Is CAST University an accredited university?

Answer 1

Answer 1: Yes only partially and some employers do not recognize there degrees as authentic. yes and no

Answer 2: Don't let the shills confuse you about "accreditation". If you do nothing to earn the degree (and unfortunately "life experience" counts as nothing -- as does the bogus online test) you get a degree worth nothing. In fact, if you try to pass it off as a real degree in a job application you will likely be committing fraud.

Answer 3: Answer 1 is completely incorrect. Even without looking-up CAST to see whether or not it's accredited, there is simply no such thing as "partially" accredited; and if the school really is legitimately accredited, then its degrees are authentic, whether or not employers "accept" them. And any employer which won't accept any degree from a legitimately accredited schools is probably one for which no self-respecting person would ever want to work. So, then, there's no such thing as "yes and no" as the answer to whether any school -- not just CAST -- is accredited.

Sadly, there are accredited schools with sufficiently checkered pasts that some employers don't think much of their degrees. University of Phoenix (UOP) comes to mind, but there are a handful of others. And UOP, to be clear, is "regionally" accredited by an agency approved by the US Department of Education (USDE) and the USDE-sanctioned Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). So, then, in other words, UOP has the exact same kind of accreditation as Havard, or Yale, or any well-known state college or university.

But just remember that accreditation is a MINIMAL standard... the standard below which the school simply cannot fall and still be considered accredited. At the other, higher end of the spectrum is the school's maximal or optimal quality. Harvard and Yale are up at that end of the scale, and most other schools, then, fall somewhere else along said scale. So accreditation doesn't speak to maximal or optimal quality; rather, it speaks only to minimal quality.

But a school's being accredited, even if it's on the lower end of the quality scale, still means that it's legitimate, and academically rigorous; and also that government loan money may pay for its coursewor; and also that its courses are generally transferable to other accredited schools, and that its degrees are generally acceptable to other accredited schools as requisite for admission into higher-level degrees programs.

And UOP, while almost literallly laughed-at by some employers (usually only ones who don't really understand how it all works), is nevertheless "regionally" accredited... which is generally considered to be the best kind of USDE- and/or CHEA-approved accreditation. UOP, then, in spite of its history, should be respected by all employers at least enough to acknowledge that its degrees are acceptable, generally speaking. However, certain jobs obviously require higher-level degrees. Many financial firms, for example, will not accept even a regionally-accredited Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree unless it's also accredited by the USDE- and CHEA-approved accreditor "The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business" (AACSB). And so it's okay for an employer to judge one school better than another, but it's always better if the school can point to the better school's objectively-determined better qualities, such as, for example, AACSB accreditation, in the case of business degrees.

But, of course, this answer is not about UOP. I only cited it as an example of an accredited school which, nevertheless, gets a bad rap from at least some employers... even despite its "regional" accreditation.


And Answer 2, while well-intentioned, gets it a tiny bit wrong, too. Here's the correct information...
Yes, degree/diploma-mill shills (usually owners of such places, or those who claim bogus credentials from them) will come in here and write that a given school is somehow credible when it is, in fact, not. That's what Answer 2's "don't let the shills confuse you" statement is all about; and the implication is that Answer 1 is maybe that kind of answer. I agree that it probably is.

It is, however, not true that "life experience counts as nothing." The reason Answerer 2 wrote that is because most degree mills use giving credit for "life experience" as their means of awarding "degrees" even to people from whom they do not require any real academic work; and so "life experience," as a means of earning college credit, has gotten a bad name in the minds of some who don't really know how it all works.

Completely legitimate and properly-accredited schools routinely give credit for life experience...

...but just not an entire (or even most of a) degree's worth. That's the rub. Degree mills will try to make the degree-seeker feel like they're legitimate schools by asking said degree-seeker for a resume, a life history, a transcript of all prior college work, and often a paper or two describing why the entire rest of the degree (atop the existing credits on the transcript) should be granted on the basis of "life experience." Almost no matter what the degree-seeker writes, the degree mill will give him/her his/her degree, based on however much "life experience" it takes to complete it, as long as said degree-seeker pays the degree mill's fee. Virtually no real academically-rigorous work is usually required; or, to strengthen the ruse, sometimes the student is asked to "enroll" in a "course" or two or three at the mill, in each of which a mere book is read and then a high-school-quality book report is written and submitted.

