Accredited online coaching courses come from accredited institutions of higher learning, which have been carefully evaluated and proven to be in compliance with standards that have been established by a recognized governing body. For example in the United States, the American Association of Medical Colleges accredits medical schools, the American Bar Association accredits law schools, and organizations like the Western Association of Schools and Colleges accredits many colleges and universities in the west. So the fastest way to find online coaching courses which can be thought of as accredited is to find online coaching courses offered by an accredited college or university.

Coaching is a Little Different?

While coaching programs can be just as sophisticated as psychology programs, the fact is that coaching is still in its formative stages. It is not regulated and standards of both study and practice have not been fully developed and adopted. Because of this, phrases like accredited, certified and non-certified have less meaning than they do in the medical, legal and accounting professions. This puts more of the burden of selecting the best program on the student, but it also allows for more variety and opportunity.

Accredited versus Certified versus Non-certified Training

Accredited online coaching courses from colleges should be compared to certified and non-certified courses offered by other types organizations. In the case of the college courses, they are often part of a degree program, like an associates, bachelors or masters program which have other requirements that take years to complete, or they may be offered as a certificate program which includes a number of courses that are viewed as giving a command of a particular area of study, but which is not as comprehensive as a traditional degree program. Courses from an accredited college, online or classroom-based, are generally considerably more expensive than are programs form schools focusing on coaching alone.

How to Judge Accredited Online Coaching Courses?

Judging accredited online coaching courses comes down to the same basics as judging other coaching courses. They are: Is the coaching based on sound scientific principles? Is there a lot of mentored coaching involved – coaches learn primarily from coaching, just as doctors do from the practice of medicine? And finally, what is the success of the program’s graduates and their clients? The fact is that there is no accreditation that can make up for poor performance by a program’s graduates.

Hope you took some great value out of this post today! I’d love to hear your feedback, so make sure you leave a comment with your thoughts or questions. And also, you can click on the Twitter button below to retweet this article… Thank you!

Dave Iuppa
JTS Advisors Strategy and Accountability Coach