United States of America
Further information: Higher education accreditation in the United States and Diploma mills in the United StatesUnlike in some countries, the term "college" or "university" is not legally protected in the United States. The federal government does not accredit any institutions or programs, either inside or outside of the United States. Instead, it maintains a list of valid, reliable, independent accrediting agencies, including private organizations and, for vocational schools, state accrediting agencies. The agency maintains a complete list of accredited institutions and programs online.
Most states require degree-issuing higher education institutions to obtain a basic business license—the same simple paperwork required of any business, such as a day care center or a grocery store—and to register with the state or to have other formal authorization in order to enroll students or issue degrees; however, these legal authorizations are not the same as educational accreditation. Some U.S. state laws allow authorities to shut down illegal operations of unaccredited schools or diploma mills. In others, particularly, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and California, the state permits anyone to claim to operate a college and issue degrees with essentially no oversight. Additionally, in 21 jurisdictions, unaccredited religious degree-granting schools are exempted from government oversight.
Students studying at an unaccredited institution are never eligible for financial aid, including student loans, through any government agency. Although it is legal for the school itself or other private entities to offer financial assistance to students, this rarely occurs.
Some unaccredited institutions and programs provide significant, legitimate academic work. In others, the "college" is little more than a mailbox to which money is sent.
Any degrees issued may or may not be valid for obtaining professional licenses or employment. Generally speaking, within academic and government circles, such degrees are rejected, but within the business world, it may be acceptable for certain purposes. Using a diploma from an unrecognized institution to obtain employment or for any other purpose is illegal in some states. Criminal penalties may apply should such a degree be fraudulently presented in lieu of one from an accredited school.
Read more about this topic: Unaccredited Institutions Of Higher Education
Famous quotes containing the words united states, united, states and/or america:
“We are told to maintain constitutions because they are constitutions, and what is laid down in those constitutions?... Certain great fundamental ideas of right are common to the world, and ... all laws of man’s making which trample on these ideas, are null and void—wrong to obey, right to disobey. The Constitution of the United States recognizes human slavery; and makes the souls of men articles of purchase and of sale.”
—Anna Elizabeth Dickinson (1842–1932)
“The city of Washington is in some respects self-contained, and it is easy there to forget what the rest of the United States is thinking about. I count it a fortunate circumstance that almost all the windows of the White House and its offices open upon unoccupied spaces that stretch to the banks of the Potomac ... and that as I sit there I can constantly forget Washington and remember the United States.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
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—Mary Church Terrell (1863–1954)
“There is no such thing as a free lunch.”
—Anonymous.
An axiom from economics popular in the 1960s, the words have no known source, though have been dated to the 1840s, when they were used in saloons where snacks were offered to customers. Ascribed to an Italian immigrant outside Grand Central Station, New York, in Alistair Cooke’s America (epilogue, 1973)