About Online School

What’s the difference between regionaly- and nationally-accredited online schools? These lists summarize the differences:

Regionally-Accredited Schools:

• Began as offline schools, and extended online.
• Can easily transition students to nationally-accredited schools
• Are generally accepted as more credible among the people
• Match all regional standards for an educational institute

Nationally-Accredited Schools:

• Began as online schools, and offered accreditation to offline schools.
• Tend to be cheaper than regionally-accredited schools
• Easily accept credit transfers from regional schools; but tend to have credits rejected when transferring to regional schools

So that we can understand how national accreditation is compared to regional accreditation when it comes to online schools, it is best to compare how they are different and how they are the same. Regional accreditation is recognized more in the online school world than a national accreditation as they go hand in hand with the same rules and regulations as traditional schools. Online schools are looked upon with a wary eye but if your online school course is accredited by a regional agency then more often than not the prospective employer accepts the degree or diploma in the same way as he would one earned from a traditional school. The newest agency to land within the United States that is widely accepted not only on credit transfers, but on resumes, is a company called DETC. It is recorded that over seventy percent of DTEC students who left their online school course and transferred their credits were completely successful. Up until now this was virtually unheard of.

If you decide that you need to make a decision what type of online school accreditation you want to choose, then it is best you know a few things about both regional and national accreditation agencies and what they can do for you. Because choosing between these two agencies will determine what outcome you can receive towards your future. If the online school you are choosing is for your final degree, and you are then going to attend the very same school, then your new possible and potential employers will not mind in the slightest which accreditation agency you have chosen. But if you plan on changing schools from an online school to a completely different “normal” school, then you may find that your potential employer may have some issues with your accreditation. In this case, going with a regional accreditation is better, as it can be transferred by credit.

The main and first difference between regional and national accreditation is in fact geography. Regional accreditation is aimed at specific areas of the country where online school courses take place within a certain state. Whereas National accreditation agencies cover the entire country and any collage or university can participate.

Regional accreditation began its history as a group of offline schools, but national accreditation began as a group of institutions which online schools then applied to for accreditation. Another thing to consider is that credits received doing an online school course that was regionally accredited can be transferred to a national accredited online school and colleges and universities, whereas an online school course completed by a national accreditation cannot be transferred in credits to a regional online school or college or university. So if you graduate with a degree from a national accredited online school, you might just have to begin all over again if you decide to further that degree at a regionally accredited online school. The other main difference is the cost, some national accredited online schools are very inexpensive and help is there for those who apply for it and can prove their income, whereas regional accredited online schools often cost a lot more. But there are some real good deals out there if you really get your head down and research into your prospective online school.