution, we must be accredited [by a recognized accrediting association] and be in good standing with the accrediting association,” he said.
  
Accreditation is also an important consideration for students who are contemplating taking core courses at one institution and later transferring to another school.
   
“If a student from a nonaccredited institution wants to transfer to an accredited institution, it remains with the institution to decide what credits will be accepted,” Foley said. 
   
He added that if a student is granted a degree from a nonaccredited school, then that student may have great difficulty being accepted into graduate or doctoral programs at accredited institutions. In addition, Lacey said, many employers require that a prospective employee’s degree be from an institution that is regionally or nationally accredited. 
   
With these facts in mind, students should carefully consider a school’s accreditation status when choosing a college or university, said Brad Creed, Samford provost.
   
He said the institution’s accreditation statement should be published and will probably appear on the school’s Web site, in the catalog and/or in the student handbook.
   
“If students have any doubt, they should ask,” Creed said. “Write the academic services department or the chief academic officer at the college to find out about the school’s accreditation status.”
   
Resources available on the Web site for the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (www.ache.state.al.us) can help a student verify an accrediting agency’s recognition status by either the U.S. Department of Education or CHEA. The accrediting agency’s Web site may also provide information on a school’s most recent accreditation activity, which can be informative as well. 
   
“A student needs to check to see if a school is on probation or something like that,” Creed said. “It should be a red flag to a student if a school is not accredited or is on probation.”
   
Students who are considering taking courses through an unaccredited institution should consider their long-range goals. Though a school might offer quality Christian or Bible instruction, the courses may hold no value in terms of completing a baccalaureate degree, being accepted into a master’s degree program by an accredited institution or finding a job.
   
“In my opinion, [unaccredited] organizations offer very little academic value to the student and no value in terms of their movement to a legitimate baccalaureate degree or graduate degree,” Foley said.
   
Another important point, he noted, is that the accreditation process is driven by member institutions themselves, and not by the federal government. So while the principles of accreditation dictate standards such as how many hours a college should have in core curriculum areas and degree programs, the accreditation process does not dictate the content of the courses.
   
“It [the current accreditation system] is an extremely important thing to preserve, particularly for our three Alabama Baptist institutions, which carry a spiritual component to their mission,” Foley said. 
   
“It is a very important concept in terms of higher education and in terms of our ability to define our own missions in Christian education and how we will carry them out at a level of quality.”
   
Tew said accreditation is a commitment to academic excellence on the part of all the member institutions. Foley added that for Christian institutions, upholding academic excellence is especially important.
   
“It’s my opinion that Christians should always be very, very good at what they do. We live in a world that holds us suspect. And that is true in higher education as well,” he said.
   
“These standards compel us to operate at a level of quality that can be demonstrated. It is incumbent on Christians to do it not only well, but better than anybody else. I think that honors Christ, and that’s what we are about.” (Michael Brooks contributed)