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Hi everyone,
I currently attend a program that is newly accredited by ACOTE, however the school as a whole is not regionally accredited. It is only nationally accredited, which despite the name, is a lower form of school accreditation.
There is a difference between program accreditation and school accreditation. This is a very important topic.
For some of you who don't know what this is, regional accreditation is what all schools and employers in the United States hold as the gold standard in terms of school accreditation. When a school or employers asks if you've graduated from an "accredited" school/institution, they usually mean regionally accredited.
I would say greater than 90% of occupational therapy schools are both program accredited AND regionally accredited (i.e. USC, St. Augustine, NYU, Touro, etc)
National accreditation is a, I don't want to say "fake", but it is an accreditation that schools obtain just for the sake of making them eligible for their students to apply for federal loans so they can pay the school.
I bring this topic up because this may pose a problem when one is either pursuing an OTD later in the future, and may even pose a problem to employers when pursuing a job right away.
Although program accreditation by ACOTE is the most important, I believe regional accreditation is important too since when looking at jobs and OTD admissions websites, most of them say their requirements are graduated from an accredited program AND received a degree from an "accredited" school/institution.
I would like to get some of your thoughts on this. Thanks!
I currently attend a program that is newly accredited by ACOTE, however the school as a whole is not regionally accredited. It is only nationally accredited, which despite the name, is a lower form of school accreditation.
There is a difference between program accreditation and school accreditation. This is a very important topic.
For some of you who don't know what this is, regional accreditation is what all schools and employers in the United States hold as the gold standard in terms of school accreditation. When a school or employers asks if you've graduated from an "accredited" school/institution, they usually mean regionally accredited.
I would say greater than 90% of occupational therapy schools are both program accredited AND regionally accredited (i.e. USC, St. Augustine, NYU, Touro, etc)
National accreditation is a, I don't want to say "fake", but it is an accreditation that schools obtain just for the sake of making them eligible for their students to apply for federal loans so they can pay the school.
I bring this topic up because this may pose a problem when one is either pursuing an OTD later in the future, and may even pose a problem to employers when pursuing a job right away.
Although program accreditation by ACOTE is the most important, I believe regional accreditation is important too since when looking at jobs and OTD admissions websites, most of them say their requirements are graduated from an accredited program AND received a degree from an "accredited" school/institution.
I would like to get some of your thoughts on this. Thanks!