Students enrolled at Virginia College are finding they cannot transfer their credits to universities to finish their education.
Virginia College students are asking how the school, which bills itself as a “private institution of higher education,” could advertise itself as an accredited educational institution, yet fail to tell them that they type of accreditation Virginia College holds is not recognized as adequate by neighboring universities in most states where VC campuses are located.
Some students are seeking tuition refunds and compensation for the months or years they spent earning college credits that they have now discovered to be useless in pursuing advanced degrees at state universities. They say they could have used that time to pursue credits at less expensive community colleges, where their credits would transfer to state universities without problems. Among these students, some are asking lawyers whether Virginia College’s claims were false advertising. Lawyers at Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz have offices near the VC Pensacola campus and are investigating these claims.
The school says its campuses are accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). However, students say the school’s website and staff never informed them that this type of accreditation is not the kind that public universities in their states require in order to accept transfer credits.
Virginia College has campuses in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Caronlina, Tennessee, Florida, and Texas, as well as offering online programs. In most of those states, the public universities do not honor ACICS accreditation when incoming students ask to transfer credits already earned at other schools.
Educators use the term “regional accreditation” to refer to the more widely recognized, more rigorous accrediting credentials that most major universities hold. “National accreditation,” which may sound more prestigious, is actually less widely recognized and is often insufficient to qualify incoming transfer credits. Virginia College’s ACICS accreditation is this second type, which causes problems when students want to transfer into a major, state university. It can also be a problem when moving to many private universities.
Major state universities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New York, South Carolina, and Texas require the more respected “regionally accredited” recognition in order to accept incoming transfer credits (see links below). Other state universities may honor some credits from VC courses, if they recognize “nationally accredited” institutions, but this is less common.
Current or past Virginia College students who have questions about refunds or compensation for tuition and time they invested in course credits that they cannot transfer as needed can contact the lawyers of Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz at 888-255-AWKO (2956).
The lawyers representing Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz are licensed to practice law in eight states (FL, AL, MS, CO, NY, NJ, DC, VA), with associated counsel in all remaining states.
University Policies on Credit Transfers & Accreditation:
University of Alabama – credit transfer policy
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) – credit transfer policy
University of Georgia – credit transfer policy
University of Texas – credit transfer policy
University of South Carolina – credit transfer policy
University of Tennessee – credit transfer policy
University of West Florida (Pensacola, FL) – credit transfer policy
State University of New York (New Paltz) – credit transfer policy
Students can follow news about this issue on the AWKO Blog or the AWKOLAW Twitter page.
