Columbia Southern University in Alabama attracts about 2,000 students each year. The institution is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council and offers courses in many areas, including business and management.
But if a Columbia Southern student decides to transfer to Northwestern, none of his or her credits would carry over because the school only offers classes online.
Although NU policy honors most transfer credits, administrators have yet to recognize online courses.
“For now courses have to be taken in a college classroom,” said Richard Weimer, associate dean of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. “But who knows where we will be on the subject in 10 to 20 years.”
Whether or not a school has regional accreditation is what matters to most four-year institutions in recognizing transfer credits, said Irene Kovala, vice president of academic affairs at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines and Skokie.
Although the Distance Education and Training Council approved Columbia Southern, the school has yet to be reviewed by its regional agency headquarters, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Oakton’s courses count toward graduation at other four-year institutions, Kovala said, because the school has met the standards of a branch of the Regional Institutional Accrediting Agencies.
“The regional accrediting associations have a set of national standards that any institution has to meet,” Kovala said. “They review not only academic programs but the library and other student services.”
Although other accrediting agencies are out there, they do not judge schools on the same set of rigorous standards as NU, Kovala said.
Even if credits are earned from nationally credited institutions, not every school at NU will accept them toward graduation.
“Journalism for example, won’t accept credits (toward the major) from other schools,” said Suzanne Anderson, university registrar. “Biology is also strict on what they accept.”
When confronted with a problem regarding credits, the registrar calls upon the school where the student is enrolled. But even the colleges sometimes find it hard to decide when to give credit.
“If a student has taken first-year French, then we give them credit for first-year French,” Weimer said. “If a student has taken a class of a more unusual nature, then we grant a more generic credit for it.”
This also applies to students who take classes outside of NU even while enrolled.
“Students that are already matriculated into Northwestern must get all courses they wish to take during the summer or off campus approved by their school,” Anderson said. “They must do this first for the courses to count.”
Medill junior Lisa Cacciatore said transferring her credits was the easy part when she transferred from Villanova as a sophomore.
“I transferred with 11 credits, so (that was) a full year, and that was easy,” she said. “But I know people who barely got any credits.”
Dealing with the administration was a little more of a challenge, however.
“I had a really hard time when I first came,” she said. “The administration was difficult to deal with — I didn’t know the ropes and it was hard to get help.”
