MUST University Accreditation

Archive for the ‘Online Education’ Category

The online student population is increasing greatly by 30 percent each year, with over 75percent of traditional colleges and universities entering into the market, according to experts. With growing popularity and use of internet, distance degrees have become a viable and valuable option for people who find it difficult to enroll in a full time institution. Human resource executives are of the view that individuals coming from online universities demonstrate a particular ambition and resourcefulness that would be an asset in the work place.

The main driver for increase interest for online courses is the sluggish economy. Not only are current unemployment rates higher for non-college graduates, but the earning potential between degree holders and non-degree holders is extreme.

Many students fail to do a prior research about university accreditation, which is very essential in choosing the right online school. Majority is of the view that all online degrees are the same and carry and equal weight age, nevertheless this is not true. Studying from an accredited institution gives you an edge and your degree becomes more credible and recognized globally. Being part of an accredited university can benefit you greatly when you are applying for scholarships, credit transfers and credential verifications.

MUST University provides internationally accredited degrees to students thus increasing their career and job prospects. So while some employers may still be skeptical about online degrees, you may rest assured that with the MUST University’s international accreditation and growing respect amongst online universities, an online degree is still a smart choice for your future.

With the advent of international accreditation, foreign universities have become much more accessible to students all over the world and issues like credit transfer, uniform education standards across countries, etc have been addressed to a greater extent than ever before. Modern universities are now actively pursuing international accreditation in order to improve their perception across the globe and bring in a more diverse set of students every year. An internationally accredited university offers international recognition to students, a factor considered important by students and university placement departments across the globe. An Internationally accredited university is not bound to a certain region or nation, increasing its recognition across all geographic boundaries.

Therefore, if a student ever relocates or pursues a career in another part of the world, he can do so without a problem since his academic credentials are accepted worldwide. This quality plays a vital role in career development for students. On the other hand, a university has the world as its play ground. It can operate online or otherwise practically anywhere on the globe. Cost minimization is another major advantage of international accreditation. International accreditation is not designed to be a money minting system. With a well defined fee structure, the resulting low cost of accreditation eases financial burden on university students, who in turn benefit from lower tuition fees. Universities can channelize their savings into improving curriculum and faculty development programs, and other measures to ensure that the students get the most out of their academic endeavor.

It is absolutely necessary that any academic institution offers education that is comprehensive, contemporary, and recognized all over the world. But if accreditation takes as long as a decade, what is a university to do while their accreditation application is in process? Common sense dictates that accreditation should be awarded much quicker than this. To review a university’s standard of education and management, substantial amounts of time may be required but certainly not a decade. Unlike regional accreditation, international accreditation bodies offer a specified time frame that allows universities to make their choices wisely.

Regular monitoring of quality standards and ensuring the education imparted meets certain standards is yet another important factor to be taken into account. International accreditation bodies constantly review universities according to a pre defined time table. This gives students the assurance that the university is monitored and the accreditation status is recent. International accreditation also enables a university to provide value added services like embassy legalization and apostle services. Such features allow students to earn degrees certified by their country’s embassies, ensuring complete recognition of the students’ credentials.

Recognizing the extraordinary advantages of international accreditation, more and more universities are choosing to apply for it from all over the world. Countries from Asia, North America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East are all realizing the impact of international accreditation in terms of global recognition, lower costs, time saving, continuous quality assurance, and value added services. Educational institutions to have recently joined the list of internationally accredited institutes include:

- World Open University

- Anointed University

- Global Values Research Foundation

- Bircham International University

Furthermore, overseas accreditation bodies, be it regional or national, are now looking to develop partnerships with international accreditation bodies to enhance their perception as quality assurance organizations. This sudden trend is benefiting students all around the world as accreditation agencies have started recognizing their counterparts in other countries, helping students to transfer their academic credentials and credits easily than ever before across geographic boundaries. Such accreditation agencies include APAAL from Albania, QAA from Libya, and many others.

