Key Takeaways
- Degrees from unaccredited colleges may not qualify graduates for employment, state licensure, or graduate school, and may even be illegal to claim in job applications in some states like Oregon.
- Students at unaccredited colleges are typically ineligible for federal financial aid, and their course credits may not transfer to accredited institutions, forcing them to repeat coursework.
- Predatory unaccredited programs often target students of color, contributing to higher debt and widening the racial wealth gap, according to the Student Borrower Protection Center.
If you're attending or thinking of attending an unaccredited colleges, you may want to reconsider. The college accreditation process exists to ensure that colleges meet high quality standards.
Colleges that have not been accredited by a legitimate accreditor — one recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and/or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) — are still considered unaccredited. Though they may market themselves as having "accreditation," their students go unprotected from exploitation.
Attending an unaccredited college can negatively affect your future, impacting where you get hired and what degrees you can pursue later.
Here are six problems you might face if you decide to enroll at an unaccredited college.