I already talked about the importance of regional accreditation and the other accreditation claims of online schools. But I just realized that it is sometimes hard for us to identify the appropriate regional accreditation of one particular online school if we will go through all the six regional accreditation bodies.
The easiest way to do to find out what kind of regional accreditation an online university should have is to check out the state location of the school. So, I included the six regional accreditation bodies in the US and the corresponding states that they are governing when it comes to the accreditation of online educational institution below for your handy reference.
Then, if you already know the supposedly university’s regional accreditation, you should go the website of that regional accrediting body to verify if the university is indeed listed in their accredited online institutions.
By doing this, you will be assured that your decision to enroll in your chosen institution has a genuine accreditation and hence, you will be confident that your effort and your money to complete your degree will not be compromised.
Here is the Six Regional Accrediting Association and their corresponding states of governance:
North Central Association of Colleges & Schools (NCA) – Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Navajo Nation, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools
Northwest Association of Schools & Colleges (NASC). – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia and in Latin America
Southern Association of Colleges & Schools (SACS) – Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington
Middle States Association (MSA) – Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC) – Connecticut; Maine; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; Rhode Island and Vermont
Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC) -Â California; Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the Pacific Basin, and East Asia; and other areas of the Pacific and East Asia where American/International schools or colleges may apply to it for service.
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