Does accreditation from a college matter when looking for an aviation non-flying job?

K

ktsai91

Well-Known Member
Hello guys, I recently graduated from college with a Bachelors degree in Aviation Administration. I am currently looking for a job that is related to aviation but is not a professional piloting job. I took a look at some of the positions available on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey website and I noticed that some of the positions available require a degree from an accredited college or university.

The problem is the Aviation Administration degree I got mine from is not yet accredited by the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI), but the aviation department at my college is in the process of seeking accreditation from AABI. I want to know if this will be a problem for employers. Also when they meant accreditation from a college or university do they mean accreditation from the college or university as a whole or do they mean the individual departments, majors, or programs? I am wondering about that as well.

One final question. If somewhere later down the road my college finally got accreditation from AABI, will the accreditation be grandfathered into my degree, even after I graduated already, which I did?

If anyone can help me on this please, it would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Put shortly, AABI doesn't mean anything to anyone.

What places are looking for when they say a degree from an accredited institution is Regionally Accredited.

They are listed here. http://www.chea.org/Directories/regional.asp
If the school you went to is accredited by any of the regional accrediting organizations, then you're good.
Places that come to mind that are not accredited are University of Pheonix and the like(for profit usually).
 
z987k said:
Put shortly, AABI doesn't mean anything to anyone.

What places are looking for when they say a degree from an accredited institution is Regionally Accredited.

They are listed here. http://www.chea.org/Directories/regional.asp
If the school you went to is accredited by any of the regional accrediting organizations, then you're good.
Places that come to mind that are not accredited are University of Pheonix and the like(for profit usually).
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The bit about the University of Phoenix not being accredited is a common misconception and is not accurate. The University of Phoenix is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission which as you will see is listed in the URL you listed as a legitimate regional accrediting body. You can verify this on both websites: http://www.phoenix.edu/about_us/accreditation.html and https://www.ncahlc.org/Directory-of-HLC-Institutions.html.

Having said that the University of Phoenix has been placed "on notice" by their accrediting body, but they are still considered accredited. Now you could probably dedicate an entire thread to the merits of for-profit vs non-profit higher education organizations, but that's an debate for a different day.
 
exneophyte said:
The bit about the University of Phoenix not being accredited is a common misconception and is not accurate. The University of Phoenix is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission which as you will see is listed in the URL you listed as a legitimate regional accrediting body. You can verify this on both websites: http://www.phoenix.edu/about_us/accreditation.html and https://www.ncahlc.org/Directory-of-HLC-Institutions.html.

Having said that the University of Phoenix has been placed "on notice" by their accrediting body, but they are still considered accredited. Now you could probably dedicate an entire thread to the merits of for-profit vs non-profit higher education organizations, but that's an debate for a different day.
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Ah, I swore they were a "nationally" accredited school.
Nationally accredited schools can't transfer credits(because the school isn't really accredited), and most universities, and quite a few jobs don't even recognize the degree.
 
Boris Badenov said:
If you have to ask...
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It is a pretty fair question really - while regional accrediation is standard for most schools, engineering schools tend to have different accrediation for different programs. The reputation of the school typically is what matters to the employer though.
 
True accreditation for the institution is done by regional bodies. No such thing as 'nationally accredited' schools. Don't waste your time and money on a 'college' or 'university' that isn't accredited. They're either scams or 'born' yesterday afternoon between 4:07 and 4:28pm.

That said, individual programs (most typically engineering / science programs, law & med schools, etc, but it's spreading) are often accredited by bodies in that field. Those are national in nature, but applies only to that curriculum. I doubt if you'll find an accredited program like that in a school that isn't accredited. These often matter some, particularly when applying to a graduate school, or if you want to teach (CFI-ing is different).

Transfer of credits is a whole 'nother ball game. The school you're transferring to (call it NewU) is looking at two things: 1. Have you learned enough of the right stuff you'd have gotten if you took Basketweaving 101 at NewU? And, 2. Since they get paid for having asses in classroom seats, they want you to take a certain number of classes from them. After all, a degree from NewU has to mean something, not just a bucketload of credits transferred in. Some universities have signed agreements with junior colleges for transfers with automatic admission and credit approval (providing grades are OK). When that's appropriate for you, this saves a lot of academic bull.

After you've been in the workplace for a while, where you got your degree matters less and less. You'll be judged by what you've done on the job. There are exceptions: 'old school' ties, and places like Harvard or MIT with platinum reputations.
 
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I wouldn't necessarily worry about it. I went to a 4 year school that took themselves WAY to seriously and yet, when I got out in to the industry nobody had heard of them. Sounds like you've already got the degree so I'd be more concerned with the quality of your instruction/classes. Apply for the job and talk to them in the interview. Let your knowledge, skills and personality represent yourself and they'll figure out pretty quickly whether you're what they're looking for.
 
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