How to Know if an Online School Is Accredited

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By Elizabeth Lang
eHow Contributing Writer

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The United States Department of Education or the Council of Higher Education Accreditation publishes the accreditation lists for online schools in the United States. However, neither of these two organizations actually grant accreditation. Rather, there are 52 accreditation organizations (also called accrediting bodies) in the United States that confer accreditation status on a school. The requirements for accreditation vary by specialty as whether the school is technical or vocational.
Accreditation status reveals to employers whether a person's courses or degree from an online school meet a minimum set of standards.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Know the name of the school you will be searching for. You will need the exact name and whether the degree program is graduate or undergraduate.
Step 2

Visit the U.S. Department of Education's search page or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation search page (see Resources for links).
Step 3

Type the name of the online school in the "name of institution" box on the U.S. Department of Education's search page. Click on the "Search" button.
Step 4

Click on the name of the exact school you are looking for in the search results. This will open the accreditation history page.
Step 5

Read the accreditation status. This will be found in the "institutional accreditation" section of the page. It will state either "accredited" and list the name of the accrediting agency or it will state "no institutional accreditation has been found."

Tips & Warnings

Ensure that you attend an online school that is accredited if you want employers, especially state, federal or local government employers, to accept your degree.

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