High school students who are considering college programs at the associate, bachelor, or master’s degree level in applied science, computing, engineering, or engineering technology probably do not know the importance of accreditation. We didn’t, and we have one child who has an engineering degree and another who has a computer science degree.
Such programs are subject to accreditation by ABET, with renewal typically every three years. The process is rigorous. In recent years, some highly regarded, very well-known schools have lost accreditation for particular programs. If you graduate and your program at that time is not accredited, you may be unable to get licensed, registered, or certified in your discipline. Our daughter just earned her Professional Engineer (PE) license; had her college program not been accredited, she would not have been eligible. Employers may prefer, or even have a definite requirement, that candidates be from accredited programs.
The safest course is simply not to consider schools that are not accredited. Should your school lose its accreditation after you enter, transferring to an accredited school may be the best course; our daughter had a classmate who came to her school for exactly this reason.