Online High Schools and Accreditation: Make the Right Choice

By Thomas Nixon

Choosing the right online high school involves more than just picking a school. It involves selecting a school with the right accreditation. Choosing wrong can damage your chances at getting into the college of your choice. Choosing right can get you where you want to be.

Accreditation can be confusing for those in the business. I can only imagine how it looks from the outside. There are both regional accreditors, national accreditors, and other specialized accreditors. While one would think that national accreditation would be the standard, regional accreditation has the reputation as being of the highest quality. Whether that is true is a question for a different time and article. However, there are most definitely colleges that would not accept a nationally-accredited diploma.

There are six regional accrediting bodies that accredit schools. Being accredited by one of these is the form of accreditation that is most widely accepted by colleges and universities in the United States. Oddly enough we have an accreditor of accreditors called the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA.org). It is responsible for governmental recognition of accreditors.

The six regionals are:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA)
Commission on Secondary Schools
www.css-msa.org

New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC-CIHE)
Commission on Public Secondary Schools
www.neasc.org/cpss/cpss.htm

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCACASI)
Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement
www.ncacasi.org

Northwest Association of Accredited Schools
www.boisestate.edu/naas

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
Council on Accreditation and School Improvement
www.sacscasi.org

Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Accrediting Commission for Schools
www.wascweb.org

In addition to the regional accreditors, there are specialized accreditors. The most well-known of these is the Distance Education and Training Council (www.detc.org). Located in Washington, D.C., it has the advantage of focusing solely on distance education. It's prominence is growing within accrediting circles and it is likely that one day it will be considered equivalent to regional accreditation.

Regardless of which accreditor you end up with, you should make sure that it is either a regional accreditor, DETC, or any other accreditor listed at CHEA.org. The only other option would be a high school that is recognized by a state department of education or a public school district. Make sure that it is the state's education department and not just a business license. Most anyone can get a business license to open a school, but it requires a much higher standard to be recognized by the department of education in a state.

Thomas Nixon is the author of online high schools directory. He can be contacted through his website at ThomasNixon.com.

Massachusetts Massage Therapy Schools

By Michael Bustamante

Those who are interested in learning the art of massage will find many opportunities in Massachusetts Massage Therapy Schools to prepare for various massage therapy professions. Aspiring massage therapists can study for certificates or diplomas, or advance their studies to obtain two-year Associate of Science (AS) degrees or four-year Bachelor of Science (BS) degrees.

The courses taught at all massage schools are geared toward helping students prepare to successfully pass national certification exams. They offer courses designed to develop skills in sports massage, prenatal massage, neuromuscular therapy, lymph massage, therapeutic massage, reflexology, acupressure, and kinesiology. Many of the various massage therapy schools in Massachusetts will even provide courses to facilitate smooth client relations, as well as client assessment and communications.

All massage therapy schools, in every state, have the option of becoming accredited, and students should consider only those schools that are accredited by state and national organizations. Affiliation with various massage and bodywork organizations can also give massage therapy programs and massage therapy institutions credence. Accredited massage schools assure that students will receive a quality education leading to a successful employment path. The basic training received in massage school can also be a stepping stone to advanced natural healing studies, such as acupuncture or chiropractics, to name just two exciting possibilities.

Massachusetts massage therapy schools (and others, for that matter) provide students with classroom and hands-on training to qualify for positions at the entry level. Courses in anatomy, physiology, pathology, nutrition, health, and hygiene provide students with basic knowledge to help manage pain and prevent physical incapacity due to injury or disease. Later, students will take courses in theory and practice of massage, hydrotherapy, and reflexology to provide additional skills. Hands-on massage experience in a clinical setting will round out the students' preparation for serving clients in athletic organizations, spas, and medical facilities. Some massage therapy schools even provide courses in management, marketing, accounting, and business ethics that give students the complete set of business skills for operating their own massage therapy practice.

Demands for the services of qualified massage therapists will continue to escalate in the U.S. as well as Canada. Graduates of massage therapy schools in Massachusetts should find numerous employment opportunities, as the industry is expected to grow steadily for the next several years. Massage practices in Massachusetts may be regulated by state statutes, and individual towns and municipalities may also regulate massage practices; however, many areas have no licensing requirements. The savvy massage therapist will carefully check with state and local governing bodies before beginning a practice.

