[darkxanthos]

I was looking for something similar 6 years ago or so. “High quality” is difficult... but regionally accredited and a real degree does exist.

I went to Southern New Hampshire University and got my BA in Math w/ concentration in Applied Math. I started grad school at GA Tech for an MS in Operations Research via their distance learning program. I also got into USC and Kansas State.

I learned about this other degree after I was done though so you have at least two accredited options. It is slim pickings though: https://www.tesu.edu/heavin/ba/mathematics

[chrisseaton]

Why do you care about accreditation? Do people ask you if a degree is accredited? Nobody’s ever asked me.

[dragonwriter]

> Why do you care about accreditation? Do people ask you if a degree is accredited?

If people care about a degree and don't care about accreditation, you might as well just purchase one from a degree mill; but, yes, lots of people do care about accreditation. (And those that don't seem to care about accreditation as such often only don't because they are more selective, and disregard every degree not from a sufficiently elite subset of accredited schools, and treat other accredited schools as well as all unaccredited schools as worthless.)

> Nobody’s ever asked me.

Did they ever ask you where the degree was from?

[phaus]

I've never been asked either but some companies care where you went to school.

However, it still matters outside the context of trying to get a job. If for some reason you want to transfer to a different school, if you don't have a regionally accredited degree many universities won't accept any of your credits.

Accreditation is kind of a mess in the US. Regional is the golden standard. National is kind of a joke and if your school is nationally accredited it might not be good enough to transfer to a better school (really depends on the school some of them will take your credits).

The worst part is that many networks of universities create their own accreditation organizations with names that sound similar to the real ones.

From my experience, regional accredited schools can still be absolute shit, but for some reason its the most respected credential a school can have.

[closeparen]

Anyone can hang a shingle and sell “college.” Accreditation is the bare minimum indication that they’re speaking the same language as everyone else using the term.

[darkxanthos]

A very tangible reason to care if a degree is regionally accredited is that your degree will transfer to just about any other school. If my bachelors wasn’t regionally accredited I wouldn’t have gotten into my current masters program for example.

Like the other comments say as well... it’s basically what qualifies a “real” degree.

[projectramo]

In that case, consider this a degree. I mean, right now on HN, I have granted you my own HNC degree (HN comment).

You are hereby granted a PhD in biomedical engineering.

You are also granted a Master's in Accounting.

And a Bachelor's in Love Studies.

Done and done. Please type out and print your own Diplomas.