Accreditation is a label of recognition, given to the institutes by education authorities after they are evaluated on variety of elements. These elements include degrees offered, the curriculum, fee structure, technological facilities and professors they have on their panel. From the many types of accreditation existing, we will discuss the three most common types: national accreditation, regional accreditation and international accreditation. Regional accreditation accredits institutes and guarantees regional acceptance, whereas national accreditation ensures that the degree awarded is nationally accepted. However, international accreditation surpasses geographical boundaries and ascertains that a student is empowered to utilize his academic credentials anywhere in the world. International accreditation bodies are established and analyzed on forums that are globally accepted. This is the main reason why international accreditation is preferred over both National and Regional Accreditation. If you have a degree from an intentionally accredited online university, then it will be recognized in all regions of the world. Today, there are a number of international accreditation bodies that provide accreditation to both offline and online universities after analyzing them according to international standards and benchmarks. Furthermore, internationally accredited universities don’t opt for federal loans, leading to lifelong cycle of loan repayments. Students can easily pay their fees and do not feel the need of taking a loan and thus, avoid the misery of paying high debts throughout their lives. Over the past few years, internationally accredited universities, such as MUST University, have been in the limelight and have a considerable share in academia. Their students are successfully hired and are now working in many renowned organizations at managerial levels. MUST University is accredited by International Accreditation Organization, which is specifically established to improve the standards of education provided to working adults in all regions of the world. There is no doubt that when all the three accreditation bodies are compared, international accreditation takes the league with regards to global acceptance. As the degree will be internationally accepted, it will not restrict you to any particular region, allowing you to enjoy more professional growth and a better quality of life.

There are six regional accreditation bodies which recognize and provide accreditation for higher education based on their regional location in the United States. Online universities, too, get themselves accredited with any one or more of these regional bodies.

 Getting an accreditation, whether online or on-campus, however, is completely voluntary and there is no legal or any other obligation to acquire one.  For example, the University of People project by the United Nations is not accredited by any of these regional accreditation bodies.

As an online university, MUST University chose not to get a regional accreditation from any of the regional accreditation bodies in the United States. Among others, the prime reason was to present itself as a global educational institute ready to challenge the status quo and offer affordable education to students around the world, including the countries with low-cost economies.

For global acceptance, MUST University applied and managed to earn accreditation from IAO, which is considered the leading body that recognizes and provides accreditation for educational programs for working adults in both online and on-campus colleges and universities, regardless of their regional location. 

Earlier this year, MUST University participated in the GETEX exhibition as one of the leading sponsors and managed to enroll the largest number of students, more than the combined students enrolled by other universities.

The Minister of Higher Education of Dubai, Sheikh Nahyan, personally appreciated the University and thus we are in talks with him on a large-scale collaboration to make e-education work in the UAE region.

The IAO has awarded MUST University its Accreditation Status after in-depth evaluation through its unique patented accreditation process. Must University has been evaluated on the IAO standards of the global best practices for working adults educational institutions in Organizational Management, Academic Management and Institutional Performance and has secured the IAO’s Points Profile© – Registration Number Q20879. MUST University has been declared fully capable of upholding the responsibility of imparting quality education through its educational system.

Unlike regional or national accreditation bodies that provide accreditation to higher education institutes based on their regional proximity, IAO is an international accrediting body that evaluates the quality of education for universities focused on providing executive education to working adults around the globe. The transparent evaluation system of IAO goes beyond marking universities as pass or fail; instead, they provide a score based on the quality of education that the university is imparting. Furthermore, IAO evaluates every university that they accredit on periodical basis to ascertain that the score that they have given is consistent with the quality of education that they are currently. Find out more why MUST University chose IAO over regional accreditation agencies.

Points awarding system at IAO:

Each accredited institution is fully assessed on the IAO’s unique patented profiling system, which classes the applicant institution against the IAO’s bench-marked standards in global working adult’s education’s best practices. The IAO has 18 organizational management metrics, 6 academic management metrics and 3 institutional performance metrics. On the basis of this assessment the IAO will award applicant institutions with its Accreditation and provide them with a unique Points Profile© that scores all quantitative measures of that intuition deemed fit towards best practices in working adults’ education. Furthermore, since there are many measures that are subjective and cannot be part of the quantitatively scored institution’s points profile©, they are gauged against the IAO’s accreditation type classification. There are three types of classifications: Green – indicates the institution does not have this subjective factor; Blue- indicating the institution has this subjective factor but it does not address working adults; and Red- indicating the subjective factors in this section are fully met and explicitly address working adult’s needs. Together the accreditation type and the points profile© form the cumulative accreditation of the institution.

Accredited Schools and Programs at MUST University:

IAO has awarded the following points profile to the respective schools given below:

School of Business and Management:

 

The MUST School of Business and Management offers accredited online degrees that by far surpass any other college degrees online. It provides a unique blend of renowned and exclusive majors designed to develop global leaders and provide graduates with a competitive edge in the corporate world.

 

School of Education:

Through accredited online degree programs from MUST School of Education, we prepare leaders in education and to generate knowledge to improve student opportunity, achievement, and success. The online graduate degrees are complied to gear the development of teachers into professional instructors and school administrators. The online programs at the MUST School of Education prepare students for leadership roles in groundbreaking, cross-disciplinary job roles that shape educational practices around the globe.