Would you like to learn more? You can get more in-depth information about and other Massage Schools and Massage Therapy Schools by visiting our website today!

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.

Copyright 2007 - All rights reserved by SchoolsGalore.com, in association with Media Positive Communications, Inc.

Notice: Publishers are free to use this article on an ezine or website, provided the article is reprinted in its entirety, including copyright and disclaimer, and ALL links remain intact and active.

Michael Bustamante is a staff writer for Media Positive Communications, Inc. in association with SchoolsGalore.com. Find , Colleges, Universities, Online Schools, Trade Schools and Vocational Schools at SchoolsGalore.com, your educational resource to locate schools.

Corrections Schools Offer Criminal Justice Degrees

By Michael Bustamante

Corrections Schools prepare students for fields in criminal justice with degrees in Associate of Applied Science (AS) in Criminal Justice, Bachelor of Science (BS) in Criminal Justice, and Masters of Science (MS) in Criminal Justice.

Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice provide foundations in the areas of law enforcement, courts, corrections, and security. AS degree students will be ready for entry-level positions in police and sheriffs departments, and for service to criminal justice systems in jails, prisons, juvenile detention facilities, or in security in private facilities.

Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice graduates will be qualified to pursue opportunities at local, state, and federal jail facilities and juvenile detention centers in administrative, strategic, and managerial roles. The student can opt to study for specialized certificates to prepare for positions as a correctional staff worker, warden, corrections officer, or corrections manager. Knowledge and skills gained will be suited to juvenile correctional settings and in maximum-security facilities.

Corrections Schools prepare students with courses in implications of corrections, juvenile delinquency, issues related to criminal behavior and corrections, probation and parole, administrative and operational aspects of large correctional institutions and small facilities in local communities. Courses in Corrections Schools address issues of inmate rights, juvenile justice, and overcrowding. Graduates will be prepared to assume leadership roles with a solid base of knowledge, and to respond to developing trends in criminal justice.

Masters of Criminal Justice graduates will be prepared to assume roles of counseling, management, and administrations of corrections facilities.

Criminal justice corrections degrees stress crime prevention, treatment, and control, as well as correctional institutions, probation, and parole. Social work and juvenile delinquency courses introduce students to components of criminal justice systems.

Corrections Schools train corrections professionals to manage wards inside correctional facilities, to ensure the safety of their wards, and to provide for public safety. Corrections officers inspect facilities and prisoners for unauthorized materials, and guide detainees through routine agendas. Corrections facility managers and supervisors oversee corrections officers and other employees in facilities, and perform administrative duties of probation, parole hearings, finances, and institutional upkeep.

Corrections officer can anticipate earnings of around $35,000, with experience, education, and specializations providing additional sums.

If you are interested in learning more about and criminal justice education and degrees, please search our site for additional information and sources.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.

Copyright 2006 - All Rights Reserved Michael Bustamante, in association with Media Positive Communications, Inc. for SchoolsGalore.com

Notice to Publishers: Please feel free to use this article in your Ezine or on your Website; however, ALL links must remain intact and active.

Michael Bustamante is a staff writer for Media Positive Communications, Inc. in association with SchoolsGalore.com. Find at SchoolsGalore.com; meeting your needs as your educational resource to locate schools.

Financial Aid and Forms For College

By Kathy Hildebrand

How Do Student Loans Work?

Taking out student loans is borrowing money, and it is very important the you realize this before signing for the loan. Generally, repayment of student loans is deferred until after graduation or at which point the student is no longer enrolled on at least a halftime basis. The repayment period for most student loans is 10 years, and the rate for outstanding federally guaranteed student loans is based on rates for short-term Treasury bills. One good thing about student loans is that they usually carry a low rate of interest, however paying off student loans is not always an easy task.

Financial Aid You Must Repay (Student Loans).

Financial aid usually comes in the form of student loans for first-year students. Financial aid is more than student loans, with numerous scholarships, grants and awards open to students with diverse several backgrounds and interests. With many students and parents needing to turn to financial aid, colleges are offering many financial aid programs to help you afford the education you desire. You will need to get approval from your financial aid counselor - in 2003-04, three-quarters of all full-time undergraduates received some type of financial aid ($9,900 average). When considering financial aid, explore "free money" options such as scholarships and grants, or work-study programs prior to pursuing student loans.

