Earlier this year, my alma mater earned accreditation from the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS), a accreditation agency that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Thus graduates should have an easier time both being accepted at other institutions and tranferring credits to them. However, it doesn’t seem to be quite so simple.

There are six regional accreditation agencies. There are also a number of national or professional accreditation agencies. The regional accreditation agencies seem to be the most widely regarded in higher education. TRACS is a national agency. I have heard of cases of BJU graduates who have been turned down by other schools that specifically pointed out that BJU was nationally and not regionally accredited. How representative those cases are I don’t know, but there does seem to be reason for concern.

Today Inside Higher Ed ran an article about accreditation and transfering credits. According to IHE, both Congress and the U.S. Department of Education are debating whether to forbid institutions from discriminating on the basis of the source of accreditation. In other words, a school that was deciding whether to transfer a student’s credits could not base its decision on whether the sending school was nationally or regionally accredited.

At the core of this policy debate is the assumption that the type of accreditation held by the institution where a student was enrolled should not be the controlling influence on the decision to award credit by the receiving institution.

The write of the article makes several arguments against the proposed legislation. He argues that overworked admissions departments need a clear, objective criterion to make transfer decisions. He further argues that the federal government should not become involved in this matter.

Opponents of the proposed legislation and regulations argue that the federal government should have no role in determining credit transfer decisions that historically—and appropriately—have been the responsibility of the faculty and, in some instances, states and their governing systems.

On the one hand, I agree that the federal government should not intrude itself into the decisions of private and state institutions. On the other hand, such legislation might help students who want to go on after completing degrees at nationally accredited institutions. (I doubt that it would help me, though, because most PhD programs in history don’t accept any transfer credits from MA programs elsewhere.) Perhaps those of you with more clearly thought out political and economic philosophies can add your opinions.