 

School of Political Sciences and Public Administration:

At MUST, we focus on real-world application, team-oriented learning, and personal attention along with offering you opportunities to grow in your profession. The MUST School of Political Sciences & Public Administration is one of best and highly regarded academic schools within the university. The MUST School of Political Sciences & Public Administration offers a wide range of courses including Public Administration, Economics, Urban Sociology, Budgeting & Finance, etc. The exclusive major offered by the school is Political Science.

School of Computer Sciences and Information Technology:

The MUST School of Computer Science offers college degrees to learn about computer expertise and conducts research in basic and advanced course of Computer Science, Software Engineering, Network Management, Software Engineering, Web Development, Multimedia and Animation.  The MUST School of Computer Sciences provides distance learning programs for the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and their implementation and application in computer systems.

 

School of Nursing:

MUST School of Nursing involves comprehensive primary health care, which includes the topics to build accountability as well as responsibility for permanence of care across the range of health-illness.  A distance learning degree program allows nurses the flexibility to continue to earn a living, while completing coursework that will enhance job performance and meet preparation guidelines for specialized nurses’ exams. This school prepares students for a rewarding career in an industry that is always in demand of qualified nurses.

 

 

School of Psychology:

The MUST School of Psychology offers students to attempt to understand the role of various functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the underlying physiological and neurological processes through its online accredited degrees programs.

 

School of Social Sciences:

At MUST, we focus on real-world application, team-oriented learning, and personal attention along with offering you opportunities to grow in your profession. The MUST School of Social Services is one of best and highly regarded academic schools within the university. The MUST School of Social Services offers a wide range of courses including Social Work, Human Behavior, Social Welfare Policy, etc, with specialization in Human Services.

 

School of Criminal Justice:

The MUST School of Criminal Justice offers accredited online degrees that by far surpass any other college degrees online. The school offers associate, bachelor’s, and master’s programs, along with diploma and certificate programs with specialization in various disciplines.

 

School of Health Sciences:

An online degree in health sciences provides opportunities that can lead to employment with an active healthcare institution, or starting up an independent health care consultancy. Obtaining an online degree or certification in health sciences can lead to management of patients, focused practices in Iridology, nutrition and lifestyle counseling, physical therapy and other areas like healing and rehabilitation.

 

School of Law and Legal Studies

The MUST School of Law & Legal Studies is one of best and highly regarded academic schools within the university. The MUST School of Law & Legal Studies offers a wide range of courses including Legal Research, Legal Writing, Law Office, Legal Systems, etc. Specialization is offered in Legal Studies.

 

School of Performing Arts

The MUST School of Performing Arts offers accredited online degrees that by far surpass any other college degrees online. The school offers associate, bachelors, and master’s programs, along with diploma and certificate programs with specialization in Music.

 

 

School of Occupational Safety and Fire Sciences:

The MUST School of Organizational Safety and Fire Sciences, one of our exclusive and most popular schools, offers accredited online degrees that by far surpass any other college degrees online. The school offers a unique blend of renowned and exclusive majors designed to develop global leaders and provide graduates with a competitive edge in the corporate world.

 

School of Social Sciences:

The MUST School of Social Sciences is one of best and highly regarded academic schools within the university, which offers degrees in the fields of Economics, English, Mass Communication, History, Sociology and Journalism. Social science online courses are at par with their offline counterparts. However, the online program allows students some flexibility with their schedules so they may well complete their coursework in their own time.

 

 

School of Applied Arts

The MUST School of Applied Arts is one of best and highly regarded academic schools within the university. The MUST School of Applied Arts offers a wide range of courses including Applied Arts, Painting, Visual Communications, Digital Imaging, Photography, Sculpture, etc. Exclusive majors offered by the school are Interior Design and Architecture.

 

School of Natural Sciences:

The MUST School of Natural Sciences focuses on areas to create the understanding of the physical as well as natural world and offers an authentic and effective university degree. Advancements in chemistry, biology, mathematics, earth sciences, and physics assure solution to numerous of mankind’s most serious problems — from combating disease to generating sustainable energy sources. The MUST School of Natural Sciences provides innovative, up-to-date distance education programs in a modern, well equipped building.

 

 

MUST has qualified to award the following accredited programs:

Accredited Degree programs 

Associate Degree Bachelor’s Degree Master’s Degree Doctorate Degree

Accredited Diploma Programs

Undergraduate Diploma Graduate Diploma

Accredited Certificate Programs

Undergraduate Course Certificate Undergraduate Certificate Graduate Course Certificate Graduate Certificate

 

Thus, MUST is rightfully the first choice of working adults and home school students from around the world.

Yes, this is exactly what I mean to state. There are quite a few advocates of regional accreditation in the world of academics and they do have valid points, however debatable. Many people are under the erroneous impression that if an educational institution is regionally accredited, it essentially imparts high quality of education.