At a real and legitimate school that's accredited by a USDE- and/or CHEA-approved agency, no more than about one-quarter (1/4) of a degree will typically be awarded for "life experience;" and, additionally, the process for earning credit that way is so involved and time-consuming and rigorous that it's usually almost easier to just take the courses and be done with it.

So, for example, no more than one year's worth of credit for a four-year bachelor's degree will typically be awarded by an accredited college or university. So, in other words, if the accredited college or university is on the "semester credit hour" system, and so its Bachelors Degrees are worth 120 semester credit hours, then no more than 30 semester credit hours (one year's) worth of credit will usually ever be granted for "life experience."

And the process is arduous, indeed. The credit-seeker must first build a portfolio of his/her life experiences for which s/he believes s/he is due academic college credit (including written, independent, sometimes sworn) verification of them all); and then s/he must map all the skills and knowledge acquired from said life experience to the specific college courses for which the student wants "life experience" credit. Honestly, by the time the student goes through all that, s/he might as well have just taken the courses in the first place, and been done with them... especially if the school requires that the student pay the same for the life experience credits as would be paid if s/he had just gone ahead and taken the course, like everyone else (sans the cost of books, obviously).

So, even if a legitimate, accredited school were willing to award "life experience" credits -- even a whole year's worth (30 semester credit hours in the case of a four-year bachelors degree) -- such credit is rare, indeed... and usually, frankly, not really worth it, to boot! It's usually easier to just take the courses and be done with it.

Degree mills, though, will award "life experience" credit like it's candy... as long as the person (stupidly) seeking it is willing to pay the degree mill's price.

Answerer 2's comment about online tests is accurate. Fake schools sometimes make "degree" seekers take some kind of wacky online test. They mean nothing.

Answerer 2's also correct about how it's actually possible, at least in some places, to be committing some kind of crime by claiming a fake degree on a job application, or on a resume or business card, or in advertising, etc. In fact, the State of Oregon was the first to actually make it a crime (although it's not the crime of "fraud") to do it; and other states are following suit.

A school is not accredited unless it's accredited by an agency approved by the government (or the government, itself) of the country in which the school is physically located. Additionally, the school's credentials must be usable for purposes of employment in said country. And, finally, the country must have a provable, observable and palpable culture of educational accountability. The country of Liberia, for example, would automatically not qualify just on the third point because it has long been a haven for degree mills... all of which have the blessing of Liberia's corrupt government which is willing to "accredit" any school in its country that's willing to pay government officials the bribes to get it done.

In the United States, only the US Department of Education (USDE), and the USDE-sanctioned Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) can approved accreditors, any of which may be verified by simply looking-up the accreditor on either or both of the USDE and/or CHEA web sites at the links below.

If the alleged accreditor isn't on at least one of those two lists, then it's not a real accreditor. Period. Accept no lying explanations otherwise by good-for-nothing degree/diploma mills.

Any school which claims to be accredited may have said alleged accreditation verified by simply looking-up said school in either or both of the USDE and/or CHEA databases at the links below.

If the alleged school isn't in at least one of those two databases, then it's not an accredited school. Period. Accept no lying explanations otherwise by good-for-nothing degree/diploma mills. (The exception could be a school so recently accredited that it has not yet been keyed-in to the USDE and/or CHEA databases. But, in such case, checking the web site of the claimed accreditor should settle the matter in short order... either because the school is at least listed there; or, if it's not, then because someone at the accreditor will verify the school's accreditation by email or telephone call. Just make sure it's the real web site of the real accreditor that you visit, with with which you check.)

There are simlar web sites and databases in most countries which have government (or government-approved) accreditation; whose accredited degrees are useful for employment purposes in said countries; and which countries have cultures of educational accountability.

All anyone who wants to know if any school is accredited need do is hunt down such databases, verify that they're legitimate, and then look-up said school on them. If the school's not listed, then it's likely not accredited.

The questioner didn't specify in which country the "CAST University" about which s/he asks is located. And so it's simply not possible to answer his/her question, as asked. But now that s/he has all this information about how to figure it out for himself/herself, s/he should have no trouble getting his/her answer all by himself/herself.