Quote:
Originally Posted by Cindy
Who decides who gets accredited? The government?
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No. The Accrediting agency. A school applies for membership in something like the North Central Association of Universities and Colleges. People from the association visit the campus and check things out. There's generally an evaluation period and any students who graduate during the period before accreditation are "grandfathered" in and their degrees are recognized when the school comes onboard fully with the association.
The states can and do regulate the process. For example, in many states you can't call yourself a "Ph.D." unless you have a doctorate from a regionally accredited school. Religious schools are given all sorts of waivers to the process but the degrees are not "Ph.Ds" unless the school is regionally accredited.
This sort of thing varies from state to state, so it gets confusing. Most folks are simply trusted to follow an "honor system" and not claim something more of themselves than they ought.
And that's the thing here. The first guy whose name came up in all of this is a very successful evangelist and minister. He has accomplished a great deal of things in his life that he can rightly be proud of. He doesn't need any phony sheepskin. His "credentials" can stand on their own.
Except for this one matter of a single controversial teaching. He seems willing to throw away a life time of achievement and respect for this one bit of hooey.