The truth is actually a mile away. In no way can regional accreditation be used as a stick to measure the quality of education. There are few, albeit kept under wraps, facts that question regional accreditation and its worth to a student.

Cost: In a recent documentary by Frontline, Inc., it was revealed that the cost of attaining regional accreditation is almost $10 million. Academic institutions are rarely non-profit these days, so one might wonder how they manage to pay this exorbitant price for regional accreditation. The answer lies in the high priced programs that they offer to students. They earn it all back via high tuition fees that they charge students.

Limited Options: Regionally accredited institutions generally require more liberal arts coursework, and regionally accredited online schools often offer fewer career-specific programs of study.

Debt trap: because regionally accredited schools are eligible for federal aid, they enroll students by signing them up for financial aid and loans offered by the government. Universities get their financial claims settled immediately whereas the student is left struggling with the loans and their respective interest rate for the rest of their lives.

Restricted options: in case you relocate for personal or professional reasons, it is highly likely that you will not get credits for previously studied courses as regional accreditation would be limited acceptance. Beyond the specified region, your degree is as good as unaccredited and will be of no use to you at all.

Lack of regular supervision: once an institution is finally accredited regionally after approximately 10 years (exactly, this is how long it takes to earn regional accreditation), institutions are barely ever monitored and thus their accreditation status holds no value in real time. While accreditation is in process, an institution is regularly supervised and scrutinized, and many assume it would suffice. It doesn’t. With time, institutions would curtail their financial resources and might compromise on the quality of education or ignore the demands of corporate world, thus not equipping students with required technical and intellectual acumen to succeed professionally.

Like the few mentioned above, there are many other reasons that point towards the opposite direction for answer instead of regional accreditation. There are many international organizations that award accreditation and acceptability of degrees around the globe. This is certainly a better option for students as they earn education that is regularly monitored and globally accepted.

One such international body that awards genuine and globally accepted accreditation is International Accreditation Organization (IAO). IAO is an international agency working to enhance the standards of education for working adults. It operates worldwide, granting educational accreditation upon evaluation to institutions involved in education for working adults. For further details, visit http://www.iao.org/

Accreditation, for any educational institution is of primary concern. No accreditation or accreditation from a less authentic accreditation agency means that the institution is not reliable or recognized enough to support its education and degrees. Before applying for any program of any institute, one must always check the accreditation for that institution and the recognition of the accrediting body. Another critical aspect in this assessment is to check whether all the programs and degrees offered by an institution are accredited or not. In the present education system (both online and offline), accreditation is a pre requisite for the recognition and acceptability of the degree, diploma or certification. The level of autonomy that each region or country provides to institutions and universities for accreditation varies across the globe. However, there are international as well as regional accreditation agencies which accredit universities for their authenticity and credibility. Worldwide demand for reliable, safe products and services makes accreditation a necessity. Accreditation from a globally respected agency like IAO means immediate acceptance and assures confidence in your service or product. The best way to demonstrate the highest level of service and good value is through accreditation. Choosing the right organization to evaluate and accredit your professional services has direct impact on your success. Accreditation is essential if you are involved in any profession that has a direct impact on public safety and welfare. International Accreditation Service welcomes the opportunity to partner with you and help you achieve and maintain your accreditation. International Accreditation accredits universities (both offline and online) irrespective of the region it exists in. it has no territorial restrictions; its accreditation is valid anywhere in the world. International Accreditation accredits individual program/certifications as well as schools and universities. International accreditation is considered superior to regional or national for the following reasons: It is Globally recognized: The global acceptability and recognition of MUST University degrees broaden the horizons of outreach for applicants broaden and they are eligible for jobs and employments anywhere in the world, whereas, regional accreditation restricts the validity of degrees to the regions or country they are operating in creating bindings for the applicants to look for employment within those countries or specific regions. In case the applicant has to move to another region or country (which is very common), he/she do/does not require any other certification for the degree of MUST University to be deemed valid. The Quality of Education is Superior: In case of regional accreditation regional standards and best practices are followed to ensure quality and standard whereas MUST University’s degree which is internationally accredited, global best practices are applied to determine quality and standard. Even a layman can figure out that global best practices are more stringent and meticulous. Thus, International accreditation protects the quality of education, guarantee the qualification granted and encourages improvements in the curriculum.

In the present education system (both online and offline), accreditation is a pre requisite for the recognition and acceptability of the degree, diploma or certification. The level of autonomy that each region or country provides to institutions and universities for accreditation varies across the globe. However, there are international as well as regional accreditation agencies which accredit universities for their authenticity and credibility. Read the rest of this entry »

These days everywhere I am going, I get to hear how one or the other of my friends are confidently applying at MUST University as their fears are at rest only in the case of MUST when it comes to online universities and the matter of accreditation. Read the rest of this entry »