Understanding the Value of School Accreditation

Accreditation is the foremost characteristic that parents should look for in a home school program in order to ensure student success with increased options after graduation.
 
The Department of Education defines accreditation as “recognition that an institution maintains standards requisite for its graduates to gain admission to other reputable institutions of higher learning or to achieve credentials for professional practice.” What does this mean to parents and for students?
 
In its basic form, it means that the school has been examined by authorizing agencies and confirmed to have met standards which are accepted by the highest educational standards. Program quality, curriculum validity and other areas of operation are carefully reviewed before the accreditation is approved or denied. This feature is what allows, but does not guarantee, the transference of credits especially from high school to colleges and universities across the country. It is especially important for private and home school programs which can define their own curriculum and have some autonomy in their governance and operation.
 
So what happens if a child attends a non-accredited school? They may still receive quality education and learn all the information they should but without this designation, colleges and universities may not allow the student to enter their program based on insufficient understanding of the school’s standards, or require the student additional steps for acceptance without requiring remedial programs. This can also affect students who transfer between schools during their elementary and secondary years in school. Accreditation is performed by recognized agencies around the country at an institutional and specialized level on a periodic basis so that schools who receive it must continually have it renewed in order to retain the designation.

When looking for best accredited online schools, parents can use the Department of Education website as well as reviewing the school’s website where they should have a full list of their accreditations displayed on the site. While homeschooling has been around for several decades, there are still groups who are skeptical of its validity and the standards which is why parents who want to avoid this issue altogether can work with an accredited school that offers an online curriculum and learning portal. Accreditation does not guarantee acceptance of credits by universities and colleges (https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/04/04/10-steps-to-picking-the-right-college) so this is a good question to ask the Admissions department of the school before enrolling your student. They should be able to provide a list of places where graduates have gone and had no issues with getting accepted based on their documentation and the quality of the program. 
 
The majority of parents will look at cost and curriculum first and may not even think about accreditation but this is a critical feature that must be present to help the student succeed in their future goals. If you are looking for best accredited online schools then check out the state or federal websites that can help identify locations in your area or across the country. The best part about homeschooling is that parents are not limited to what is in the local geographic area but rather can work with any school they want to no matter where it is in the country so long as it meets the necessary standards.  
 
If you are looking for Christian Homeschool Curriculum Online, the author of this article recommends NFC Academy.