Understanding Accreditation

"Is it accredited?" is a reasonable first question and an incomplete one. In the United States, several different checks go by that name or sit next to it. They cover different things: the institution, a specific program, the state where you live, and whether a credential leads to a license. This guide separates them and says what none of them tells you.

Institutional accreditation

Institutional accreditation applies to a whole college or university. The U.S. Department of Education's DAPIP database describes the system this way: accrediting agencies are private educational associations of regional or national scope that develop evaluation criteria and conduct peer evaluations. Institutions that request an evaluation and meet the criteria become accredited. The Department does not accredit schools or programs itself; it oversees the system by reviewing federally recognized accrediting agencies.

Look up the school in DAPIP rather than relying on a logo on the school's website. Note DAPIP's own caveat: the information is reported by accrediting agencies and state approval agencies and is not audited, and the Department says it cannot guarantee that the data is accurate, current or complete. For the most current status, contact the accrediting agency. Also note that the database is a public service and not an endorsement of any school.

Why it matters: it is the baseline FEPAC assumes, since FEPAC only evaluates programs located in regionally accredited institutions. Check it before you look at anything program-specific.

FEPAC program accreditation

FEPAC, the Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission, is a body of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. It accredits programs, not schools. Its scope is bachelor's and master's programs in forensic science, or in a natural or computer science with a forensic science concentration.

Three points from its standards document:

• It applies to forensic science only. It does not accredit criminal justice or criminology programs, and a criminal justice degree with forensic electives is not what it evaluates.
• It sets curriculum minimums. For example, its undergraduate general forensic science standard calls for biology, physics, general and organic chemistry, calculus and statistics with laboratory components. See forensic science prerequisites.
• It makes no distinction for delivery format. FEPAC says it does not maintain separate standards for distance learning, and any program with remote instruction must show in-person, hands-on laboratory experiences for all students.

Absence of FEPAC accreditation is not proof that a forensic science program is illegitimate. Accreditation is voluntary, and a program may be new, may not have applied, or may cover a field FEPAC does not evaluate. It does mean you cannot assume the program meets FEPAC's curriculum standards, so compare its published coursework yourself. The FEPAC page lists what we record.

State authorization

State authorization answers a different question: may this institution offer instruction in a given state? For online programs, it matters where you live. NC-SARA, the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements, says it works with states to help assure program quality and consumer protection for students in interstate distance education, and that approved institutions may offer distance education programs to students in other SARA member states.

SARA is not accreditation and not a license. It does not mean a program is accepted for professional licensure in your state. NC-SARA points students with licensure questions to its professional licensure directory, which lists contacts for programs in counseling, nursing, psychology, social work and teacher education. If a program touches one of those fields, such as forensic psychology, ask both the school and the state board. See choosing an online program.

Programmatic accreditation in criminal justice

FEPAC's scope is forensic science, so it does not apply to a criminal justice or criminology degree, and a criminal justice program should not be expected to hold FEPAC accreditation. Do not read its absence as a warning sign for those programs. If a program says it holds a specialized accreditation, ask for the accrediting body's name and look it up in DAPIP or on that body's own site.

What none of these tell you

Accreditation and authorization are not guarantees about outcomes. They do not say whether:

• you will be admitted to a police academy, hired by a particular agency, or cleared for a federal position (see academic degrees vs. police academy training);
• credits will transfer to a school you choose, since the receiving school decides;
• the degree qualifies you for a license. American Public University's criminal justice BA page says the degree is not designed to meet professional licensure or certification requirements, and John Jay's forensic psychology MA page says it is not a license-eligible program. Tiffin's forensic psychology page states that graduate study and licensure are required to practice as a forensic psychologist;
• the program will help you get a job, or what you will earn.

A short checklist

Keep a note of each answer and where you found it, so you can show the source if a school later disputes it.

1. Find the institution in DAPIP and note the accrediting agency.
2. For forensic science, ask whether the program is FEPAC-accredited and for which concentration.
3. For online programs, confirm the school is authorized to serve students in your state.
4. For licensed professions, ask the state licensing board whether the specific program qualifies.
5. Ask the receiving school in writing whether it will accept your credits.
6. Treat any marketing claim of "fully accredited" as a prompt to check, not as an answer.

Start with the accreditation overview.