Accreditation and Education

This page contains some general information about the accreditation of, and education offered by, many unregulated programs marketed to the parents of troubled teens, as well as advice from ISAC.

Accreditation

During our numerous conversations with parents, we have learned that many of them made a number of assumptions when they enrolled their child in the types of facilities listed on this website.

Several such assumptions concern accreditation.

Most parents assumed that because the facility is accredited, it must be "good." They also assume that the accreditation guarantees their child's ability to get into college.

Neither of these assumptions is true.

Accreditation boards are like any other business - anyone can operate one. They set their own "standards" and make their own rules.

Unless the accrediting body is recognized by the Department of Education, any "credits" your child earns may not transfer. We have been contacted by large numbers of graduates of specialty boarding schools who had to get a G.E.D. because their credits were not accepted.

$40,000 per year is a lot to pay, only to end up with a G.E.D.

We are also finding that some of these unlicensed programs will tell outright lies and claim to be accredited, when in fact they are not.

So, what can you do?

First of all, do not place your child in an unlicensed facility under any circumstances.

Click here for more information about licensing.

Verify the accreditation with the accreditation board. Contact them yourself - don't take the program's word for it.

Then, verify the legitimacy of the accreditation with the Department of Education in YOUR state. If your state of residency state doesn't recognize the accreditation, do not enroll your child in the facility. To do so could only put your child farther behind in school when he or she returns home.

Beware of "member based" accrediting bodies and as well as accrediting bodies comprised of representatives of the accredited programs.

In our opinion, neither can be viewed as impartial judges of academic worthiness.

Pay close attention to the name of the accreditation board. We have seen several questionable ones with names very similar to legitimate accrediting bodies.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us.

Education

The education offered at many boot camps, wilderness camps, specialty boarding schools, etc. is substandard at best.

You might be surprised to learn that in many states, there is little if any oversight of private schools.

If a particular state doesn't oversee private schools, there is a real possibility that the "teachers" are not certified.

We are finding more and more that these facilities use a rather loaded-language to describe their "education" program.

"Self-paced" typically implies a fill-in-the-blanks workbook curriculum. These are rarely challenging, especially considering that the child need only flip back a few pages to find the right answer.

"Progressive" and "computer-based" likely means your child will spend all day staring at a monitor, clicking check-boxes as they make their way through one CD-ROM after another.

Again, these programs are rarely challenging - they just eliminate the need for real teachers.