Specifically, I’m wondering if there are laws in the USA (or in any of its states, particularly Indiana) detailing requirements an organization must meet before it is allowed to award degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s or PhD level.
This is different from asking about acreditation, I think.
In particular, I’m wondering if there are rules about what must be included in a “core curriculum” common to all majors. And even more particularly, I’d like to know how detailed such laws (if there are any) are about the content of the actual courses taught in this core curriculum. Most specifically, I’m wondering about critical thinking or logic courses.
As far as I can tell, if there are rules about this, they are not handed down by acreditation agencies. If there are rules, then the only place I can imagine they come from is a government.
So, as I understand it, if you were a public or independent college or university in the state of Illinois, and youwere going to offer a Bachelor of Arts in Basket Weaving, you’d have to submit a bunch of information about your requirements, resources, etc. to the IBHE for their review and approval.
Nope, it’s the same thing in most locales. Generally you can set up your own mail order college and start selling diplomas. Lots of people do it. It’s a big problem when people claim to have degrees that they merely bought online. Some states put such things under fraud but most don’t.
If you are in the business of checking people’s resumes (I was a college prof and had to do this), then checking the accreditation of the schools people list on their resumes is step one. There are the big regional ones that you start with. If the school isn’t on that list, forget it. But then there’s still more checking to do. E.g., if the person actually has the degree from the college at all.
Some programs may be further accredited. Engineering programs in particular are required by state laws to have proper accreditation. In my field, Computer Science, there is the ACM accreditation program which is considered a joke and most respectable places actively avoid it. (Long sad story about this and one place I worked omitted.)
There are defnitely not rules about a “core curriculum”. I went to Caltech for my undergrad, majoring in physics, and I know that our core curriculum was vastly different than someone going to UCLA majoring in English, for example. I was required to take very little in the way of humanities, for example.
Innerestin… I had assumed there was some kind of standard here since all the schools I’ve attended or taught at required all students to take certain courses (or courses from certain lists of courses) covering certain basic topics in English, Math, History, Government, Critical Thinking, and others.
But this is not universal (in the US for respectable institutions) after all?
Actually, thinking a little more about it, maybe I’ve been under the wrong impression, and it was just certain majors that required this broad “core curriculum”. Hmm…