California University of Pennsylvania starts the new year with new or renewed accreditations for 21 academic degree programs, bringing the total number of accredited programs at Cal U to more than 50 in all.
Program accreditation is a quality assurance process designed to verify that a university’s programs meet nationally recognized standards of academic and professional excellence.
Before a program can be accredited, a team of representatives from a recognized accrediting agency scrutinizes all aspects of the degree program, including its curriculum, faculty credentials and student outcomes. The team also holds an in-person “site visit” at the university.
Once initial accreditation has been achieved, the program must be re-evaluated and its accreditation renewed at regular intervals in order to verify that high standards are being maintained.
“Achieving accreditation is painstaking work, but it pays off for our students,” says Dr. Bruce Barnhart, Cal U’s provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs.
“When you graduate from an accredited program, you know your degree has value. As a job candidate, you can point to program accreditation as a sign that your education met the highest quality standards.”
Business programs
Fourteen degree programs in Cal U’s Department of Business, Economics and Enterprise Sciences have been newly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), the only organization offering specialized business accreditation for all degree levels.
Cal U now offers accredited Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (B.S.B.A.) programs in accounting, economics, finance, human resource management, management and marketing, as well as Interdisciplinary Studies in Business and Commerce.
In addition, the online B.S. concentration in integrated global business and the management information systems concentration have been accredited, along with the Master of Business Administration degree and MBA programs in business analytics, entrepreneurship, healthcare management and nursing administration.
“California University of Pennsylvania has shown a commitment to teaching excellence and to the process of quality improvement by participating in the accreditation process,” said ACBSP Chief Accreditation Officer Dr. Steve Parscale, who will present the Certificate of Accreditation in June at the ACBSP Conference 2019.
“This accreditation is evidence that Cal U is committed to providing the highest quality business education for their students.”
Other programs
Cal U programs re-accredited this fall are the bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work, both recognized by the Council of Social Work Education; Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) programs in Nursing Administration and Leadership and Nursing Education, accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education; the Master of Science in School Psychology, recognized by the National Association of School Psychologists; and the B.S. degrees in computer information systems and computer science, both recognized by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET.