Why Accreditation?
Accreditation helps prospective students determine if an institution meets or exceeds minimum standards of educational quality. This allows students to confidently choose only quality courses from institutions they know can be trusted. It saves students time and money because they can feel secure that there will be consequences if an accredited institution fails to provide what they promise, since an accreditor has the power to remove accreditation status. Further, course accreditation helps employers determine if specific online programs are fit for their employees to progress their knowledge on a chosen subject. Graduates are able to sit certification examinations in the knowledge that their certification will be taken seriously in the outside world: by employers and governmental agencies. Finally, the ongoing accreditation process creates goals for institutional self-improvement, since should never simply be a check and forget process.
Our Mission
Our aim is to provide standardised accreditation to online education and training courses to ensure that online students are taught to a consistently high standard. There are a number of reputable accreditors for course providers to work alongside but we aim to provide an affordable service based on meeting objective standards rather than a money for guaranteed accreditation transaction.
What We Do
We currently moderate online online education and training courses. Our standards are fair and objective, meaning course providers must meet our strict standards before they are given accredited status. When we are satisfied that an online course has met each of our standards and we are confident about their credibility, we issue an accreditation code and logo that the company can display proudly.
Our Background
OTCAC was founded in 2019 but we have already accredited a number of successful online education and training courses. As industry experts, our consultants represent a wide knowledge-base. All consultants are tertiary-level educated to at least postgraduate diploma level, commonly holding master’s degrees and even PhDs in the subject-area they are responsible for accrediting. Additionally, OTCAC consultants are required to have extensive experience teaching or actively training others in the discipline related to the online course(s) they are responsible for accrediting. Our committee works on a part-time basis, meeting when necessary based on demand. This allows our service to operate with minimal cost, thus saving online course providers when applying for our accreditation service.
Unlike other online course accreditors, we do not just issue accreditation to a company that pays us. Courses must meet or exceed our objective benchmarks. We are a professional committee consisting of industry and education experts; we maintain objective standards at all times. A course will not receive accreditation until it meets our stringent requirements.
Our standards are strict but they are transparent, meaning your company will know exactly what criteria your course must meet in order to attain accreditation. If you fail to meet these standards on the first attempt then we provide you with the necessary feedback to amend your course so that it will meet our standards when you re-submit it for accreditation. Your second attempt is included in your accreditation fee.
Accreditation includes your first year of membership. Following this first year, annual membership per course costs just $179 and includes a stealth visit to your online centre. Discounts are available for course-providers with multiple courses accredited by OTCAC. Each annual review requires each course-provider to submit a completed self-evaluation form regarding each OTCAC-accredited course. Our consultants peruse your site for any inconsistencies or deviations from the previous year’s course details and provide you with a written report. Assuming that your course still meets our standards, you will be able to continue paying annual fees and displaying our accreditation logo. Should your course fail to meet our standards on the return visit then you will be informed in the written report and may only be able to continue membership the following year if you return your course to its original state or amend it to meet our standards. You have our guarantee that our membership fees will not change until our reassessment period in 2027.
You have our guarantee that our membership fee of $179 per year will not change until our reassessment period in 2027. The fee percentage change is prohibited from fluctuating by greater than 20%.
No matter what day of the week or what time of the year, one of our staff will respond to your query swiftly. We value our clients and understand your urgency in earning accreditation so that you can offer an assurance in quality to your prospective students or trainees.
Our consultants responsible for the accreditation process are generally postgraduate-educated to the master’s degrees and have a wealth of professional experience in their subject area. We want online students to receive the education they are paying for, so any course that we accredit must meet our high standards.
FIRST COURSE ACCREDITATION
This fee is applicable to courses up to 100 hours. Add $49 for each additional 20 hours of estimated learning time.
FURTHER COURSE ACCREDITATIONS
This fee is applicable to courses up to 100 hours. Add $39 for each additional 20 hours of estimated learning time.
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE PER COURSE
Membership fee for each learning or training course after the first year of accreditation is currently $159.
For more detailed pricing including our policies and case studies, please click here.