As seniors at LHS start to plan for after high school, many may choose North Idaho College as an option because of the cheap price or the fact that it’s close to home. Some students have already started taking college classes, but North Idaho College may no longer be an option for students because there of the recent risks at NIC with losing its accreditation.

A school’s accreditation affects whether you can get federal and state financial aid. It also ensures that another college will accept your credits if you transfer between schools, and most graduate programs will not admit students from unaccredited schools. 

The Northwest Commission is reviewing NIC on Colleges and Universities because of the wrongful termination of the board’s president and other members. 

An investigation is already underway into the first complaint filed. The complaint has allegations of threatening and unprofessional behavior exhibited by members of the board.

But there may be more harm than good from the loss of accreditation.

Suppose North Idaho College does lose its accreditation. In that case, a degree will almost be useless. AA and AAS degrees earned by students will no longer be able to be transferred to other colleges like the University of Idaho or Idaho State University.

North Idaho College is the only Community College in North Idaho, which is an excellent asset to our community. It will put everyone in the area at a disadvantage of getting a college education, even though it isn’t the students’ fault who attend NIC. 

If the risk of accreditation isn’t solved, it will likely take North Idaho College a few years to officially lose its accreditation. If you already have gotten a degree or credits from NIC, your degree and credits will still be worth it.

The thought of North Idaho College losing accreditation may give more stress that is already on Lakeland Students to find the right college for them. 

Morgan Abbott, a dual-credit student, has stated, “The thought of NIC losing accreditation does scare me, but I don’t think that NIC will lose accreditation because of how harshly it will affect everyone around us, and I will still be going there when I graduate.” 

Although there is a risk of North Idaho College losing accreditation, students at Lakeland are still hopeful and still plan on attending. 

Ms. Hall, a dual-credit Communications teacher, has stated ¨NIC is currently accredited, and any classes that students are currently taking through the college will earn those credits, it would only make students not want to take courses from NIC in the future if they do lose accreditation; however, it is very unlikely to happen, even if so students would still have two years to finish their degrees, and credits that students already have will transfer to other schools¨

The risk for North Idaho College to lose accreditation is very low, so students should not have to worry and all the work you do now will still transfer, so going to NIC is still a great option for people in the community to get an education,