College Application Checklist.

The Common Application was developed to simplify the college application process. Free college application checklists are available on many internet web sites. Keeping track of college form deadlines is important: Keep track of all of the key steps in the college application and financial aid process. Learn how to navigate the college application process; begin thinking about topics for your college application essays; start drafting outlines. This should begin long before a student actually starts the college application process. Prepare your college application carefully. A good recommendation letter can be an asset to your college application.

What If I need Financial Aid?

A financial aid form must be filed with the college or university the student plans to attend. Don't start the New Year without completing your college financial aid form. To receive federal need-based student financial aid, the student must file the federal student financial aid form. Many private universities require a separate financial aid form, and some colleges have their own financial aid form that they required to be completed. Check with your college to see which financial aid form they require.

What If One Of My Student Loans Is In Default?

When you're in high school and looking into colleges, paying off student loans is probably the last thing on your mind. The first strategy for managing your student loans is knowing exactly what kind of loans are in your portfolio. One of the flexibilities of direct student loans is the deferral of payment during qualified times. The advantage of these types of direct student loans is that they have many of the same kinds of benefits as federal loans. The main drawback to private student loans is the fact that they have a little higher interest rates than their federal counterparts.

One good thing about student loans is that you can consolidate them. If you are a student about to separate from school, the best time to consolidate your federal student loans is before your grace period ends. Another time to hesitate before you choose to consolidate student loans is when you are close to finishing your payments. If you decide that consolidating your student loans is the right option for you, take action now before interest rates go up.

Kathy Hildebrand is a professional writer who is easily bored with her "day job" assignments. So, she researches anything and everything of interest and starts writing. Writing about an extremely wide variety of subjects keeps her skills sharp, and gives her food for thought on future paid writing assignments.

Her own college experience with the financial aid form FAFSA prompted her to write some short articles on the subjects. More of her research into this area can be found at her web site.

About Culinary Arts Schools

By Jonathan Mayheart

Culinary Arts Schools, contrary to what most of you know, are not all about cooking. Yes, these said schools do tackle majorly on cooking but it is cooking with style. Cooking is easy, and styling is easy, but together? It is not an easy subject. That is why you must learn it from the masters themselves.

Contrary to what most people believe, people are actually making more money in this century, and therefore, have more time for vacationing. This means people will be dining out more since they have more to spend, searching for the ultimate restaurant experience. Knowing this, you probably felt that tug on your heart, a tug that would lead you towards the field of culinary arts.

Culinary arts are not fit for everyone, unfortunately. They are for those who are passionate, creative, and would just love anything and everything that has something to do with food. By the word creative, what is meant is that you can combine any flavours and textures to create a unique dish, but still tastes savory good. By passion, you would love to be in the kitchen all the time and have probably spent your childhood years in the kitchen. And love meaning you are just so absolutely dedicated to cooking that you just spend lots and lots of hours in the, to exaggerate, scorching heat of the kitchen to create your latest obra maestra. If you are find these traits in you, then culinary arts is definitely your calling.

But still, the question of "why?" still has not been answered. Why must you attend, of all the schools in the world, a culinary arts school? You can do those masterpieces of yours in the comforts of your own kitchen. However, if you desire to be an executive chef in, not just any restaurant, but an upscale restaurant, then you have to undergo formal training and experience for you to actually find that desire of yours attainable. This is the major reason why you should attend a culinary arts school.

Culinary arts schools give you a broad understanding of different cooking techniques and principles that you will not have encountered if you just settled yourself on an entry-level kitchen job. Education in a culinary arts school will also help you learn to use various equipments to prepare dishes from many ethnic regions. Building a broad skill set lets gives you a chance to decide what you enjoy and where to focus your career. And these schools also provide you formal culinary training, and this kind of training will give you lots of opportunities to work anywhere on the globe, cooking different kinds of exotic food in various exotic settings. Now isn't that amazing?

Being a chef is different from being a cook because a chef covers cooking, and also creating the menus. As a chef, you constantly need to use your creativity and artistic expression. In creating the menu, you are pleasing everyone's palates, tantalizing their taste buds, making them drool. You combine the elements of texture, presentation, and taste to be able to give people a dining experience they will never forget.

