Accredited Online MBA Programs

You've reached the decision that an online MBA will be the best choice for you. This could be a great choice; you can avoid massive student loans and still continue to work. However, with the growing number of schools offering online MBA degrees, choosing one can be difficult. Costs, courses, and required time commitments are all important factors. The very first thing you should ensure before you begin applying to any institution, however, is that it is accredited. Schools that are not have a reputation for granting degrees to almost anyone, so your time and money may be wasted.

When a school is accredited, it means that they have been recognized by an independent body as having good academic standards. Schools must meet certain requirements to be eligible for accreditation. To add to the confusion, there are different levels of accreditation, and some do not require schools to meet extremely rigorous standards. Nationally accredited schools, for example, generally have lower standards than regionally accredited schools. Ideally, you should look for the following two types of accreditation when choosing an online program.

Regionally accredited

When a school is regionally accredited, it means that the entire institution, not just the MBA program itself, has been reviewed by an independent organization and determined to meet minimum academic standards. There are several organizations that grant this designation, with each responsible for schools in specific states. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges, for example, is responsible for reviewing schools located in California and Hawaii. All of these organizations have Web sites, and they will usually provide a list of accredited schools. It is a good idea to confirm that your school of choice has indeed received, and still holds, this designation.

Business school accreditation

Rather than a stamp of approval for the entire institution, this type of accreditation indicates that the MBA program itself has been reviewed and approved. There are three main organizations that grant this type of accreditation: the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), and the International Assembly of Collegiate Business Education (IACBE). Schools can also be accredited by more than one of these organizations. Of the three, AACSB accreditation is the most difficult to obtain, so these schools, in general, are the most recognized. Again, all of these organizations have Web sites, so it is easy to see whether your potential school is on the list.