Easy ways to check out colleges' claims
I applaud your editorial ('Bogus credentials must not be tolerated', August 12). Students and parents considering tertiary study should apply only to accredited institutions so that they earn and receive the lifelong rewards of higher education through a legitimately earned degree.
In the United States nearly all colleges and universities participate in a voluntary process of accreditation to establish their academic bona fides. Accreditation, a process of peer review, is generally seen as the key in determining whether a degree programme is legitimate and meets generally recognised academic standards.
In the US accreditors are private non-governmental organisations created for the specific purpose of reviewing higher education institutions and programmes for quality. It is accepted practice that institutions cite their accreditation, and the bodies that accorded it, on all of their marketing material. Absence of accreditation notice should alert prospective applicants to possible fraud and diploma-mill problems.
As the St Regis story illustrates ('It looks good but it's worthless', August 12), US state and federal authorities can and will prosecute businesses and individuals who commit fraud by selling diplomas with no real academic programme. Accreditation certifies by peer review that an institution's programmes are legitimate and meet widely recognised academic standards.