Is penn foster college degree recognized by employers?

Answer 1

Answer 1: Penn-Foster College, unlike its high school, is "nationally" accredited, not "regionally" accredited. Penn-Foster College's accreditor is the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), which is approved by the US Department of Education (USDE), and the USDE-sanctioned Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), just the same as is the "regional" accreditor that accredits the elementary, middle and high schools near you; and also all of your state's public, and most of its private colleges and universities.

"National" accreditation of the type that Penn-Foster College has is just as credible and legitimate as "regional" accreditation. However, the regional accreditors, down through the years, have done a pretty good job of convincing employers that only "regionally" accredited degrees are worth anything. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course...

...but how do you want to begin your relationship with a new employer? Do you want to spend your time with him/her educating him/her about accreditation; and convincing him/her that s/he got it wrong about "nationally" accredited colleges?

Employers who understand accreditation, and who realize that any accreditor is good as long as it's USDE- and/or CHEA-approved, will likely accept the Penn-Foster College degree. So might employers who normally only accept "regionally" accredited college degrees if they either don't know any better, or are willing to make an exception. But if you happen onto an employer who thinks that only "regionally" accredited college degrees are good degrees, then, no, that employer may well not accept a Penn-Foster College degree.

I, personally, would have no problem getting a Penn-Foster College degree, and defending it if I had to, because I'm an expert in accreditation and so could easily disabuse any potential employer of his wrongheadedness about "regionally" versus "nationally" accredited schools. But others may or may not have that kind of knowledge and/or skill; so for them, I'm not really sure that I can, in good conscience, recommend any "nationally" accredited degee; and Penn-Foster College is "nationally" accredited.

It's a shame, too, because while Penn-Foster may be a little bit too commercialized and a bit like an assembly line, so to speak (much like Ashworth College, which is also DETC-accredited), the fact is that a degree from either Penn-Foster College or Ashworth College would not be in any way bad, or substandard as an education. A person graduating with such credentials will have been more-than-adequately educated at either the associates or bachelor's degree levels. But, alas, a person with a degree from either place -- or from most nationall-accredited colleges, may, at some point in his/her life, find himself/herself either having to defend the degree, or even being eliminated from consideration for a job or other position on account of it.

CHEA is trying to education accreditors, schools and employers using a thing called the "Higher Education Transfer Alliance" (HETA). Just Google "chea heta" (yes, with quotes around it, just as you see that I just typed) and then click on the very first link that shows-up on the search results page; and then read the resulting web page on the CHEA website to learn more. Until everyone agrees with what that web page teaches, then it may well be a long time before "nationally" accredited schools and degrees get the respect they deserve.