What is the difference between accredited and non accredited courses

You can issue your learners a Certificate of Attendance. You may apply for Learnerships directly from your Seta. You may not apply for Learnerships directly from your Seta. Attend an info session. About Us. Get Accredited. Grow Your Business. In this case, the accrediting agency is a professional organization that evaluates the effectiveness of a program in terms of how well it prepares students to meet certain professional standards. Students should determine if their career path requires that their program of choice be accredited by one of these specialized agencies before committing to a program.

Department of Education does not accredit colleges and universities itself, but it does maintain a database of accredited schools and recognized accrediting agencies. This is an excellent place for students to start looking for information about school and program accreditation.

The CHEA also does not accredit institutions itself, but it has information about accrediting agencies. An accredited degree can make a huge difference in your future career; doing a little research now can save time and trouble in the future.

Imagine five students, with rosy future careers as a lawyer, librarian, dentist, nurse, and psychologist lying ahead of them. Although their interests and career paths are radically different, they all have one important question to answer before choosing their professional program. Is their program of choice-not just their college or university-properly accredited?

In order to answer this question, each student must first understand the difference between institutional accreditation and program accreditation. For institutional accreditation, representatives from dedicated accrediting institutions evaluate colleges and universities. This is a means for colleges and universities to assess their own performance and compare themselves with other schools.

If a school is awarded accreditation means that the institution meets certain standards of educational quality. The most widely accepted institutional accrediting bodies in the United States are six regional agencies:. Institutional accreditation is not necessarily a guarantee that credits will transfer between institutions, although it does make it far more likely. Students can check with the program to which they wish to transfer to see if credits will be accepted. Attending an accredited program also carries numerous other benefits.

Students at institutionally accredited organizations are eligible for federal financial aid, and employers are much more likely to recognize accredited degree programs. Furthermore, having undergone an accreditation process means that the institution meets a high standard of educational quality.

In contrast, many unaccredited institutions are the equivalent of diploma mills, providing nothing of actual value to their students. Similarly, some "accrediting agencies" are also mills, set up simply to give an aura of legitimacy to the institutions that they falsely accredit.

Students should always check the U. Department of Education database of recognized accrediting bodies and institutions. The second type of accreditation, program accreditation, is generally administered by professionally oriented specialty accrediting bodies. The idea is that professionals in a given field are best able to judge a program's educational quality. For instance, law schools are accredited by the American Bar Association and library schools are accredited by the American Library Association.

Individual professions-such as nursing, dentistry, and psychology-are covered by their own specialized agencies. In many cases, attending a program that is recognized by the right agency is a prerequisite for obtaining a job in fields such as psychology, law, and healthcare. Many programmatic accreditors such as the APA require that accredited programs be housed in an institutionally accredited school.

Programs may be offered that are judged by these specialty bodies, without necessarily possessing institutional accreditation. For instance, continuing education programs within non-educational settings such as hospitals may be accredited by a specialized accreditation agency. Such courses may count professionally towards professional certifications or state licenses but will not transfer for college transfer credit.

Similarly, if a specialty body accredits a program at a school, but the school itself is not institutionally accredited, the program may have professional value, yet credits will not transfer and students may not be able to receive federal financial aid. Since professional requirements vary, it is crucial to find out what accreditation is necessary for a given career. No matter what vocation a student chooses, it is wise for her to become familiar with the professional requirements in the field.

Tools for investigating professional accreditation requirements include:. With a little research into accreditation, students can be assured of taking the right steps towards a rewarding career. Department of Education Back To Top. You have done your research. You know how important accreditation is to your educational experience, and you are determined to find out if your school of choice is accredited before you commit to a program. But there are dozens of different accrediting organizations.

Does it matter what agency accredits your school? After all, accreditation is accreditation, right? Unfortunately, that is not quite true. The organization that accredits a college, university, or vocational program is a major indicator of educational quality. Your school must be evaluated by a recognized accrediting agency in order for you to get your money's worth. But with so many accrediting agencies including fraudulent "accrediting agencies" with official-looking websites how can you tell what to look for when you decide what school to attend?

First of all, you need to know whether to find a school that has regional accreditation or national accreditation. Department of Education does not accredit schools itself, but it does recognize certain accrediting agencies.

You can check the DOE database for specific information on an accrediting body. You can also use the CHEA Council on Higher Education Accreditation as a source of information; however, if your school is not accredited by an organization recognized by the Department of Education, you will not be eligible for financial aid, and you may have other difficulties, such as transferring credits or obtaining professional licenses.

The information below applies to institutional rather than programmatic accreditation; even if your school as a whole is accredited by one of these agencies, you would still need to make sure that your professional program is recognized by the appropriate state licensing bodies and professional associations.

Regional accrediting organizations assess public and private institutions of higher education, including distance education programs offered by these institutions. Although the accrediting agencies are regionally based, each one is widely recognized. Comparison with other qualifications If you undertake a Level 3 First Aid at Work, you should be assessed to the same standard and cover the same outcomes whichever Centre you train with.

Comparison of levels If you undertake a Level 3 course, you should expect the same standard of assessment and to gain the level of knowledge as another Level 3 course in another topic.

For example on Level 2 course may be expected to complete a multichoice question paper, while on a Level 3 you may answer some open questions and on a Level 7 you would be expected to write a dissertation. Easy recruitment Ability to advertise a role requires a set qualification and to easily look up qualifications stated on CV's.

Count towards other qualifications Regulated qualifications are worth Credits and you be able to count credits from a course towards a larger qualification. Recognised by Professional Bodies In certain careers like Law, there is a requirement to belong to professional bodies.

These professional bodies will require you to have certain regulated qualifications or levels of Credits in order to become a member. Recognising staff Some staff will see regulated qualifications as investing in them and a reward for their commitment to the business. While they may not need regulated qualifications in your business, they may need them for progressing in their career internally or externally.

Staff will appreciate this investment and recongition. Flexible Regulated qualifications have set content and delivery times which may not suit the business.

Unaccredited courses can be adapted to the specifics learning needs of the business. Student engagement As the qualification is flexible to the learning needs of the business, students are more engaged as they can see how it relates to their job. When students undertake rigid Accedited courses, where sections do not relate to their area of work, they can switch off from the learning and not complete the qualification.

Cheaper Unaccredited qualifications do not come with accredited qualifications which save money on the course. Accredited certificate costs cover the cost of the certificate and the regulation put in place to maintain the standards. High standards and more options When using a reputable company, you get the same level of training which adapted to your needs and for a cheaper price. Centres are required to have an Internal Quality Monitoring framework in which they detail how they will monitor the quality of the training provided by their trainers.

This will include their paperwork returns, assessment procedures and the standard of delivery. A reputable company which delivers Unnacredited Qualification or Courses will have the same standard of Internal Quality Monitoring framework as a regulated Centre, ensuring the same high standard of delivery by its trainers.

This will depend on your needs. At Dewi Development our courses are delivered to the same high standard whether accredited or unaccredited. We use the same policies for Quality Assurance, Complaints and Reasonable Adjustments on both types of training. It is important for you to know whether your team are working towards a larger qualification. They may need Credits from an accredited course to count toward this longer term qualification.

Alernatively your business or staff may be a member of a Professional Body which require regulated qualifications. If you do not need accreditation but are focused on the skills your staff gain, then unaccredited training may meet your needs and save you money.