Program-Specific Info / Q's Regional Accreditation Vs National Accreditation?

[lmcjose]

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!

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[CharlieKingOfRats]

When you mean regional accreditation, do you mean like by the state as well? Sorry, I have never heard about this before and would like to understand as I am starting my program next month!

 

[lmcjose]

Sort of. Basically there is program accreditation and there is school/institution accreditation.

Program accreditation is accrediting the specific program itself, such as an occupational therapy program. A program must be accredited by its accrediting body in order to sit for any licensing exam. For example, an occupational therapy program must be accredited by ACOTE (Accrediting Council for Occupational Therapy) in order for the program's students to be eligible to sit for the NBCOT exam. Same goes for pretty much any program, a physical therapy program must be accredited by CAPTE (Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education), and nursing program must be accredited by so on and so on. Program accreditation can occur in both regionally accredited and nationally accredited schools.

This is different from school/institution accreditation. A school/institution can be regionally accredited or nationally accredited (or both, but you'll see why regional accredited school doesn't need to obtain national accreditation since regional accreditation is the gold standard).

Regional accreditation is accreditation by a council overseeing that specific geographic region such as WASC for west coast states, MSCHE for central america, SACS for southern states, etc (there are total of 6-7 regional accrediting councils/bodies each overseeing their respective states). Basically if your school is regionally accredited it is considered legit across pretty much the whole United States, especially when it comes to applying for grad school or looking for jobs. When schools or employers list as a requirement "graduated from an accredited school/institution" or "received degree from an accredited school/institution" they usually mean regionally accredited since regional accreditation is the gold standard. Examples of these schools are pretty much every widely known school (UCLA, USC, Loyola Marmount, St. Augustine, Harvard, etc.)

National accreditation is accreditation usually used by for-profit schools (however there are a few for-profit schools that are regionally accredited). Despite the name "national" accreditation, this type of accreditation is definitely NOT universally/nationally accepted across the United States. Some schools only acquire this type of accreditation so that their students can have access to federal loans to pay for tuition. Basically, national accreditation is usually associated with lower standards compared to regional accreditation. Some nationally accredited schools eventually seek to acquire regional accreditation because students complain that their employer or grad school they want to gain admittance to doesn't recognize nationally accredited schools. Examples of these schools (ITT Tech, American Career College, Concord, etc).

I'm not trying to be a hater or dissuade people from going to nationally accredited schools. Some nationally accredited schools are actually good, but even if they are actually good, it doesn't mean that they will be universally accepted by another school or employer.

One should keep in mind that a degree from a regionally accredited school will always be accepted by other schools and employers, whereas a degree from a nationally accredited school will only be accepted by some schools and employers.

I think this is important for those wanting to pursue an OTD later on after pursing their Master's in OT from a nationally accredited school. It is also important when seeking jobs and making sure that employers will hire OTs from nationally accredited school. Even if you pass the NBCOT and get a license, some employers might want that OT to have received their OT degree from a regionally accredited school.

I wanted to get input to see if anyone's has had any experiences or anything to share where an employer frowned upon that the OT didn't graduate from a regionally accredited school and therefore didn't hire them?

Thanks!

 

[CharlieKingOfRats]

Sort of. Basically there is program accreditation and there is school/institution accreditation.

Program accreditation is accrediting the specific program itself, such as an occupational therapy program. A program must be accredited by its accrediting body in order to sit for any licensing exam. For example, an occupational therapy program must be accredited by ACOTE (Accrediting Council for Occupational Therapy) in order for the program's students to be eligible to sit for the NBCOT exam. Same goes for pretty much any program, a physical therapy program must be accredited by CAPTE (Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education), and nursing program must be accredited by so on and so on. Program accreditation can occur in both regionally accredited and nationally accredited schools.

This is different from school/institution accreditation. A school/institution can be regionally accredited or nationally accredited (or both, but you'll see why regional accredited school doesn't need to obtain national accreditation since regional accreditation is the gold standard).

Regional accreditation is accreditation by a council overseeing that specific geographic region such as WASC for west coast states, MSCHE for central america, SACS for southern states, etc (there are total of 6-7 regional accrediting councils/bodies each overseeing their respective states). Basically if your school is regionally accredited it is considered legit across pretty much the whole United States, especially when it comes to applying for grad school or looking for jobs. When schools or employers list as a requirement "graduated from an accredited school/institution" or "received degree from an accredited school/institution" they usually mean regionally accredited since regional accreditation is the gold standard. Examples of these schools are pretty much every widely known school (UCLA, USC, Loyola Marmount, St. Augustine, Harvard, etc.)

National accreditation is accreditation usually used by for-profit schools (however there are a few for-profit schools that are regionally accredited). Despite the name "national" accreditation, this type of accreditation is definitely NOT universally/nationally accepted across the United States. Some schools only acquire this type of accreditation so that their students can have access to federal loans to pay for tuition. Basically, national accreditation is usually associated with lower standards compared to regional accreditation. Some nationally accredited schools eventually seek to acquire regional accreditation because students complain that their employer or grad school they want to gain admittance to doesn't recognize nationally accredited schools. Examples of these schools (ITT Tech, American Career College, Concord, etc).

I'm not trying to be a hater or dissuade people from going to nationally accredited schools. Some nationally accredited schools are actually good, but even if they are actually good, it doesn't mean that they will be universally accepted by another school or employer.

One should keep in mind that a degree from a regionally accredited school will always be accepted by other schools and employers, whereas a degree from a nationally accredited school will only be accepted by some schools and employers.

I think this is important for those wanting to pursue an OTD later on after pursing their Master's in OT from a nationally accredited school. It is also important when seeking jobs and making sure that employers will hire OTs from nationally accredited school. Even if you pass the NBCOT and get a license, some employers might want that OT to have received their OT degree from a regionally accredited school.

I wanted to get input to see if anyone's has had any experiences or anything to share where an employer frowned upon that the OT didn't graduate from a regionally accredited school and therefore didn't hire them?

Thanks!

How would I go about finding out if my school is regionally accredited?

 

[lmcjose]

You can usually just type "name of your school" and "regional accreditation" on google and it'll say if its regionally accreditation, nationally accredited, and what programs within the school are accredited by its own program accrediting body.