Is penn foster high school accredited in state of Illinois and can you go to Harper college with this diploma?

Answer 1

Illinois does not accredit. Most states, in fact, do not accredit. All states do, usually, is approve (or disapprove) schools to be allowed (or not) to operate inside their states. That's it.

At the high school (secondary school) level, only agencies approved by the US Department of Education (USDE) may accredit high schools... or elementary schools, too, as long as we're at it.

At the college (post-secondary) level, only agencies approved by both USDE, and also the USDE-sanctioned Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), may accredit schools.

At the high school level, only schools which are accredited by one of the US's six big USDE-approved "regional" accreditors are of any value. High school diplomas awarded by unaccredited high schools, or even USDE-approved "national" (as opposed to "regional") accreditors have no value. Avoid them.

Only ever get a high school diploma from a "regionally" accredited high school. It matters not if the high school is of the online or in-classroom type. All that matters is the the high school is at least "regionally" accredited.

Regionally-accredited post-secondary schools, like Harper College, will typically not accept a high school diploma which isn't from a "regionally" accredited high school. Certainly most employers will not; and most government agencies (including the military) will not accept high school diplomas which are not from "regionally" (as opposed to "nationally") accredited high schools for employment or any other purpose.

Penn Foster High School is "regionally" accredited. As it turns out, it's also "nationally" accredited, but that doesn't really matter as long as it's also "regionally" accredited. And Penn Foster High School is, indeed, "regionally" accredited.

And so, then, the "regionally" accredited Harper College will absolutely and unquestionably accept it.

What Illinois either wants or thinks matters not. Illinois's approval, or not, of at least Penn Foster High School plays no role in any of this because Penn Foster is in Pennsylvania; and it's approved there. Harper, though, is in Illinois, and so, yes, Illinois's approval of Harper is necessary; and Harper has that.

All Harper cares about, then, is whether the high school diploma of any of its applicants is "regionally" accredited. It matters not whether it was earned online or in-classroom. All Harper wants to see when it looks-up Penn Foster High School is that it's "regionally" accredited...

...and it is. So, then, the bottom line answer to the question is that, yes, you can go to Harper College with a Penn Foster High School diploma.