Expert: Education Advisor - 11/4/2006

Question
At this time, are there any distance education colleges or universities specializing in nutrition, holistics, or anything of the sort that are fully accredited by the U.S. Department of Education? If not, what is the probability that Westbrook University or the University of Natural Medicine will gain such recognition?
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

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I am very interested in Clayton, and through my online research, I have seen some praises of its instruction, and some of its credibility falling under fire. I have been actively involved in health and nutrition for years, but I am just now starting to want to pursue it as a profession. Trouble is, most major universities are very limited in their ability to provide students information, let alone degree programs, regarding holistic practices. Holistic nuts tend to think outside the box. Shouldn't their schools? Is Clayton for real? Is the degree, (Bachelors, Masters or Doctorate) recognized among the community that advocates alternative therapy? When you receive your diploma, is that diploma valued in the work force? I have seen a lot of heat regarding  the doctorate program as being "non-legitimate" and "quackery". I believe in naturopathic method, and I think the medical community stands to lose a lot if people should choose to take back their health, and practice alternative therapy, starting with diet! Tuition costs for ANY medical type degree in a traditional university is staggering! Any questions answered about the school, the instruction, the material provided, the length of time, and the respect after the fact would be much appreciated.
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The bachelor degree programs at Clayton are good, they provide you with adequate education in Herbology, Homeopathy, Nutrition and other aspects of natural health.  If you ask someone from conventional medicine they love to call everything but themselves 'quackery.'  But there really are drawbacks to Clayton.  

First, They are not accredited by the department of education and therefore they DO NOT maintain similar educational requirements for a bachelors.  A traditional college or University requires 120 credit hours for a B.S., Clayton only requires 60 credit hours.  Many people find this to be highly inadequate.  While the courses they do offer are high quality and you learn alot they do not require enough credit hours before you graduate with a B.S.

Second,  most individuals and companies have not heard of Clayton, which in itself is not a bad thing but when I applied for a job the first thing the employer asked was if it was an accredited college through the department of education, Clayton is not.  This can make some jobs difficult to get.  If you want to work for a health food store or open your own practice you will be able to do so but it is looked down upon if the college you graduate from is not accredited.

You are correct, those involved in naturopathic methods do think outside the box and thank goodness for that!  It would be impossible to educate enough naturopathic practitioners through traditional classroom style education.  First it is extremely expensive to offer in classroom teaching and the number of individuals interested in one location would not support this type of education so distance learning has become the best method.

There are several distance learning naturopathic programs that ARE under review for accreditation by the department of education and in my opinion they are much better!  They have the same requirements of any other college or University and you will be able to work anywhere you choose with degrees from these institutions.

I stopped with my B.S. degree with Clayton and transfered to another school for my doctorate.  Fortunately the University accepted me but I had to complete the remaining 60 credit hours of prerequisites before I was able to matriculate to the graduate program.  I must agree that Clayton's graduate degrees are very inadequate.  Most of them do not even require anatomy and physiology or any other science class that pertains to naturopathic practice.  Most of the books they use in the graduate programs are books that graduates of Clayton have written or simple books you can purchase on Amazon.com, when I saw this that solidified my decision NOT to continue on with a graduate degree through Clayton.  They have a lot of work to do on their Masters and Doctorate programs.  I would not obtain a graduate degree from Clayton, they are not indepth enough for graduate level study.

The two programs under review for accreditation with the DOE are more expensive but in this case, you get what you pay for.  Check out these two schools:

www.westbrooku.edu
www.universitynaturalmedicine.org

I hope this helps you.

Answer
I am not aware of any nutrition or holistic programs that are accredited by the DOE right now.  Most distance programs are inexpensive and they claim that they don't want to be a part of 'mainstream' so accreditation isn't a goal for them.  

I know that the University of Natural Medicine very strictly adheres to DOE regulations and I am fairly confident that they will obtain accreditation.  Westbrook University is also an excellent school although I have less experience with them I believe they will recieve it as well.  I know both schools are very committed to recieving accreditation and will strive to obtain it.

I really can't say how long it will take them because I don't know how long it takes to go through the review process.  I know it is an expensive and lengthy process to obtain accreditation. I believe both these schools will be accredited in the future I'm just unclear as to how long the review process will take.