The responsibility of ordering is placed on your shoulders, therefore, the choice of food is rested on you. You decide whether you will be cooking with organic, locally grown vegetables, or creating rich and decadent dishes from imported ingredients, like cheeses and pastas. There is never a dull moment in a career like this. Just add in organization and small serving of people skills, then the futures is definitely yours to create!

Read more about http://culinary.advice-tips.com

Characteristics of a Quality Medical Transcription School

By Chris Dunn

First and foremost, a good medical transcription school will have a comprehensive curriculum designed specifically for medical transcription training. This does not mean some off-the-shelf program that mixes and matches curriculum and study material from a hodge-podge of medical and non-medical sources. You are looking for a solid A to Z curriculum that was designed by Medical Transcriptionists specifically for medical transcriptionists. There is a big difference. You dont want a version of anatomy that is adapted from a veterinarian course. Yes, this sounds crazy, but you would be surprised at what you will find out there!

You are looking for a medical transcription school that teaches you the medical terminology, human anatomy, physiology and disease processes, abbreviations and plurals, and a host of other foundation material all from a medical transcriptionists perspective.

Second, and of no less importance, the medical transcription school that you select must have an extremely strong focus on practical application. All the text-book training in the world is insufficient without a strong practicum to go along with it. Sitting in a classroom without applying what you are studying would be like memorizing vocabulary and learning to conjugate verbs in a foreign language and then assuming you could immediately go to that country and speak fluently with the natives. It just isnt realistic. It takes a lot of practice before you can start actually doing it well.

The best medical transcription schools will not graduate you until you can demonstrate a level of practical competency. And guess what? The way many doctors dictate reports is more reminiscent of a foreign language than anything else. Slurred speech, poor grammar, rapid wording, and run on sentences only serve to exacerbate an already complex and specialized language the language of medicine!

But in the end, the best way to select the right school is to find out where the national medical transcription employers are recruiting. You can rest assured that they are doing their homework. They will not be in the habit of hiring graduates from institutions that have not proven themselves capable of producing productive graduates. Getting a good job with a great company is really what counts isnt it? In the ideal world you want the employers to come to you!

About the Author

Chris Dunn created http://www.medicaltranscriptionschool.com in order to help stay-at-home-moms, and others, to find a great career that can fit into their schedules. Visit his site to learn more about this awesome career path.

Environmental Engineering Online

By Michael Bustamante

Online Environmental Engineering Schools provide for studying at home for the certificate, and for the associate, bachelor, master, and doctorate of science degree in environmental engineering. Courses in are delivered via the Internet, allowing students to study when and where it is convenient to them.

Environmental engineering uses applications of principles of mathematics and science to solve environmental problems. Opportunities abound in the field of environmental engineering in environmental protection areas, including water supply and wastewater management, air pollution and toxic materials control, management of hazardous waste materials, radiation control, public health, and land management.

The subject of environmental engineering is as varied as are the many opportunities in the field. Online degrees in environmental engineering offer professionals the same opportunities for employment as do degrees received through traditional forms of education. Employment is found in universities, private consulting firms, research organizations, testing laboratories, government agencies, and large and small businesses. Environmental engineers will work as designers, researchers, pollution control operations technicians, professors, planners, government officials, managers, or social workers.

Environmental engineering requires at least a bachelor degree in environmental engineering; a master degree is more often expected. A doctorate degree provides even more opportunities for employment in the field.

Subjects of study for degrees in environmental engineering include mathematics, sciences, and engineering. Environmental engineering professionals frequently deal with writing and speaking, making studies in the humanities and the development of writing and speaking skills important.

If you are interested in learning more about Online Environmental Engineering Schools, please search our site for more in-depth information and resources.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.

Copyright 2006 - All Rights Reserved Michael Bustamante, in association with Media Positive Communications, Inc. for SchoolsGalore.com

Notice to Publishers: Please feel free to use this article in your Ezine or on your Website; however, ALL links must remain intact and active.

M. Bustamante is a staff writer for Media Positive Communications, Inc. in association with Environmental Engineering Online at SchoolsGalore.com; meeting your needs as your educational resource to locate schools.