Choosing to continue your education at accredited colleges can help ensure that the degree you earn will be recognized by employers, professional associations, and graduate schools. But simply choosing any school with accreditation is not enough to get the most out of your higher ed experience. Based on your intended field of study, you may need to also consider programmatic accreditation, and regional versus national accreditation — all of this on top of the usual legwork involved in researching schools.

AccreditedColleges.com wants to help make the school search easier. Learn more about how accreditation works, as well as the different kinds of accreditation that may be relevant to your academic and personal goals. And if you’re just looking for schools in your state or specific degree programs, our database can help you narrow down your top choices.