Schools Virginia Tech BSc Physics Program Accreditation?

[betamu]

Hello, maybe someone is knowledgeable on this sort of thing.

I've recently enrolled into a Bachelor of Science in Physics program at Virginia Tech. Someone told me today that they aren't accredited for a Physics Bachelors and now I'm freaking out about whether I should attend or not. I want to continue beyond the BS into a PhD program so obviously I should attend a school with an accredited program.

I'm having trouble believing that VT is not accredited for a Physics program, being an engineering school. I looked at their https://registrar.vt.edu/contact/Accreditation.html and sure enough a Physics Bachelors Degree is not listed there...there is, however, a "blanket" University Accreditation. I mean, obviously the school is accredited.

I'm a bit lost as to what this means for me. Is their Physics program not accredited? Should I revoke my acceptance and go elsewhere? I don't want to switch to any other program, I'm set on Physics.

Am I just not understanding or have I gotten myself into a pickle?

I'm a little freaked out and I can't contact any of the University offices as it's too late in the day so that's why I'm posting here, but I'll be contacting them tomorrow. Hopefully someone here can put my mind at ease, or at the very least tell me I'm right to be concerned.

Thanks very much.

 

[mcabbage]

I'm not from the southern US so I am not familiar with the accreditation system, but from looking at their department website I would say that due to the faculty they have there and the fact that they have so much involvement in the physics community that accreditation is completely irrelevant to whether or not a department is good or bad. I also looked at their course listings and it looks like they have all of the important courses for physics majors as well as a good selection of math electives.

VaTech looks like it has a great physics program and I wouldn't worry.

Edit: It appears as though accreditation is a voluntary/optional thing for those universities and maybe the physics department just hasn't bothered to fill out the paperwork.

 

[betamu]

You have brought great relief to my turbulent mind. Thanks for your input, mcabbage.

 

[jtbell]

Someone told me today that they aren't accredited for a Physics Bachelors

Unlike chemistry bachelor's degrees, which can be accredited by the American Chemical Society, no organization specifically accredits physics bachelor's degrees in the US, as far as I know. Unless this has changed since I retired a few years ago, but a quick Google search didn't turn up any evidence of this.

Accreditation through regional accrediting agencies (in Virginia Tech's case, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) is for the school as a whole, not individual departments. This of course includes reviewing individual degree programs. As far as I know, if SACS finds problems with a specific degree program, then if the college wants to keep its accreditation, it has to either fix the problems or eliminate that program. The college where I used to work went through three or four accreditation cycles while I was there. I think occasionally SACS found small things in some degree programs that needed fixing. The college fixed them. No big deal.

This is for undergraduate "arts and sciences" degrees. Engineering degrees are subject to professional certification (ABET, if I remember correctly), but a physics bachelors degree doesn't fall in that category.